A CHANGING FACE
The front page is any newspaper’s most valuable real estate. WWD has told thousands of seemingly incongruous stories, from big business and breakthrough collections to war developments and a moon landing. And its design has changed with the times as well. Here, a transformation through the decades.
Paul Poiret’s futuristic fantasies — for the year 2017 — made news Oct. 13, 1917. Page one also asked the question, “Do Women Want Tight Fitting Boned Bodice?”
The Flapper gave fashion a spirited jolt in the Twenties. On Nov. 6, 1924, Flapper and Garcon looks were paired. A separate headline related that “Morning Dresses Usable as Decorative Wall Draperies May Be Shown in Paris.”
In 1933, Prohibition was out; the “Regal Repeal Gown” was in. New Yorkers raised their glasses “in smart gathering places about town, such as the Central Park Casino, the Waldorf-Astoria, the Park Lane and the St. Regis,” as reported Dec. 7.
World Wars I and II, as well as the Vietnam War, and their undeniable impact on society and industry were extensively covered. Here, early reports of D-day on June 6, 1944.
“Pretty dresses” is what “They Are Wearing” in Palm Beach, Feb. 7, 1952. Elsewhere, French couturiers anticipate a “drop in buying” due to the death of King George VI; functions are cancelled and “black fabrics are sought.”
Man lands on the moon and the paper weighs in, July 22, 1969. Subsequent coverage examined whether space looks and fabrics would find their place in fashion.
A five-star collection — Yves Saint Laurent’s Ballet Russe, April 7, 1976. “Yves St. Laurent is Mr. Big Fantasy Fashion. He is 40 years old and his influence now is as great as the late Chanel and the late Christian Dior,” the paper’s front page review proclaimed.
It’s the mid-Eighties and easy American sportswear is booming. As Calvin Klein anticipates a “Gentle Summer,” the paper begins using color more often on page one.
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