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The History of: A New Luxury

The History of: A New Luxury

Jun 10, 2026 | cgk.ink writes:, fashion, historical, luxury, retail, textiles

The History of: A New Luxury

Luxury manifests opulence, wealth and scarcity. It has also become an integral part of society, culture and humanity.

There are luxury hotels, de luxe suites and all. Gems, homes and yachts can be luxurious. Even simply being can exhibit it: one can live a life of luxury. You can have the luxury of time while existing. There are gentlemen and ladies of luxury. You can even (inappropriately) sit in its lap. It is everywhere and universally coveted.

What, exactly, is it?

Of all these types of luxury, perhaps the one material thing most associated with the concept of luxury is fashion. It is certainly the most sensual, wrapping our bodies in rare materials masterfully made. It imparts volumes before we even intend to speak and it is known simply by sight. Fashion, as a concept, emdodies so many aspects of our identities that it has become a profoundly important element of our culture.

Luxury in fashion has never stood still. What it means to dress luxuriously has changed with every century, every revolution — social, industrial, digital — and every generation redefines what is worth wanting.

The story is not a straight line from extravagance to restraint. Luxury is a messy spiral: each era reinventing the terms of desire, exclusivity, and self-expression. Understanding where that unruly spiral has been is the only honest way to understand where it is going.

The Origins: Luxury is as old as Power

In the ancient world, luxury clothing was not a matter of taste — it was a matter of law. In Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the quality and material of your garments announced your rank before you spoke a word. Linen, silk, and gold thread were not available to everyone; they were rationed by birth, wealth, and the whims of rulers who understood that the power to dress was the power to govern.

c 300 BCE – c 800 BC Antiquity: Luxury as Status Law

Sumptuary laws restrict precious materials to nobility. Clothing is rank made visible. Purple, silk, and gold are politically controlled.

c 400 – 1453 AD: The Semper Fashionable  Roman Empire

This logic was formalized: the same sumptuary laws formed by the Sumerians now dictated who could wear purple — the color of Tyrian dye, more expensive by weight than gold — and violations were prosecuted. Clothing was, in the most literal sense, political.

c 12th Century Medieval & Renaissance: The Court as Stage

Aristocracy sets the terms of dress. Brocades, lace, and embroidery signal dynastic power. Fashion trickles down — slowly, deliberately.

This logic held largely intact through the medieval period and into the European Renaissance. The court was the center of fashion. The aristocracy dictated terms. Luxury moved in one direction only: downward, from the ruling class to those who could afford to imitate it, at which point the ruling class simply raised the stakes again.

18th Century: The Enlightenment is Lit

“The evolution of luxury fashion since the 18th century was significantly influenced by the Age of Enlightenment, which democratized luxury and separated it from morality, allowing broader access beyond the aristocracy.”

The ancien régime collapses. Philosophers challenge excess. Neoclassicism favors simplicity. The French Revolution eliminates the royal court’s grip. Taste begins replacing rank as the arbiter of dress.

The Death of Old Luxury
Before 1789, luxury was defined by the court at Versailles. It was heavy, restrictive, and exclusive by law.
  • Sumptuary Laws: These legal decrees dictated exactly who could wear what, based on social rank. Only the highest nobility could wear specific silks, furs, or gold embroidery. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • The “Grand Habit”: The ultimate symbol of Old Luxury. These massive court gowns required rigid corsets made of whalebone and skirts spread over wide hoops (paniers), rendering women physically immobile. [1]
  • The Luxury Statement: Wealth meant spending immense money on garments designed to show you never had to perform physical labor. [1]

