Mad (wo)men!
Anton “Jan” Garcia did not think twice when he was asked to create a collection that evoked the late ‘50s.
“It was very easy to get inspiration for this challenge. All I had to do was watch the entire first season of Mad Men,” he laughs.
The fashion of the Fifties was greatly inspired by the silhouettes of Christian Dior. The dresses of the ‘50s were full skirted, but some designers such as Jacues Fath and Hubert de Givenchy favored slim sheath dresses. Charles James was the most sought after American designer during this time.
“In the ‘50s, dresses were very feminine and designed to stress the feminine aspect on women. During this period, the world just came out of World War II and so women craved luxury in dress after years of deprivation so you can imagine that relatively speaking, clothes were made to be ultra glamorous. The fashion of the ‘50s was usually characterized by clothes with tiny waists, glamorous, luxurious, feminine, low-necked evening dresses or boned strapless dresses in taffetas, lace, nets, tulle, chiffon and satin or even nylon,” Jan shares.
Jan adds a lot of the models during the time were seen wearing clothes with cinched waists. He says those clothes are very much in tune with modern women who have hour-glass figures.
Glamour in the 20th century reached its peak during the ‘50s, dipped during late ‘60s, groveled during the ‘70s, experienced a renaissance during the ‘80s, and then was slowly muted during the ‘90s.
“But the new millennium has seen a surge in retro-fashion and I am excited about this. It is a fun exercise in creativity to integrate the glamor of the past with the mindset of the present,” Jan ends.
Photography by Joanne Zapanta-Andrada • Hair and makeup by Norma Santos • Bags by Aranaz • Accessories by Herbert Custodio (0905-2934090) • Models: Marina Benipayo (PMAP) and Rommelle Bungay (Yeoh Egwares) • Clothes by Jan Garcia (5925 C. Algier St., Poblacion, Makati; tel. no. 0917-5872293)
