World's First ever Fashion Magazines

 

The fashion world has had some amazing channels of promotion – magazines being the front runner in those. Today we have fashion magazines and journals covering major stories of creativity, development and tech updates from around the world. The story about the first ever fashion journal is quite interesting which we share here.

The first fashion magazine is generally considered to be "Le Mercure Galant," a French publication founded in 1672 that included fashion news alongside other literary and courtly topics. While Le Mercure Galant was a broader gazette, it pioneered the reporting of fashion trends and is often credited as the first fashion publication. Another important milestone was the creation of "Le Cabinet des Modes," which launched in 1785 and was the first publication dedicated entirely to fashion.

Le Mercure Galant (1672)

• Founded by Jean Donneau de Visé, this French literary gazette began reporting on fashion, luxury goods, and etiquette.

• It featured detailed descriptions of clothing, accessories, and fabrics, and later included special editions with fashion engravings.

• It is credited with being the first publication to regularly comment on new styles and played a significant role in spreading new fashion ideas.

Le Cabinet des Modes (1785)

• Launched in 1785, this was the first magazine to be completely dedicated to fashion news.

• It was published regularly and was available by subscription, both in France and abroad.

• Each edition contained hand-colored engravings of the latest styles, which helped guide the work of tailors and designers.

The women’s magazine as we know it—a lavishly illustrated celebration of consumption and beauty aimed at a popular audience—emerged in England in the 1870s. In a 1994 paper for the Journal of Design History, Christopher Breward explains how this new format grew out of shifting views of a woman’s role in society.

Breward writes that the nineteenth century brought a new populist model to women’s publishing, which had been, since the 1700s, an elite, literary affair. Better printing equipment, a falling newspaper tax, and rising literacy rates brought magazines to more households. The first popular interest British fashion magazine started up in 1806, but the 1870s and 1880s brought a new variety to the genre—graphics-heavy, with a focus on women’s position in the public world. In 1875, there were 20 such titles. By 1898, there were 30.

One magazine explained that its features on fashion and decorating had “the aim of being useful to others, who are prevented by duties or distance from visiting those houses where the best of everything is to be seen.” Breward notes that another, unstated purpose of the features was promoting advertisers’ products. Either way, he writes, the central idea was building a “feminized consumer culture.”

Breward writes that women of this era were navigating contradictions inherent in the way people understood the separate spheres of men and women. Women were portrayed as “pure angelic” wives and mothers without concern for material things, but they were also expected to communicate their families’ social positions through their clothing and appearance.

In the 1850s and 1860s, women’s magazines moralized about the need for women to embrace the role of homemaker. But by the mid-1870s, many of them were running stories that glamorized showy clothes and illustrations of beautifully dressed women in public spaces. Common scenes included women boarding a train or talking in groups at a café.

As department stores transformed fashion consumption in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the magazines increasingly showed images of women shopping. The illustrations often depicted an elegantly dressed woman choosing from a variety of hats or accessories.

Breward writes that the journals “not only encouraged the act of public buying, but engaged the reader in a form of private surrogate shopping. For the 3d. price of a journal, women bought the opportunity to peruse a fantasy world which released them from the immediate pressures of home.”

The magazines pushed their own form of male dominance—the idea that women should dress to please men—as well as the emerging notion of consumerism as a route to happiness. But they also offered a vision of freedom and independence that is still part of the appeal of today’s women’s magazines.

Courtesy : www.daily.jstor.org

Hermès trademark victory in India

 

The Delhi High Court held that the shape of the Birkin bag, the Hermès trademark, as well as two stylised versions of the Hermès mark, deserved to be declared as well-known trademarks.

Four trademarks owned by French luxury brand Hermes -- the distinctive three-dimensional shape of the iconic Birkin bag, the Hermes word mark, and two stylised logos associated with the brand -- have been recognised as 'well-known marks' in India by the Delhi high court.

Justice Tejas Karia passed the order in a trademark infringement and passing-off suit filed by Hermes International against Indian firm Macky Lifestyle Private Limited. The Paris-based brand had accused the company of advertising lookalike handbags online without authorisation.

The Indian company, in response, had submitted an affidavit, stating that it had neither manufactured nor sold any products resembling Hermes' designs, and had already wound up its business operations.

Following this assurance, the court proceeded to examine Hermes' request to have its marks formally recognised as well-known under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

To substantiate its claim, Hermes presented extensive documentation, including trademark registrations across multiple jurisdictions, evidence of consistent brand enforcement, and global recognition of the Birkin bag's design in high-fashion publications.

The material averred that the Birkin bag's shape has acquired distinctiveness and international reputation through decades of exclusive association with Hermes.

After reviewing the evidence, Justice Karia noted that Hermes' marks have been recognised by industry groups abroad, along with how the brand has consistently protected its rights in India and other countries, shows that these marks are unique and well-known.

'The plaintiffs'(Hermes') long-standing reputation and consistent use of the subject marks across jurisdictions establish a continuous and significant commercial presence. The documents on record also indicate that the subject marks have been used and promoted for several decades, supported by considerable promotional expenditure and consistent visibility in the fashion industry worldwide,' the order said.

The Court noted that Section 11(6) of the Act lays down five factors that the Registrar must take into account while considering an application for status of a well-known trade mark.

The factors are as follows:

The knowledge and recognition of the mark in the relevant section of the public including in India. In the instant case, Hermes has several stores in Mumbai and Delhi which prominently display the Birkin bag being the three-dimensional shape mark. Additionally, several magazines such as The Economic Times, Printfriendly and Harpar Bazaar have reviewed and recognized the plaintiff’s products.

The duration, extent and geographical area of use of the mark.

The duration, extent and geographical area of any promotion of the mark, including advertising or publicity and presentation at fairs and exhibitions. The Court noted that the plaintiff’s products bearing the subject marks have been extensively promoted and publicized in several international magazines globally.

The duration and geographical area of any registration of or any application for registration of that trade mark under this Act to the extent that they reflect the use or recognition of the trade mark. The Court noted that the plaintiffs enjoy international and national registrations for the three-dimensional shape mark of the Birkin bag as well as of the trade mark ‘HERMES’ in over 40 countries including Canada, Hong Kong, Japan etc.

The record of successful enforcement of the rights in that trade mark, in particular the extent to which the trade mark has been recognised as a well-known trade mark by any court or Registrar under that record. The Court noted that the plaintiffs have been vigilant in protecting their subject mark from misuse and have obtained preliminary injunction against several third parties. The Court also noted that the three-dimensional shape of the Birkin bag has been declared as well-known by the President of the French Federation of Leather and Travel Case makers Leather Bands.