    The New Luxury Arrives
    The Revolution democratized fashion, turning luxury into a tool of political allegiance. High-quality silk was abandoned for humble cotton and linen, but the craftsmanship remained a luxury. [1, 2, 3]
      • The Luxury of Muslin: White cotton muslin (mousseline) became the fabric of the elite. While it looked simple and democratic compared to heavy brocade, high-quality imported cotton was actually incredibly expensive. It required meticulous laundering, making it a subtle, “quiet luxury” statement. [1, 2]
      • The Redefinition of Taste: Luxury was no longer about looking like a gilded statue. It was about channeling the “pure” and “democratic” ideals of Ancient Greece and Rome through flowing, high-waisted neoclassical drapery. [1, 2, 3, 4]

      The Birth of Counter-Culture Luxury
      Once the Reign of Terror ended in 1794, luxury returned with a vengeance, but it was twisted, ironic, and rebellious.
      • Anti-Fashion as Luxury: Subcultures like Les Incroyables and Les Merveilleuses used deliberate untidiness as a luxury statement. They wore impossibly high cravats, sheer fabrics, and wild, unpowdered hair. [1, 2, 3]
      • The Luxury of Scandal: For the first time, elite luxury was defined by shocking the older generation rather than pleasing the King. It laid the foundational blueprint for modern avant-garde and punk fashion.

      19th Century: Haute Couture Is Born

      Charles Frederick Worth and The House of Worth present garments on live models and introduces seasonal collections — inventing the modern fashion house. The sewing machine democratizes silhouette while couture doubles down on exclusivity.

      The 20th Century: Democratization and the Designer Myth

      The 20th century broke open luxury fashion. Two world wars, an industrial revolution, and a sequence of cultural upheavals forced fashion to remake itself repeatedly — and each remake pushed luxury further from its aristocratic origins and closer to something that could, in theory, be aspired to by anyone.

      The Present: A Market Under Pressure

      Luxury fashion in 2026 is at an inflection point. The aggressive price hikes of the post-pandemic years — some houses raised prices 40–60% between 2020 and 2024 — have finally alienated the aspirational consumer who had long been the growth engine of the mega-brands. The result is a market that is recalibrating.

      -35%

      Gucci brand value decline (2025)

      −4.9%

      Louis Vuitton brand value (2025)

      +17%

      Hermès brand value growth (2025)

      $1.8T

      Global fashion sales (2025)

      The data tells a clear story. Hermès — which has never chased the mass aspirational market, never discounted, and has maintained an almost perverse commitment to craft and scarcity — grew its brand value by 17% while peers contracted.

      Brands like Ralph Lauren and Burberry are winning back the aspirational middle by offering genuine value rather than inflated prestige. The era of getting away with logo inflation and minimal product improvement is over.

      A profound aesthetic reset is underway. The long dominance of quiet luxury — the tonal minimalism, the logo-less understatement — is giving way to something more expressive. High-saturation color has returned to the runway. Accessories have become protagonists rather than punctuation. Sculptural headwear, architectural heels, and oversized jewellery are defining looks rather than completing them. The message is shifting from “I have nothing to prove” back to “I have something to say.”

      ecommerce, fashion and what comes next

      The Future: Six Forces Redefining Luxury

      The next decade of luxury fashion will be shaped by forces that have no precedent in the industry’s history. Some are technological. Some are cultural. All of them point toward a definition of luxury that is fundamentally different from the one the 20th century built.

      From Exclusivity to Hyper-Individuality

      The luxury of the future is not about access. It is about recognition — the garment or object that feels as if it was conceived with you in mind.

      The old model of luxury exclusivity — the thing that is desirable because few can have it — is being supplemented by a new model: the thing that is desirable because it was made specifically for you. AI-driven personalization, bespoke manufacturing at scale, and brands that can offer genuinely individualized experiences are redefining what “exclusive” means.

      As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent in design and production, the value of the human hand is rising — not falling. Hand-knotted, hand-stitched, hand-formed: the language of artisan luxury is gaining new urgency precisely because it represents what cannot be scaled, replicated, or optimized. The demand for hand-cut gemstones, upcycled couture, and handmade fascinators is not nostalgia. It is a rational response to a world saturated with algorithmic output.

      Craft as the Ultimate Counterargument to AI

      True luxury, going forward, will increasingly be defined by what AI cannot do.

