The history of fashion design refers specifically to the development of the purpose and intention behind garments, shoes and accessories, and their design and construction. The modern industry, based around firms or fashion houses run by individual designers, started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who, beginning in 1858, was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments he created.
Established in Paris in 1858, his fashion salon soon attracted European royalty, and where they led monies society followed. An innovative designer, he adapted 19th-century dress to make it more suited to everyday life, with some changes said to be at the request of his most prestigious client Empress Eugenie
The design of these clothes became increasing based on printed designs, especially from Paris, which were circulated around Europe, and eagerly anticipated in the provinces. Seamstresses would then interpret these patterns as best they could. The origin of the designs was the clothes devised by the most fashionable figures, normally those at court, together with their seamstresses and tailors. Though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from France since the 16th century and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion in the 1620s, the pace of change picked up in the 1780s with increased publication of French engravings illustrating the latest Paris styles, followed by fashion magazines such as Cabinet des Modes. By 1800, all Western Europeans were dressing alike (or thought they were); local variations became first a sign of provincial culture and later a badge of the conservative peasant.
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