What's In A [Designer] Name?

What’s In A [Designer] Name? - An Investigation of Twentieth-Century Fashion Labels

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”  William Shakespeare

While Juliet professed to Romeo that names are irrelevant, modern fashion begs to differ.

Today most fashion items bear a maker's label. However, this was not always the case. Labeling women’s fashion garments began in the late 1850s. This exhibition investigates the history of labels and specifically explores the cachet of designer labels through an examination of fashion items in the University of Rhode Island’s Historic Textile and Costume Collection (HTCC). 

The exhibition discusses fashion labeling and retailing practices and defines terms such as designer, brand, haute couture, and ready-to-wear. It essentially asks: what gave rise to the popularity of the eponymous label? Some designer labels are the hallmarks of an artisan workshop while others have become the stamp of global mega brands. 

The changing role of the American woman, as both makers and consumers, will also be at the forefront of our story. Twentieth century fashion silhouettes mirror the lifestyle of the American woman: where she spent her time, the choices she made, and how she wanted to be seen in the world.

Consumers, ultimately, determine which designers "make it", and contribute to which ones are remembered in the historical record through donations to fashion collections and museums. An ever-increasing number of designers donate their archives to public institutions or establish their own museum-like archives to preserve their legacies.