      Sustainability as Operational Advantage

      Sustainability and luxury are converging, not competing.

      Sustainability in 2026 is no longer a marketing slogan. It is an operational advantage and a brand trust signal. Luxury houses that have built transparent, ethical supply chains are reporting better margins, lower overproduction waste, and measurably higher consumer loyalty.

      The consumer who buys a $600 hand-crafted piece from a brand that can account for every material and every hand that touched it is not paying extra for ethics — she is paying for the kind of certainty that fast fashion structurally cannot offer.

      High-net-worth consumers are shifting from acquisition to experience. They no longer want more things — they want things that promise evolution, narrative, and emotional resonance. Luxury is bleeding out of fashion and into hospitality, travel, wellness, and cultural access. Brands that understand this are building thematic retail spaces, exclusive events, and experiences that cannot be purchased online. 

      Experience Over Object

       

      The fashion house of the future may be less a product company and more a cultural institution — with clothing as the most portable expression of its world.

      The Circular Luxury Economy

      The $522 billion secondhand market by 2030 will include significant luxury volume.

      Upcycled couture is no longer a niche sub-category — it is a centerpiece of runway shows and a growing revenue line for luxury brands. Resale, archive curation, and the revival of deadstock materials are reshaping how luxury garments move through the world. Collectors no longer want the newest item; they want the item that has survived the test of time. Modern luxury is becoming a dialogue between past and present. The brands that engage with their own archives will own that conversation.

      The luxury brands gaining ground in 2026 are the ones that can read culture with genuine intelligence — not just chase it. Prada’s collaboration bringing Kolhapuri artisanship to the global stage. Heritage houses reinterpreting temple jewellery in lighter, contemporary forms. Cross-cultural design that honors tradition while feeling unmistakably present. In a flattened global market, the brands that understand the depth and specificity of cultural context will generate the emotional resonance that generic aspirational marketing cannot buy.

      Cultural Intelligence as the New Brand Value

      The future of luxury is deeply, specifically, human.

      The Only Constant

      What connects ancient Egypt’s linen hierarchy to Chanel’s jersey revolution to the handmade fascinator worn to Royal Ascot in 2026 is not materials, or price, or brand recognition. It is intention. Every era’s luxury has been defined by the things that required the most of someone — the most skill, the most time, the most cultural intelligence, the most personal vision.

      The definition of luxury is always in negotiation. But the negotiation is always about the same underlying question: what does it mean to take dress seriously? The future answers that question with craft, with sustainability, with hyper-individuality, and with the kind of cultural depth that cannot be generated at scale. The future of luxury is not about spending more.

      It is about meaning more.

      For independent designers and brands built on genuine artisanship, cultural reference, and considered production, this is not a threat. It is the market finally arriving at the position they have always held.

      The cgk.ink Perspective

      cgk.ink was built on the principles the luxury market is only now catching up to: globally art-inspired design, sustainability-first production, and the belief that a garment should carry genuine cultural weight. Explore our collections — from a growing collection inspired by fine art to our full apparel, décor and accessories collections — at cgk.ink.

      —Sources:

      History of Luxury · FIT Fashion History Timeline · Advertising Week · Luxury Abode · PAGE Magazine · Flanelle Magazine · GlobalBay · LUXUO · Spa & Beauty Today · Luxebook India · Count Valentine · Historical Today · BrandHistories · WWD · Grazia Magazine · Luster Magazine · JD Institute · myGemma · Glam Observer

      Sashiko, Kimonos & History

      Sashiko, Kimonos & History

      Jan 21, 2026 | blue, cgk.ink writes:, color, design, fashion, indigo, Japanese design & culture, technique, textiles

      A recent BBC Culture story by Bel Jacobs: The 300-year-old Japanese method of upcycling explores the method of sashiko.

