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The “Underwear/Outerwear” Spirit Contest
“Lingerie Spirit” also welcomes, in the City of Lace atrium, the interesting works of young talents within the setting of the exhibition, who participated in the “Underwear/Outerwear Spirit” contest. Presided by Michel Dupré and Christelle Santabarbara, from the Dupré Santabarbara fashion house and organized by the International City of Lace and Fashion, this contest is meant for 3rd years students of the Esmod Roubaix School and for the young designers supported by the “Maisons de Mode” Organization in Lille and Roubaix, in Northern France. After evaluating the students’ works, the expert jury awarded three students: Aurélie Lefebvre received the Jury Prize, and was also rewarded with a week internship in the workshops of the Dupré Santabarbara fashion house, Victoire Coisne received the Jury Trame Prize (lacemakers) and Stéphane Martella got the Jury’s Choice Award. Congratulations to all!
AURELIE LEFEBVRE’S CREATIONS (ESMOD ROUBAIX), «UNDERWEAR/OUTWEAR SPIRIT»
AWARD WINNER

and contributed to putting it back in its true place in the fashion world.

From Intimacy to Exhibition, from the Boudoir to the Office
If the disappearance of corsets marked the beginning of women’s liberation, and if feminist movements contributed to a simplification of undergarments up to the point of burning bras, lingerie brands supply a rich and diverse product offer with many items putting a strong accent on sensuality. With nudity becoming trivial, the contemporary imagination is in trouble and to give the female body its original properties, fashion designers set to partially and subtly cover it. In a society dominated by webcams and Facebook, lingerie brands offer a consumerism experience to suggest a new form of intimacy based on a complete narrative universe, lead by advertisement, websites and the interior design of lingerie boutiques. Lightly dressed feminine characters come and go in imaginary settings built to stimulate creativity while calling to the symbolic figures and myths that have forged the contemporary woman in our

collective memories. Meanwhile, history has witnessed the emancipation of women, who were once objectified and are now in control of their own existence.

Underwear-Outerwear: Fashion Trend or Profound Mutation
Today lingerie has become, in itself, a fashion object and its different pieces hold the same place as ready-to-wear apparel in women’s wardrobes. Not only is lingerie in style, but it inspires the art of fashion, lending its fabrics, techniques, and details to other clothing divisions. Women mix and match different pieces and play with the underwear-outerwear effects to the point of erasing the distinction between lingerie and ready-to-wear. Designers invested in the field of lingerie by developing licenses, but also through the creation of “underwear/outwear” clothing. The idea behind the concept is to make lingerie visible, to wear it over the outfits or work ready-to-wear apparel with lingerie materials, techniques and accessories. This new fashion trend invites the intimate apparel industry to borrow fabrics from other

«The idea behind the concept is to make lingerie visible, to wear it over the outfits or work ready-to-wear apparel with lingerie materials, techniques and accessories»
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THE BEST OF INTIMA – 02/2010

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