As the Met Ball makes an all-American return to programming tonight, we trace the history of US fashion through its most important designers
“Who gets to be American?” asked Prabal Gurung in 2019, concluding his SS20 show with a finale of pageant-worthy silk sashes flashing those complex five words. Fast forward two years and the question has effectively been reshaped, albeit in a less direct fashion, for this year’s Costume Institute show at the Met, which opens this week with an actual IRL Met Gala finally.
Arriving at the close of New York Fashion Week – the gala’s regular First Monday in May slot having been abandoned as a result of the pandemic – this autumn the Metropolitan Museum of Art presents In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, the first of two heavyweight shows tasked with unpacking what exactly constitutes American fashion (following next May, the second show will be titled In America: An Anthology of Fashion).
Speaking to The New York Times back in April, exhibition curator Andrew Bolton described the current roster of US-claimed designers as a renaissance moment for American fashion, “with young American designers at the vanguard of discussions around diversity, inclusion, sustainability and conscious creativity.” Contemporary labels like Kerby Jean-Raymond’s Pyer Moss, Conner Ives, and Hillary Taymour’s Collina Strada are all part of the new school, highlighting the unique make-up of American fashion now, and the many different interpretations of the “modern vocabulary of American fashion”.
Previously considered the lesser party to Paris’s rich history (think storied fashion houses like Christian Dior, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton), there was a notable change in how American fashion was perceived in the 1970s, following the Battle of Versailles fashion show. In 1973, five Stateside designers and five European designers put on a show to raise funds for restoration works within the historic landmark, with the former ultimately coming out on top. Later, designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Donna Karan emerged as game-changers, making waves throughout the industry and finding allies in pop culture. Carrie’s naked dress for that first dinner with Big? A DKNY number. The beloved brand of Aaliyah, Snoop Dogg, and TLC? Tommy Jeans.
More recently American fashion has come to mean variety, which is exactly what A Lexicon…. will be centering. It’s perhaps fitting then that hosting this year’s gala are Timothée Chalamet, Amanda Gorman, former Dazed cover star Billie Eilish, and Naomi Osaka, four young talents each with a unique sensibility – internet faves Keke Palmer and Ilana Glazer will be on red carpet duties. But before we find out who truly understood the assignment and who rolled through in an array of red, white and blue, a look at 10 American designers that shaped American fashion.
CALVIN KLEIN
The first word in 90s chic (the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, often found on Instagram moodboards, was a publicist and frequent ambassador for the brand), Calvin Klein’s early reign began in the 1970s, with Vogue once suggesting, “If you were around a hundred years from now and wanted a definitive picture of the American look in 1975, you’d study Calvin Klein.” Perhaps most influential though is the designer’s impact on advertising. Though not without their controversies (see: Brooke Shields and Kate Moss), the designer tapped into an energy that continues to shape fashion campaigns today.
WILLI SMITH
While Willi Smith never got the flowers he deserved – the designer passed away in 1987 at the age of 39 – his name is frequently said in tandem with the word ‘genius’. A Parsons graduate and later, the youngest-ever winner of the American Fashion Critics’ Award for Women’s Fashion, Smith founded Williware in 1976 and effectively invented streetwear as we know it today, mixing the fit and aesthetic of sportswear and tailoring. A champion of his community, he was in tune with something much bigger than fashion, once stating that, “Fashion is a people thing and designers should remember that. Models pose in clothes. People live in them.”
HALSTON
Without Halston, who was once described by Newsweek as “the premier fashion designer of America”, the current landscape would no doubt look pretty different. The Studio 54 regular redefined what American fashion could be, and in doing so, changed what women wanted to wear and who we saw wearing it (he was an early champion of diverse casting). Amongst the group of designers who partook in the 1973 Battles of Versailles, Halston’s earlier work included the pillbox hat worn by Jackie O to the 1961 inauguration, while his preference for little fuss saw him develop simple pieces that made women feel good. Elsewhere he accrued a close-knit group of models, dubbed The Halstonettes, that included Pat Cleveland and Anjelica Huston. One of fashion’s earliest influencer circles, if you will.