      Sashiko emerged through necessity, particularly in poor rural areas, during the Edo period. “Cotton came late to the north of Japan,” explains craft and design writer Katie Treggiden. “So the only way people could get hold of it was as tiny rags of fabrics, that were either passed around or bought from tradesmen from the south. Sashiko – literally, ‘little stabs’ – was a way of connecting all those little pieces into a quilted fabric, known as boro, that would keep them warm.”

      Sashiko, Kimonos & History

      Textiles say so much about the culture in which they are worn and used.

      Clothing can immediately identify who we are and what our history is. One can tell eastern v. western, wealthy v. impoverished, northern v southern. Clothing also tells us about the society that created it.

      The Surprising History of the Kimono

      The first ancestor of the kimono was born in the Heian period (794-1192). Straight cuts of fabric were sewn together to create a garment that fit every sort of body shape. It was easy to wear and infinitely adaptable. By the Edo period (1603-1868) it had evolved into a unisex outer garment called kosode. Literally meaning “small sleeves,” the kosode was characterized by smaller armholes. It was only from the Meiji period (1868-1912) onwards that the garment was called kimono. This last transformation, from the Edo era to modern Japan, is fascinating.

      In the early 1600s, First Shogun Tokugawa unified Japan into a feudal shogunate. Edo, renamed Tokyo in 1868, now became Japan’s chief city. The resulting Edo Period (also called the Tokugawa Era) spanned 264 years. The years 1603 to 1868 are known as the last era of traditional Japan. Japanese culture developed with almost no foreign influence during this time. And the kosode was one of the key elements of what it meant to be Japanese.

      RGB v. CMYK: Color Theory 101

      RGB v. CMYK: Color Theory 101

      Nov 9, 2025 | cgk.ink writes:, color, design, print-on-demand, tech, textiles

      Color is one of the most essential design elements. This site uses many different techniques to deliver items that are as sharp and vivid as the images that are presented on the web site.

      There are very specific differences between what is displayed versus what is printed. Let’s take a quick look at some basic physics of rendering colors:

      RGB is an additive color model, while CMYK is subtractive.

      RGB uses white as a combination of all primary colors and black as the absence of light. CMYK, on the other hand, uses white as the natural color of the print background and black as a combination of colored inks. Graphic designers and print providers use the RGB color model for any type of media that transmits light, such as computer screens. RGB is ideal for digital media designs because these mediums emit color as red, green, or blue light.

      RGB is best for websites and digital communications, while CMYK is better for print materials. Most design fields recognize RGB as the primary colors, while CMYK is a subtractive model of color.

      With the RGB color model, pixels on a digital monitor are – if viewed with a magnifying glass – all one of three colors: red, green, or blue. The white light emitted through the screen blends the three colors on the eye’s retina to create a wide range of other perceived colors. With RGB, the more color beams the device emits, the closer the color gets to white. Not emitting any beams, however, leads to the color black.

      This is the opposite of how CMYK works.

      CMYK is best for print materials because print mediums use colored inks for messaging. CMYK subtracts colors from natural white light and turns them into pigments or dyes. Printers then put these pigments onto paper in tiny cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dots – spread out or close together to create the desired colors. With CYMK, the more colored ink placed on a page, the closer the color gets to black. Subtracting cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks create white – or the original color of the paper or background. RGB color values range from 0 to 255, while CMYK ranges from 0-100%.

      Source: Boingo Graphics

      Fine Art Focus: Bauhaus: 100 years later

      Fine Art Focus: Bauhaus: 100 years later

      Oct 24, 2025 | bauhaus, cgk.ink writes:, design, fine art, historical, kandinsky, klee, miro, textiles

      bauhaus

      A 100-year perspective

      The importance of the Bauhaus lies in its revolutionary approach to design, architecture, and art education that emphasized functionality, simplicity, and the integration of art with mass production, creating a lasting influence on modern design across many fields, from furniture and buildings to graphic design and beyond. Despite being a short-lived German school (1919-1933), its principles were spread worldwide, especially after its closure by the Nazis, pioneering the concept of design as a holistic, problem-solving discipline.

