Shirin Guild

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Shirin Guild
شیرین گیلد
Born
Shirin Zafar[1]

1946 (age 77–78)
Iran
EducationSaint Martin's School of Art
Occupation(s)Fashion designer, costume designer
Known forApparel design, fashion label
MovementMinimalism
SpouseRobin Guild (m. 1985–2006; death)

Shirin Guild (Persian: شیرین گیلد; née Shirin Zafar;[1] born 1946)[2] is an Iranian-born British fashion designer. Her fashion label was established in London, in 1991. Her clothing design is minimalist and she has reworked Iranian clothing traditions through a "reductionist aesthetic".[3] Her design work has been described as "trans-cultural".[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Shirin Guild was born in 1946 and grew up in Iran. Prior to the 1979 revolution, she moved to Los Angeles where she remained during the early 1980s.[4] Her early interest with fashion came from layering with Iranian tribal apparel.[4] Comme des Garcons and other Japanese designers of the 1970s and 1980s had an early career impact, which inspired her to start designing.[4]

She eventually moved to Belgravia in London.[1][5] Apart from two years of tuition from the London Saint Martin's School of Art,[6] in her youth, Shirin Guild is a self-taught fashion designer.

Career[edit]

The Shirin Guild label was launched in 1991 by Shirin and her husband, the interior decorator Robin Guild.[1][7] It is an independent company which produces three collections of womenswear a year. Most garments were manufactured entirely in Britain and the label found acclaim worldwide.

Guild's designs were originally inspired by Iranian traditional clothes shapes, with a more boxy and layered look.[8] She had an "Abba coat" similar to a style worn by holy men in Iran and a "Kurdish"–style pant.[9] She was initially known for oversize, square-shaped patterns, designed to take form on the feminine body,[10] in later years, the designer's style has evolved to embrace a leaner silhouette. This has attracted younger buyers to the brand, which, in general, had previously been favored by the middle aged woman.

Guild is renowned for utilising unconventional materials and manufacturing technologies, which she combines with traditional fabrics and craftsmanship. Guild's innovative, minimalistic garments are made of uniquely devised fabrics, based on yarns made from cashmere, silk, linen, wool, cotton, stainless steel, copper, hemp, bamboo, pineapple and even paper, or combinations thereof.[6]

The globalization of fashion started in the 1970s, and with it saw the first emergence of fashion designers that were not of European-origins selling in Western markets.[11] Other leading fashion designers of her generation with non-European origins include Hanae Mori, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Hussein Chalayan, Rifat Ozbek, Azzedine Alaia, Vivienne Tam, Eskandar, among others.[11][4]

Guild's work is widely mentioned in the media, as well as in academic publications. Her creations of the label have been selected for museum collections, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London;[12] and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Interior designer guided London's rich and famous". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 September 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  2. ^ Chodha, Dal (2 February 2016). "Advocating Minimalism: The Style Legacy of Shirin Guild". AnOther. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b English, Bonnie (1 August 2013). A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries: From Catwalk to Sidewalk. A&C Black. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-85785-137-6.
  4. ^ a b c d Voight, Rebecca (16 October 1998). "A Soft, Voluminous Look Is Edging Out Skinny Silhouette : Loosening Up on Slim Chic". The New York Times. International Herald Tribune. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  5. ^ White, Nicola; Griffiths, Ian (2000). The fashion business: theory, practice, image. Berg Publishers. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-85973-359-2.
  6. ^ a b [s.n.] (2005). Intelligenti Pauca: Shirin Guild A Special Understanding. Selvedge 4-8: 24–26. Accessed August 2013. ISSN 1742-254X
  7. ^ Black, Sandy (2006). Fashioning Fabrics: Contemporary Textiles in Fashion. Black Dog. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-904772-41-5.
  8. ^ "Buy designer's stuff to look like a scarecrow". Lewiston Morning Tribune. 4 December 1994. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  9. ^ Spindler, Amy M. (29 November 1994). "Patterns". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  10. ^ Sherwood, James (7 September 1997). "The big easy comes to town". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012.
  11. ^ a b Jirousek, Charlotte A. (1 March 2019). Ottoman Dress and Design in the West: A Visual History of Cultural Exchange. Indiana University Press. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-253-04219-4.
  12. ^ "Ensemble". Victoria & Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012.
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