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Downturn Designers

A Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This economic rough patch has not been kind to clothing. It’s become the norm for retailers to offer 70 percent off. Fashion brands from Christian Lacroix to Hartmarx to Kira Plastinina have filed for bankruptcy. (Though it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that a line by a 16-year-old Russian heiress would last less than a year.) Haute couture houses are struggling to survive.

Yet in last week’s New York Times, designer Diane von Furstenberg, who also heads the Council of Fashion Designers of America, advised “confidence.”

“Everyone else is insecure,” she said. “If you start to take a little bit of everyone else’s insecurity—forget it.” (And btw, you were all spending too much during the boom.)

Sure, DVF has an uber-successful fashion company and a billionaire husband. But does she also have a point? Von Furstenberg debuted her namesake brand in 1973, smack in the middle of a major recession. In fact, some of the most popular and respected designers and innovative materials have emerged in downturns—just further evidence that creativity can flourish in recession, and success can take root in hard times. These are just a few examples:

The Depression
Luxury goods manufacturer Hermès, which was founded as a saddle maker in 1837, starts selling the printed silk scarves it is best known for today.

In 1933, French tennis player Rene Lacoste debuts his clothing company so that in the 1980s, preppies would not have to go naked—or without alligator logos.

Searching for a substitute for silk, which was too expensive for Americans when the unemployment rate was above 20 percent, scientists at DuPont created the first synthetic fiber in 1935. When nylon stockings were presented to the public four years later, the company sold 64 million pairs.

1970s Recession
In 1974, Giorgio Armani creates his menswear line and founds his eponymous company. (Women’s clothes, designed with the same spare aesthetic, came a year later.) Paramount studios asks Ralph Lauren to design the men’s clothing for The Great Gatsby.

Early ‘80s Recession
Malden Mills invents Polarfleece, the warm, soft fabric that is made from plastic bottles and now covers most of Colorado.

‘90s Recession
Marc Jacobs is canned from Perry Ellis in 1993, after a “grunge” collection that launched the defining style of the decade.

2001 Bust
Zac Posen holds his first runway show a month after 9/11 and becomes a new darling of the fashion world.

Tags: business, history, style