      ;

      The school existed in three German cities—Weimar, from 1919 to 1925; Dessau, from 1925 to 1932; and Berlin, from 1932 to 1933—under three different architect-directors: Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1928; Hannes Meyer from 1928 to 1930; and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 until 1933, when the school was closed by its own leadership under pressure from the Nazi regime, having been painted as a centre of communist intellectualism.[4] Internationally, former key figures of Bauhaus were successful in the United States and became known as the avant-garde for the International Style.[5] The White city of Tel Aviv, to which numerous Jewish Bauhaus architects emigrated, has the highest concentration of the Bauhaus’ international architecture in the world.

      The changes of venue and leadership resulted in a constant shifting of focus, technique, instructors, and politics. For example, the pottery shop was discontinued when the school moved from Weimar to Dessau, even though it had been an important revenue source; when Mies van der Rohe took over the school in 1930, he transformed it into a private school and would not allow any supporters of Hannes Meyer to attend it.

        The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 in the city of Weimar by German architect Walter Gropius (1883–1969).

        Its core objective was a radical concept: to reimagine the material world to reflect the unity of all the arts. Gropius explained this vision for a union of art and design in the Proclamation of the Bauhaus (1919), which described a utopian craft guild combining architecture, sculpture, and painting into a single creative expression. Gropius developed a craft-based curriculum that would turn out artisans and designers capable of creating useful and beautiful objects appropriate to this new system of living.

        The Bauhaus combined elements of both fine arts and design education. The curriculum commenced with a preliminary course that immersed the students, who came from a diverse range of social and educational backgrounds, in the study of materials, color theory, and formal relationships in preparation for more specialized studies. This preliminary course was often taught by visual artists, including Paul Klee (1987.455.16), Vasily Kandinsky (1866–1944), and Josef Albers (59.160), among others.

        Major Bauhaus Artists

        Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944):

        A leading figure in abstract art, he was a member of the influential Der Blaue Reiter group and taught at the Bauhaus.

        Paul Klee (1879–1940):

        Also a member of Der Blaue Reiter, Klee was known for his colorful, geometric abstract paintings and taught at the Bauhaus from 1921 to 1932.

        László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946):

        A Hungarian artist who taught painting and photography, known for his work in kinetic sculpture and his use of light and form.

        Josef Albers (1888–1976):

        A German artist who was both a student and later a master at the Bauhaus, known for his work with color and geometric forms.

        Oskar Schlemmer (1888–1943):

        A painter and sculptor who designed the Bauhaus emblem and taught painting, known for his work on the ballet “The Triadic Ballet”.

        Anni Albers (1899–1994):

        A significant textile artist and printmaker, she was a key figure in the women artists of the Bauhaus.

        Specialization Workshops

        Although Gropius’ initial aim was a unification of the arts through craft, aspects of this approach proved financially impractical. While maintaining the emphasis on craft, he repositioned the goals of the Bauhaus in 1923, stressing the importance of designing for mass production. It was at this time that the school adopted the slogan “Art into Industry.”

        Architecture & Furniture Design

        In 1925, the Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau, where Gropius designed a new building to house the school. This building contained many features that later became hallmarks of modernist architecture, including steel-frame construction, a glass curtain wall, and an asymmetrical, pinwheel plan, throughout which Gropius distributed studio, classroom, and administrative space for maximum efficiency and spatial logic.

        The cabinetmaking workshop was one of the most popular at the Bauhaus. Under the direction of Marcel Breuer (1983.366) from 1924 to 1928, this studio reconceived the very essence of furniture, often seeking to dematerialize conventional forms such as chairs to their minimal existence. Breuer theorized that eventually chairs would become obsolete, replaced by supportive columns or air. Inspired by the extruded steel tubes of his bicycle, he experimented with metal furniture, ultimately creating lightweight, mass-producible metal chairs. Some of these chairs were deployed in the theater of the Dessau building.

