"Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance," this was said by the infamous Coco Chanel. Who was one of the pioneers of couture fashion, but before her and many others, it was just anonymous seamstresses that made these couture fashions in the early 1800's, with the beautiful full skirts and tightly made dresses with constraining corsets to go with. Usually these dresses and their styles derived from the royalty who wore them. But Charles Frederick Worth was the first designer to actually dictate his time and what he thinks they should wear rather than following their demands of what they want. This epic change started a trend that would never go out of style.

He was the first seamster to put his name on the label of the dress and have a fashion house, a storefront that only made clothing. Once people were able to connect a face to a design, the tradition of having a named designer representing a brand or a symbol, is a trend that will never die. But I'm not going to focus on the past but fast forward to the early 1900s, when fashion was all about starting fresh, separating yourself from the old, and making a statement.

There were many designers in the early 1900s but only a few that changed the fashion world forever. Today I'm going to talk about three of those designers, Coco Chanel from the 1920s, Salvatore Ferragamo from the 1930s, and Guccio Gucci from the 1940s. They started their iconic looks in the past but have been carried on into the present times through many different styles and brands.

Coco Chanel was born and raised in Paris, France, under her real name Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. She wanted to redesign the elegance of women, making it fashionable but comfortable. Her clothes were made from materials usually reserved for menswear, but she took those materials, and made them sleek fitting to a woman's body. Instead of adding excess materials like past styles she added beading and embroidery to decorate her clothes. She used her jewelry as a fashion statement to complement the simple sleek look she created in her clothes, "illusion jewelry".

The fashion of the Victorian age was split into two halves, a bottom piece and a top piece. But Chanel founded that the symmetry between the chest, waist, and butt was unique and more versatile for women, making her clothes one sleek look. Her innovative style and vision quickly caught on all across Europe and the United States. Linking her to the age of the 'flapper' dress, which shaped the outlook on women and women's clothing many years after her.

Now let's talk about shoes. Salvatore Ferragamo is a well known designer, most famous for his invention of the metal reinforced stiletto heel, invisible sandal, and the cork wedge. But before all that he was the youngest of fourteen siblings growing up in Italy. As he made his first pair of shoes for his sister's confirmation, he found his calling and knew what he wanted to do. Ferragamo always wondered why his shoes were appealing to the eyes but not comfortable on the feet. So he set out to make a high heel shoe, comfortable yet fashionable for women to wear all day.

"Elegance and comfort are not incompatible, and whoever maintains the contrary simply doesn't know what he's talking about," said Ferragamo. As he studied anatomy at the University of Southern California, he set out to make a shell-shape sole for the high heel, his most important patent, which changed the history of the high heel forever. The sole of the shoe mounts the heel to become the upper. This shaped contained and caressed the foot and embraced its form rather than fight against it.

Then there's Guccio Gucci, most famous for his leather goods and accessories, such as bags and luggage. His inspiration started when he was a young boy growing up in Florence Italy, awed by the look and stability of horse saddlebags this is what first got him into design. As he got older the luxury of famous people's suitcases caught his eye as he worked in a prestigious hotel in London as an elevator operator. His focus was on the craftsmanship of the stitching on the luggage and his symbolic finishing touch of the GG symbol on the leather good.

Once he opened his first fashion house in 1940, he only hired a select few skilled craftsman to create his designs carefully and with precision as he wanted to only make and sell the best. In 1947 Gucci introduced the iconic bamboo bag. A purse with a saddlebag look with a bamboo handle, that's still around to this day.

Fashion design is a form of art and these iconic designers made the first breakthrough for women's fashion that changed the idea and opened the door for many more to come. With these first looks on what fashion was made out to be and how the modern styles of today are, you can picture how the brands of Tom Ford, Vera Wang, and even Ralph Lauren first came to find their inspirations. Now look at what you're wearing. It's probably not name brand, as the average middle class person can't afford it.

But when the sale racks at JCPenney or Forever21 have those clothes that you find interesting take a second look at the shape, design, and what material it's made of. Is it cotton, or denim? Is the shape slim fitting or loose? What's trending and what's classic? Every off brand that exist today has branched off of those pioneer designers, more than the ones I just named, who wanted to make a change because taking that first step to making a statement with clothes is what fashion is all about.