Lines of all types are the new
season's fashion trend, whether sailor-style or pirate-style,
colored, pastel, thick, thin, horizontal or vertical - this
spring's wardrobe is full of stripes.
Every period in history traced its own style of lines, as
the stripes themselves transformed while worn by celebrated
personalities who made the style their own.
Classic stripes are a solid basis of the maritime style,
derived from fishermen and Breton sailors, with their
horizontal-striped shirts, generally blue and white, black and
white or red and white.
The "Chemise Breton", or Breton shirt, was designed for
men, but the young Gabrielle Coco Chanel intuited its fashion
possibilities and transformed it into an iconic top.
In 1958 the French Navy made the Breton jersey into a
uniform, with 21 lines symbolising each of Napoleon's victories.
Colored stripes were worn by 1950s Brazilian singer Carmen
Miranda, who inspired Salvatore Ferragamo to design wedges named
after her.
Striped suits remain classic choices for men, but in 1966
Yves Saint Laurent dressed a female model in a chalk-stripe
tuxedo in what became an iconic black and white image shot by
Helmut Newton.
In the Seventies, Op art turned lines into geometric
abstraction and optical illusion.
In the Nineties Jean Paul Gaultier made the blue-and-white
stripe a distinctive symbol of his style, while Kurt Cobain
brought stripes to grunge.
Nowadays, stripes are a perennial choice for Max Mara, who
this season offers up styles based on maritime motifs.
Simona Barbieri chose black and white stripes for a
sophisticated style in her Twin Set collection.
Blumarine has a romantic version of stripes in flowing
blouses and dresses made of pastel-colored organza with floral
embroidery.
Missoni mixes horizontal, vertical, and zig-zag lines to
give movement to its light jerseys.
Ferragamo bares the shoulders in its dresses and mixes
lines of different sizes for effect, and dimension is also part
of Dolce & Gabbana's collection with blue and white or green and
white stripes.
Prada's stripes are on a buttoned-to-the-collar shirt,
while Miu Miu's stripes are irrational and rebellious, like a
counter-culture revolution.
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