JEREMY SCOTT
Known for his brash aesthetic and keen interest in American culture (in his early years at Moschino he turned to Barbie, McDonalds, and Coca-Cola for inspiration, transplanting the garish branding onto ladylike suits), Jeremy Scott has long been a cheerleader for fun. Perhaps one of his most direct interpretations of Americana arrived in the form of his AW01 collection, which borrowed hairstyling tips from queen Dolly Parton and saw garments printed with dollar bills. Beloved by titans of modern pop culture, his collaborative relationship with Katy Perry has been widely documented on social media, while he’s also responsible for creating the flight attendant outfit worn by Britney Spears in the “Toxic” video. Accolades don’t come much more iconic.
THE ROW
It’s hardly uncommon for the Kardashian clan to cause a stir by stepping out in a lewk, but when Kendall Jenner posted a selfie captioned, “The Row head to toe” in November, the Vogue headline that followed, The Curious Case of Kendall Jenner Wearing The Row, was also not untoward. Established by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in 2006, The Row has carved out a distinct narrative for itself, with art-filled retail spaces and blank, nothing-but-the-name advertising. Despite – or because of? – it’s very very dear price points, the fashion industry has been quick to fall for their looks of calming neutral tones, well cut, quality pieces, and quiet confidence.
TELFAR CLEMENS
You only have to glance at Instagram, keep up with AOC, or stroll down your nearest arts college-adjacent street to witness the impact of Telfar Clemens. Having launched his eponymous label in 2005, the Queens-born Liberian-American designer (who in fact designed the Liberian team’s Olympic uniform for Tokyo this year) began 2021 picking up the Fashion Design of 2020 award from the Design Museum for his vegan-leather, gender neutral shopping bag. The decade’s most important accessory (as per Dazed’s own words), the bag, with its low price point, is just one part of Telfar’s commitments to inclusivity; the label’s tagline reads ‘Not for you, for everyone’, which pretty much sums it up.
RICK OWENS
Based in Paris since 2003, Rick Owens is the antithesis of what’s widely considered Classic American Design™, focused instead on crafting a uniform of primarily black, often conceptually defined pieces; he is one of the most innovative designers working today, frequently putting on fashion shows that echo his interest in atypical drama. Finding inspiration in the work of costume designer Larry LeGaspi – Owens published a book about LeGaspi in 2019, telling Vogue “what Larry LeGaspi did was a huge thing – the way he infiltrated middle America with this subversive sensibility” – the designer has previously described his own work as “the calm elegance I want to get to and the damage I’ve done on the way.”
TOM FORD
Despite early roles at Cathy Hardman and Perry Ellis, the Texas-born designer has had a fraught relationship with American fashion, as he alluded to during an interview with The New York Times in 2014. “If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America,” he noted, reflecting on his move to Milan. “My own culture was inhibiting me. Too much style in America is tacky. It’s looked down upon to be stylish.” Becoming creative director at Gucci in 1994, he helped turn the company around, increasing sales and establishing several iconic aesthetics, from sexy silk shirts to modern (and still sexy) snake print dresses. Currently chairman of the Board of the CFDA, his is a name synonymous with glamour.
MARC JACOBS
Perhaps one of America’s best gifts to the fashion industry, Marc Jacobs has lived many lives, to borrow from The New York Times 2020 profile of the designer. Famously fired from Perry Ellis in 1993 for engaging with grunge (today the collection is a seminal part of 90s history, while Jacobs’ feud with Courtney Love, who at the time trashed the collection in the press, remains ongoing), the designer found a great fit when he joined Louis Vuitton in 1997. Serving as artistic director at the house until 2014, Jacobs introduced a long-term series of artist collaborations, reworking classic Vuitton handbags with Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, and Yayoi Kusama. And, as anyone who followed his Instagram during the early days of the pandemic knows, he’s still giving.
ANNA SUI
Beyond being the fragrance of choice for every 13 year-old circa the mid-noughties, Anna Sui was a game-changing designer whose influence is still apparent today, all over TikTok and in the closets of your favourite pop stars. Previously a stylist for her friend Steven Meisel, Sui launched her namesake label in 1980, only putting on her first catwalk show in 1991. Described as the “darling of downtown fashion” by Vogue in 1992, Sui’s aesthetic married childlike play with rock’n’roll; she put men out in dresses, dressed the supers in marabou headwear, and was named one of Time’s Top 5 Designers of the Decade. Perhaps most iconic? The @banannasui Instagram account in her honour.