        Textiles

        Women and Weaving at the Bauhaus

        The Bauhaus weaving workshop was one of the most inventive and commercially successful departments of the pioneering 20th-century school of art and design. Notably, most of the artists involved were women.

        These women were “exploring textiles’ potential, both as works of art and as utilitarian fabrics,” said Laura Muir, research curator for academic and public programs and curator of The Bauhaus and Harvard at the Harvard Art Museums.

        Collaboration and innovation were paramount in the workshop: artists pursued new designs suitable for industrial production and experimented with novel materials and techniques.

        Source —Harvard Art Museums

        The textile workshop, especially under the direction of designer and weaver Gunta Stölzl (1897–1983), created abstract textiles suitable for use in Bauhaus environments.

        Students studied color theory and design as well as the technical aspects of weaving. Stölzl encouraged experimentation with unorthodox materials, including cellophane, fiberglass, and metal. Fabrics from the weaving workshop were commercially successful, providing vital and much needed funds to the Bauhaus. The studio’s textiles, along with architectural wall painting, adorned the interiors of Bauhaus buildings, providing polychromatic yet abstract visual interest to these somewhat severe spaces.

        While the weaving studio was primarily comprised of women, this was in part due to the fact that they were discouraged from participating in other areas. The workshop trained a number of prominent textile artists, including Anni Albers (1899–1994), who continued to create and write about modernist textiles throughout her life.

        Metal & Industrial Design

        Metalworking was another popular workshop at the Bauhaus and, along with the cabinetmaking studio, was the most successful in developing design prototypes for mass production. In this studio, designers such as Marianne Brandt (2000.63a–c), Wilhelm Wagenfeld (1986.412.1–16), and Christian Dell (1893–1974) created beautiful, modern items such as lighting fixtures and tableware. Occasionally, these objects were used in the Bauhaus campus itself; light fixtures designed in the metalwork shop illuminated the Bauhaus building and some faculty housing.

        Brandt was the first woman to attend the metalworking studio, and replaced László Moholy-Nagy (1987.1100.158) as studio director in 1928. Many of her designs became iconic expressions of the Bauhaus aesthetic. Her sculptural and geometric silver and ebony teapot (2000.63a–c), while never mass-produced, reflects both the influence of her mentor, Moholy-Nagy, and the Bauhaus emphasis on industrial forms. It was designed with careful attention to functionality and ease of use, from the nondrip spout to the heat-resistant ebony handle.

        Typography

        The typography workshop, while not initially a priority of the Bauhaus, became increasingly important under figures like Moholy-Nagy and the graphic designer Herbert Bayer (2001.392). At the Bauhaus, typography was conceived as both an empirical means of communication and an artistic expression, with visual clarity stressed above all. Concurrently, typography became increasingly connected to corporate identity and advertising. The promotional materials prepared for the Bauhaus at the workshop, with their use of sans serif typefaces and the incorporation of photography as a key graphic element, served as visual symbols of the avant-garde institution.

        Cessation, Nationalism and the new beginning

        Gropius stepped down as director of the Bauhaus in 1928, succeeded by the architect Hannes Meyer (1889–1954). Meyer maintained the emphasis on mass-producible design and eliminated parts of the curriculum he felt were overly formalist in nature. Additionally, he stressed the social function of architecture and design, favoring concern for the public good rather than private luxury. Advertising and photography continued to gain prominence under his leadership.

        Under pressure from an increasingly right-wing municipal government, Meyer resigned as director of the Bauhaus in 1930. He was replaced by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1980.351). Mies once again reconfigured the curriculum, with an increased emphasis on architecture. Lilly Reich (1885–1947), who collaborated with Mies on a number of his private commissions, assumed control of the new interior design department.

        Other departments included weaving, photography, the fine arts, and building. The increasingly unstable political situation in Germany, combined with the perilous financial condition of the Bauhaus, caused Mies to relocate the school to Berlin in 1930, where it operated on a reduced scale. He ultimately shuttered the Bauhaus in 1933.

