Colin's Column

Tomes of the Times: Summer Reading

1 July 2016 • By Colin McDowell

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Education

Jean Patou (1880-1936)

24 March 2016 • By Colin McDowell

Chanel’s greatest rival in the battle for the post-World War I customer established the modern ideal of beauty when he hired long-limbed, flat-chested models with short hair from the USA.

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Education

Nina Ricci (1883-1970)

4 March 2016 • By Colin McDowell

In the 10th instalment of BoF’s fashion history series we study the self-taught seamstress who started her company on the insistence of her entrepreneurial son. She created democratic high fashion for the upper middle classes, and her couture could undercut Lanvin and Chanel by a third. But for this reason she was never mentioned in the same breath by high society.

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Education

Pierre Balmain (1914-1982)

2 March 2016 • By Colin McDowell

In the ninth instalment of BoF’s fashion history series, we study Pierre Balmain, the designer who preferred making money to making waves. With the support of Cecil Beaton and and Gertrude Stein, the couturier found himself feted on a global stage after just one collection. But a career chasing the custom of foreign royalty and Hollywood's finest at the expense of Parisien society left his legacy in tatters.

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Colin's Column

The Missoni Matriarchs

26 February 2016 • By Colin McDowell

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Colin's Column

100 Years of British Vogue

4 February 2016 • By Colin McDowell

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Colin's Column

Renzo Rosso: ‘Galliano, Elbaz and Me’

21 January 2016 • By Colin McDowell

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Colin's Column

The Tomes of 2015

17 December 2015 • By Colin McDowell

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Education

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883-1971)

27 November 2015 • By Colin McDowell

In the fourth instalment of BoF’s fashion history series, we meet the creator of the “little black dress,” who took her cues from a country in mourning. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, the designer doyenne who founded fashion’s most famous house, used her lovers’ money to establish herself and rewrote the rulebook with her mannish collections.

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Education

Christian Dior (1905-1957)

23 November 2015 • By Colin McDowell

In the seventh instalment of BoF’s fashion history series, meet the late bloomer who invented the ‘New Look.’ It took Christian Dior four decades to put on a show but the gallerist turned designer won over Paris from the word go.

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