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Mary Quant's Influence on Youth Power in the 60"S Essay Example

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Mary Quant's Influence on Youth Power in the 60"S Essay Example
Essay Question - Discuss either how Mary Quant led the youth power movement in the 60’s or how Azzedine Alaia led the body conscious movement in fashion in the 80’s. Briefly analyse how the movement start, how does it influence fashion. Where it is particularly evident in the designers’ collection? What design elements were used to bring the intended expression of the youth power or body by consciousness? Cite no more than two collections from the respective designer as case studies.

Fashion defines our social standing, our era, and us. Fashion evolves due to innovators, only to then be imitated by others. Its also evident that clothing has been influenced by everything from pop stars to political movements, from movies to music, and from athletes to alternative ideologies.

The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and England and spread throughout much of the western world between 1956 and 1974. The movement gained thrust during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam. Many scholars of this era believe that the peak years of the counterculture movement were from 1965 to 1972. Mary Quant was a part of this movement.

As the 1960s progressed, widespread tensions developed in American society that tended to flow along generational lines regarding the war in Vietnam, race relations, sexual mores, women's rights, traditional modes of authority, experimentation with psychoactive drugs, and differing interpretations of the American Dream. New cultural forms emerged, including the pop music of the British band The Beatles and the concurrent rise of hippie culture, which led to the rapid evolution of a youth subculture that emphasized change and experimentation. In addition to the Beatles, many additional songwriters, singers and musical groups from the United Kingdom and America came to impact the counterculture movement.

The baby boomers, who were reaching their

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