Austrian born American Carnegie's story is the perfect american dream. Carnegie was an influential character in the fashion world of her time and managed to create a successful fashion business and grow her name to be synonymous to good taste. Unlike most designer, she was not a dressmaker or seamstress. She started as milliner (a hatmaker) and never sewed as seam in her life. Instead she had an incomparable sense of style and business.
Carnegie's designs were considered elegant, but perhaps her biggest contributions to the word of fashion are related to the fashion industry. She introduced high quality ready-to-wear clothes accessible to anybody who could afford it. Her clothes were sold in her made-to-measure boutique but also in warehouses all around the United States. So far the most famous fashion designers had been accessible only for the privileged clientele, but Carnegie would study European high fashion turning it into Carnegie designs that could be produced in large quantities. The brand was enriched with lines of elegant casual wear and costume jewelry.
I think a creative process is always about being influenced by something. In other words it's borrowing, copying and stealing. How one works with existing material is what matters. By re-organizing material and adding your own interpretation you create something unique. Personally I prefer local and I don't think everything needs be accessible to anyone (like strawberries in January) but mass production in itself does not decrease the value of the design.
Her most famous design is known as the Carnagie-suit; characteristic to the 1950's narrow-wasted blazer worn with a long pencil skirt. The look bares clear resemblance to Dior's famous new look (even though it existed some years before), and it's considered 100% American.
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| I love Trivia! Young Lucille Ball modeled for Carnegie in 1930's before her acting career |
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