        During the turbulent and often dangerous years of World War II, many of the key figures of the Bauhaus emigrated to the United States, where their work and their teaching philosophies influenced generations of young architects and designers.

        Breuer and Gropius taught at Harvard. Josef and Anni Albers taught at Black Mountain College, and later Josef taught at Yale.

        Moholy-Nagy established the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937.

        Mies van der Rohe designed the campus and taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

        It remains to this day, standing as a distinguished monument to the power of art.

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        the HAWAIIAN SHIRT COLLECTION: MAHALO!

        the HAWAIIAN SHIRT COLLECTION: MAHALO!

        Feb 18, 2025 | cgk.ink writes:, design, textiles, travel

        Hawaiian style is all about ease and comfort. It’s also about celebrating the colors and forms of this unique tropical, Pacific location.

        As with most creative expression, we always seek out the most profane, bastardized version of whatever we are are admiring.

        A few of the worst Hawaiian shirts a short Google Image Search uncovered:

         

        [et_pb_wpdt_wc_product_carousel effect=”coverflow” centered_slides=”on” enable_coverflow_slide_shadow=”on” criteria=”custom_filter” tags=”622″ posts_per_page=”99″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_wpdt_wc_product_carousel]

        Though its precise origins are lost to history, the aloha shirt first appeared in Hawaii in the 1920s or ’30s, probably when local Japanese women adapted kimono fabric for use in men’s shirting. The shirts achieved some popularity among tourists to Hawaii and found greater commercial success when they hit the mainland in the mid-1930s. America at the time was riddled with hardship and anxiety, with many men out of work and many others struggling to hold on to their breadwinner status. Perhaps in response, hyper-manliness came into vogue—the popularity of bodybuilding skyrocketed, Superman burst onto the scene. It may seem paradoxical that men embraced a garment with such feminine appeal. “You’d better get two or three because it’s a cinch your daughter, sister, wife or even mother will want this bright-colored shirt as soon as she sees it,” the Los Angeles Times teased in 1936. That didn’t stop men from buying. By 1940, aloha shirts were bringing in more than $11 million annually (in today’s money).

        By the 1960s, the shirt had become truly ubiquitous. Aloha Fridays were a fixture of a certain kind of workplace, and everyone—from Elvis to the decidedly unhip Richard Nixon—seemed to have an aloha shirt. Over time, perhaps inevitably, it lapsed into the realm of corny suburban-dad-wear.

        Yet in just the past five years, fashion magazines have been heralding a comeback, and high-end labels like Gucci are taking the aloha shirt to new heights, with prints that draw on Japanese designs favored in the garment’s early days. Meanwhile, some shirtmakers from Hawaii’s old guard are still going strong. Kahala, founded in 1936 as one of the first brands producing aloha shirts, has been raiding its vaults to reproduce designs dating back to the 1930s—including some popularized by Duke Kahanamoku. “People are looking to bring some light, some color, some vibrancy into their lives,” says Jason Morgan, Kahala’s general manager. “I think that’s needed now more than ever. If an aloha shirt can help improve somebody’s day, I think that’s pretty powerful.”

        Source: Smithonian Magazine May, 2020

        MOLAS: textile design & political identity

        MOLAS: textile design & political identity

        Jan 14, 2024 | cgk.ink writes:, color, historical, indigenous cultures, politics, textiles

        “Clothes aren’t going to change the world. The women who wear them are.”

        – Anne Klein

        Clothing is often used to define the wearer’s social class, their politics and indeed, their very view of the world. Traditional dress helps form a nation’s identity as well as furthers its heritage.

        In this instance, we explore how two indigenous cultures adapted (or didn’t) to Western influences, political change and the environment.

