Charting the course of the Breton stripe through fashion, from the 1910s through the spring 2015 runways.
The spring season has earned its stripes—be they plaid, gridded, or Breton. The latter showed up in Paris, yesterday, at Sacai, paired, unexpectedly and gloriously, with lace and today, at Chanel, with a Left Bank twist. The marinière, originally French naval standard issue, was introduced to women’s fashion by Coco Chanel, and became a house signature chez Gaultier (as well as part of the designer’s personal uniform). Worn casually by such stylish women as Brigitte Bardot and Jean Seberg, this season the humble sailor stripe has once again been upgraded to first class.
Photo: The Granger Collection, NYC – All rights reserved1/6Coco Chanel on the French Riviera with her dog Gigot. c. 1930
Photo: Collection CSFF – Rue des Archives/The Granger Collection, NYC – All rights reserved2/6Brigitte Bardot, 1954
Photo: Courtesy of Everett Collection3/6Jean Seberg in The Mouse That Roared, 1959
Photo: Rex Features/Courtesy of Everett Collection4/6Jean Paul Gaultier, spring 2006
Photo: Chantal Thomine-Desmazures/© Sony Picture Classics/Courtesy of Everett Collection5/6Audrey Tatou in Coco Before Chanel (2009)
Photo: Marcus Tondo/Indigitalimages.com6/6Sacai, spring 2015
Christian Lacroix is Laird Borrelli-Persson’s fashion raison d’etre; the way he combined romance and historicism set her on the path she is following today. Borrelli-Persson studied literature at Boston College, spending her junior year abroad at Oxford, where she added some art history. After graduation she moved to New York to intern ... Read More