Bonnie Cashin: A Modern Pioneer for the Fashion World

For the first few decades of the 20th century, a British woman’s function in society mirrored her everyday wear; a closet full of complicated garments that were both constrictive and controlling. After World War II, women were relieved of their duties managing the home front, causing increasing ambiguity as to the female role in society, until the explosion of feminism in the 1960s.

A new wave of women required a new wave of fashion. Bonnie Cashin, an American fashion designer who made her mark in the fashion industry by combining form and utility, revolutionized women’s sportswear, providing the modern woman with clothing that was feminine, functional, and fabulous.

Prior to the 1960s, Cashin designed costumes for the theatre and constructed comfortable and protective uniforms for women serving in the armed forces during and after World War II. Cashin shied away from the extremely structured and rigid fashion that had been keeping women in their place for the last few decades, and instead created clothing that required minimum darting and seaming, with silhouettes based on the rectangle for simpler, less fussy couture.

In the early 1960s, as the female population took to the workforce in spades, Cashin evolved the woman’s handbag to fit the needs of the modern working woman. When she launched a line of accessories for Coach, which was at the time a company predominantly geared towards males, she used innovative hardware such as her signature toggle for closures, creatively wedding function and form. Career women proudly wore Cashin’s designs on their shoulders as they took to the office, proving that style didn’t have to be merely decorative.

Cashin is credited with pioneering women’s sportswear, which was defined as comfortable and casual clothing that could be worn in any season and by any woman. Sportswear was highly functional fashion that fit to the attitudes of the emerging feminist spirit.

The 1960s was a time of experimentation, innovation, and progress. The mobilization of youth culture affected the outcome of the rest of the century, as a new generation collectively refused to follow suit. As the 60’s became the 70’s, equality and a return to simpler, more organic ways became key. Bonnie Cashin’s innovative approach to fashion served a metaphor for bringing femininity to what was traditionally considered masculine, and forever altered the landscape of women’s clothing.