        The Mola or Molas is a hand-made textile that forms part of the traditional women’s clothing of the indigenous Guna people from Panamá. Their clothing includes a patterned wrapped skirt (saburet), a red and yellow headscarf (musue), arm and leg beads (wini), a gold nose ring (olasu) and earrings in addition to the mola blouse (dulemor).[1] Two groups, Choco and Cuna lived side by side without intermarriage and without adopting a similar culture.[2] In Dulegaya, the Guna’s native language, “mola” means “shirt” or “clothing”. The mola originated with the tradition of Guna women painting their bodies with geometric designs, using available natural colors; at a certain point, after the arrival of the Spanish, these same designs were woven in cotton, and later still, sewn using cloth “acquired by trade from the ships that came to barter for coconuts during the 19th century”.[3][4]

        history

        A Guna woman displays a selection of molas for sale at her home in the San Blas Islands.

        Molas may have their origin in body painting. In 1514, Pasqual de Andagoya, arrived in Darian and wrote.. the women are very well dressed, in embroidered cotton mantles which extend down so as to cover their feet, but the arms and bosom are uncovered.”[5] They did not wear blouses even in 1688 until they had been introduced by the missionaries.

        Only after colonization by the Spanish and contact with missionaries did the Guna start to transfer their traditional geometric designs on fabric, first by painting directly on the fabric and later by using the technique of reverse appliqué. It is not agreed when this technique was first used. It seems to have been popular in the second half of the nineteenth century.[6] In 1924, Lady Brown refers to the dress of the medicine man/ Kantules as “dressed up the knees in long covered with cabalistic characters…all worked into, or let into, the cloth in a form of patchwork.”[7]

        As an inspiration for their designs, the Guna first used the geometrical patterns which have been used for body painting before. In the past, they have also depicted realistic and abstract designs of flowers, sea animals and birds, and popular culture.

        Depending on the tradition of each island, Guna women or men who identify as women begin the crafting of molas either after they reach puberty, or at a much younger age. Women who prefer to dress in western style are in the minority as well as in the communities in Panama City.

        technique

        Molas are hand-made using a reverse appliqué technique. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-colored cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting away parts of each layer. The edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down. Often, the stitches are nearly invisible. This is achieved by using a thread the same color as the layer being sewn, sewing blind stitches, and sewing tiny stitches. The finest molas have extremely fine stitching, made using tiny needles.

        This closeup of a mola by Venancio Restrepo shows the layering of the different colors of cloth, and the fine stitching involved.

        The largest pattern is typically cut from the top layer, and progressively smaller patterns from each subsequent layer, thus revealing the colors beneath in successive layers. This basic scheme can be varied by cutting through multiple layers at once, hence varying the sequence of colours; some molas also incorporate patches of contrasting colours, included in the design at certain points to introduce additional variations of color.[8]

        Molas vary greatly in quality, and the pricing to buyers varies accordingly. A greater number of layers is generally a sign of higher quality; two-layer molas are common, but examples with four or more layers will demand a better price. The quality of stitching is also a factor, with the stitching on the best molas being close to invisible. Although some molas rely on embroidery to enhance the design, a good looking mola is always constructed using the reverse-appliqué method as the leading technique.[1] A mola can take from two weeks to six months to make, depending on the complexity

        cultural, social and political influences

        In 1919, the panamanian government began a policy of forced assimilation banning mola’s dress and nose piercing in women. The government introduced these laws to Westernize Guna society and assert control.[13]

        There was a strong link between traditional dress and Guna culture and identity. Molas have such an importance for the Guna people and their traditional identity that they can be considered responsible for the independent status of the Comarca Kuna Yala.[14]

        After the attempt of the Panamanian government to “westernize” the Guna, the Guna greatly objected to the control on their cultural dress, and ethnic identity, and showed great strength in their reaction to the bans implemented by the government, leading to the Guna Revolution.[13]

        In 1925 for three years following the revolution, women were required to once again adopt traditional dress as a form of rebellion against the government. Women on Nargana and other more progressive islands were forced to wear mola, even if they had never worn this traditional dress, and their noses had to be pierced by force.[13]