Fashion Garments

While some might say the 2000s belonged to a host of questionable fads, fashion-watchers are describing the last 10 years as the decade of the designer.

Not only has designer clout gained weight, there are also simply more creative types — both locally and globally — making clothes.

“I feel like, in the last 10 years, there’s been a real plethora of designers that have emerged,” says Aryen Hoekstra, manager of Gravity Pope Tailored Goods in Edmonton. “There’s just a lot more people designing clothes, and a lot more people that you can get clothing from.”

With the rise of the Internet and 24/7 celebrity gossip, haute couture has also become more accessible.

“The Internet has just exposed people to a lot of fashion — especially in a market like Edmonton — that you wouldn’t have been exposed to 10 years ago,” Hoekstra says. “It’s really easy for people locally to see what’s going on in the world. There’s blogs like the Sartorialist and Internet stores from all around that people can shop at, and they’re not so restricted to shopping just wherever they are on the planet.”

Persistent paparazzi have made the clothing celebrities wear matter more than ever, and stars have cleverly started clothing lines of their own.

“In 2001, Tom Cruise wasn’t wearing anything that anybody would talk about,” says Edmonton style coach Emily Salsbury. “It’s changed so much. There’s been so many endorsements and things like that to get people as far away as us to be wearing (designer clothing.)”

Jeans go high-end

The rise of the designer is perhaps most notable in denim. The genre once monopolized by Levi’s now includes major players that demand hundreds of dollars for a single pair of jeans.

“There was an explosion of denim brands that came especially from the United States,” Hoekstra says. Celebrities drove the popularity of brands such as True Religion, Rock and Republic, and Seven for All Mankind before stylish A-listers such as Justin Timberlake and Victoria Beckham began designing their own denim lines.

“I think people just started spending more money on jeans in the last 10 years, and I think that’s probably one of the biggest developments, in retail, anyway.”

Trends in denim reflect the evolution of style, which went from sloppy in the first half of the decade to polished in the second — “probably in response to how things got so distressed, as far as denim went,” says Hoekstra.

Retro gets an update

The just-rolled-out-of-bed look of 2003 later gave way to geek-chic argyle, trim suits for guys and flowy, feminine tunics for women.

“I would say the silhouettes have certainly changed,” says Rosslyn Boulanger, manager of Edmonton boutique Colourblind. In womenswear, bottoms have gotten skinnier, while tops have become more free-flowing. How we’re dressed today is not too far off from what we were wearing in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but Boulanger says retro cuts are updated with new fabrics, such as natural fibres and sheer, breathable cotton.

“It’s kind of cliche, but fashion does repeat itself — and it has,” she says, “but I think in more exciting ways, with modern touches.”

source:http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Designers+decade+High+priced+denim+ruled+while+haute+couture+became+accessible/2388502/story.html