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- Safari jacket, designed by Dries van Noten for his Spring 2015 Women’s Ready to Wear collection.
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- Dries van Noten is a designer from Antwerp, Belgium. He comes from a family of tailors, and he studied at the Antwerp Fashion Academy. He started his own company in 1985, creating both menswear and women’s wear for summer and winter, and is successful despite the label’s policy of non-advertisement.
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- Van Noten’s style is characterized by prints, themes, eclectic fabrics, and layering. He says that his Spring 2015 collection, which includes the aforementioned safari jacket, “is actually inspired by the idea of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; about a girl who loves the full moon but also the sunlight,” resulting in a fairy-tailish, dream-like mixture of shimmering lightness and flowing material.
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- The safari jacket originated in the late 1800s, worn as part of European military uniforms in warmer climates. They were also worn throughout World War II.
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- Later, the jacket became the customary form of dress for tourists vacationing in Africa, usually participating in some form of hunting. Author Ernest Hemingway, shown in the photo, was one of these tourists. In 1939, Abercrombie & Fitch advertised safari jackets, shorts and trousers, of ‘coat shirt style’ for sports and leisure wear.
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- The line drawing displays the fundamental components of the safari jacket: two or more pockets, buttons, epaulets, and a belt. It was traditionally made from lightweight drill cotton or poplin, and was khaki colored.
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- The safari jacket became popular leisure wear in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, due to Yves Saint Laurent use of the design in his collection (left). Legendary supermodel Veruschka von Lehndorff (right) wore his jacket in Vogue magazine, and the safari jacket has been a mainstream garment since.
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- Also in the forefront of the 1970s was denim, thanks to the power of suggestive advertising. Initially associated with the working class, denim, a fabric made from cotton twill and usually dyed blue, rose to top usage by the fashion industry during the 1970s and 1980s. Yves Saint Laurent utilized it as a luxury fabric. Shown are dyed cotton threads being woven and processed in a denim-making factory.
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- Here is my sketch. Van Noten’s spin on the safari jacket includes two breast pockets, a cloth belt, and buttons.
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- The final product, crafted from blue and gold silk denim instead of cotton denim, pays homage to Saint Laurent’s safari jacket designs of the 1960s and 1970s while putting a uniquely Van Noten flavor to it. The material adds a subtle glow while maintaining the luxurious feel reminiscent of the safari jackets of years ago.
Love the arrangement of the slides. Nice and neat. One thing I would recommend is to post a better picture that is not shaken. It is just a little bit off but still fine. Nice job!
Excellent, thorough visual research! The captions are clear and clarify the images.