A source of inspiration or foil, motherhood has created special connections with the history of art and fashion. Audrey Millet, expert, teacher and researcher, analyzes these interactions.
Miss Figaro.– In your opinion, what is the relationship between fashion designers and motherhood?
Audrey Millet. – at the beginning of XXe century, there were very few women in fashion or even cosmetics, and that’s because women didn’t pursue careers. Without the pill, without an abortion, getting pregnant meant the end of her professional life. The few powerful women who emerged, like Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Elizabeth Arden or Helena Rubinstein, did not have children or did not care much for them. Coco Chanel, known for her penchant for talking about herself in the third person or conditional, said: “If I were a mother, I would be a terrible mother.” These women were conquering the world. Now was not the time to have children. Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, for example, come from extremely humble origins. It is not difficult to imagine that motherhood could be perceived as an obstacle to their success.
However, if we take Sonia Rykili, I don’t think she stopped her family life because her daughters are very important to her, just like her home. Today we have other figures like Victoria Beckham or Stella McCartney who have four and three children respectively. But they are still exceptional. Most often, being a mother is incompatible with being on the go 24 hours a day or being in demand, it’s also an extremely demanding job. Two months before the parades, they no longer have a life. So if you don’t have the financial means to take care of your children, it’s impossible. Power and money are inseparable. Nowadays, designers can choose to have a baby or not. But it’s always easier when they’re established than when they’re still building their career. As with other professions, it is better to accompany: have a partner, parents, friends who can help you in managing children. In fashion, you rarely make a child alone.
Does experiencing pregnancy in the body change one’s relationship with creation?
Fashion is still dominated by men. At the head of the big houses there are male artistic directors, such as Olivier Rousteing at Balmain or Lagerfeld until 2019 at Chanel, or even Jacquemus. In short, men continue to dress women. And through their works, they offer many transformations that convey fantasies, intimate projections, a certain vision of women; clothing that is more “possible” in everyday life; So was Coco Chanel, a lover of horseback riding and boating, who intended to create practical clothing. Female designers look more into their everyday lives, regardless of whether they have children or not. They watch the women around them develop.
If we expand the topic, how has the fashion of clothes for pregnant women changed?
Before the Middle Ages, pregnant women wore loose dresses without any form, then a lace slipped under the chest. The clothes become more beautiful, we see more of the body. If we take a flight in time, then to 19e century, the dress was tight below the bust. In addition, the pregnant woman also received home clothes, which were often noble in the bourgeoisie, but for the most part she stayed at home for fear of losing the child.
XX:e century with access to information and media coverage making pregnancy more visible. Imagine a pregnant and poorly dressed Jackie Onassis, impossible. More women leave their homes and model themselves after stars who wear special clothes. Some will be patented as if they were revolutionary, such as this full-length skirt, with a clear separation between the breasts and the abdomen. Because the belly is the umbilical cord, motherhood… Basically it represents the private sphere. Hence the outraged reactions to the appearance of a bikini revealing the belly, especially the navel, rather than a two-piece with a high waist. At that point, materials such as latex will allow you to “sheath” the abdomen, not to reduce it, but to maintain its contour. Women in their glorious thirties are very active, juggling career and family life against the backdrop of streetwear culture and discovering affordable and comfortable jumpsuits. Adjustable pants mean you don’t have to change clothes every month. This is the advent of ready-to-wear. But the market for maternity clothes remains a niche sector, although nowadays there are more offers. To launch a maternity collection, you need an incredible network.
How to explain the presence of models or designers in recent years who claim that pregnancy is political?
Fashion reverses the trend. And in recent years, the trend is neo-feminism. Brands need to tailor their message to what customers care about: body positivity, equal pay, and more. If we take the example of these models, then the pregnancy march allows you to show the woman’s body, not only when you weigh 50 kg. There is a public tendency to make different bodies visible. But it’s still a business, and these models, with their pregnancy, are tools of that business. In this way, it becomes possible to show a great variety of bodies. For some time, stylist Rihanna has thus revolutionized maternity style by openly showing off her belly. Behind it was a message inspired by a positive body. “Accept your forms. »
Is motherhood more of an inspiration for designers than designers?
The Japanese school, with Comme des Garcons or stylist Rei Kawakubo, landed in France in the 1980s and 1990s with the idea of breaking the codes, with a conceptual form in mind designed to resist fashion bling. Parisian. And this fashion corresponds to bodies that have the right to move, to move. If we take Issey Miyake’s famous folds, we can easily assume pregnancy in them. A kimono can also accommodate a pregnant woman’s body. The body is not transformed in these works. These stylists came up with the idea that there is a body behind the clothes. It is not the clothes that shape the body, and it gives loose clothing. So it’s no surprise that Rei Kawakubo took inspiration from motherhood for his spring-summer 2019 collection. Conversely, with figures like Kim Kardashian, we’re seeing a great comeback of sheaths, latex, full corsets, pregnant women included. As for male creators, if they don’t give birth biologically, I feel like they do! All of their pieces are creative deliveries. Sometimes it is done with pain. But there is a birth certificate multiplied during the year. Perhaps this creative process is enough for male designers that they don’t feel the need to include the inspiration of motherhood in their collections. Without forgetting that a collection of maternity clothes is not necessarily profitable…
* Audrey Millet works at the University of Oslo, Norway. He is the author of the essaybottom swimsuit, Les Peregrines Editions.
Source: Le Figaro
