This week I had to submit a written analysis of a Hardy Amies skirt suit from the Victoria & Albert Museum's collections. Nancy Troy, in her book Couture Culture: A Study of Modern Art and Fashion (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 1995), takes into account Pierre Bourdieu and Yvette Delsaut's notion of the 'magical effect' produced by the artist's signature in her examination of the designer label in the early creation of fashion. She uses the example of Charles Frederick Worth -- a nineteenth-century couturier who forged an artistic persona in order to promote his brand, thereby creating an identity shift for makers of clothing who had previously been considered mere craftsmen.
This is especially pertinent when considering the label on the Amies suit which simulates a written signature, even though it is woven into fabric:
In its heyday, the Hardy Amies brand was considered to be the quintessentially English style where Amies' great wit and showmanship was as much of a draw to his consumers as the clothes themselves. That the clothes bear his 'stamp' of authenticity is really important, as a signifier of both value and artistry on the finished product.
