Words: Leah Oatway
F
rom the platinum locks of Jean Harlow to the elfin charms of Audrey Hepburn, the sultry Lauren Bacall to the smouldering Marlon Brando: the stars of Hollywood’s golden age have had an indelible effect on fashion and style. By the end of the 1930s, with some 500 films released annually and tens of millions of cinema tickets being sold weekly in the States, Tinseltown’s influence on fashion had become immeasurable.
The first lady of the era, Bette Davis, with her striking looks, fearless fashion and tireless work ethic set the benchmark. And Katharine Hepburn’s then unconventional love of trousers is credited with influencing women’s ready-to-wear collections. Like many style stars of the 1930s and 1940s, their wardrobes relied on the creative talent of prolific costume designers such as Edith Head, Gilbert Adrian and Orry-Kelly. Forays into film by haute couture designers were few and far between, despite expensive efforts by film
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AIR looks back at the style, charisma and talent, that has made these stars of Hollywood’s golden era trailblazers for future generations….
studio directors such as Samuel Goldwyn to lure them in. It was Audrey Hepburn’s relationship with Hubert de Givenchy that marked the turning point. Her Oscar-winning performance in Roman Holiday not only made belted men’s shirts, capri pants and flats covetable, but led to the introduction in 1953, on the set of Sabrina. Her pared-down style and gamine beauty intrigued the ascending designer and the pair struck up a friendship that would last until her death from Cancer in 1993. While de Givenchy was not responsible for creating the little black dress, those he later designed for Hepburn –most memorably long and satin, with a hint of leg, in Breakfast at Tiffany’s – would see the garment
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become synonymous with the star. “He is far more than a couturier,” Hepburn once famously said of the designer, “He is a creator of personality.” If Hepburn’s signature garment was the little black dress, then men can thank Marlon Brando for making the biker look cool. His smouldering good looks and iconic portrayal of Johnny Strabler in The Wild Ones (1953) left men wanting to be him (Johnny’s hair alone led to a sideburns craze) and women desperate to tame him. As the 60s rolled around, a potent cocktail of talent and good looks, mixed with a healthy dose of alpha male swag and a side of anti-hero persona, saw Steve McQueen become the highest paid film star of his time and the first male cover star of Harper’s Bazaar magazine. The Great Escape actor rocked denim as effortlessly as he carried off slimfitting tailored suits. Indeed, so well could McQueen scrub up that Rolex named their Explorer watch after him, the McQueen Rolex, and high demand for the Tag Heuer watch that he wore in Le Mans (1971) saw it re-released in the 1990s. With Brad Pitt the first male face of Chanel No 5, the power of such star endorsements is now well understood. Yet, no matter who the stars of tomorrow may be, those of Hollywood’s golden age show no sign of fading. Last year’s autumn/winter collections, for example, were flooded with tributes to Marlene Dietrich’s “smouldering femininity and masculine garb”. And when it comes to red carpet events, ascending screen stars draw inspiration from their lofty predecessors: Blake Lively, herself a Chanel muse, often channels the glossy side-swept curls, red lips and feline eyes of siren Rita Hayworth.