FIRST WAVE

The first wave was around 1900. It mainly fought for women's right to vote and access to higher education. Degrading corsets and crinolines were exchanged for wearable silhouettes. In the 1920s the unimaginable became possible: women increasingly wore trousers. A development in which Gabriele Chanel played a major role with her practical and menswear-inspired designs.

SECOND WAVE

the position for women didn't progress enough so a second wave started late 1960s. This time 'Being your own boss', equality in the workplace and traditional gender roles were on the agenda. In 1966 Yves Saint Laurent designed his revolutionary women's suit Le smoking and the safari jacket two years later. Both creations were a symbol for the new male-female ratio. “Chanel liberated women, Yves Saint Laurent liberated fashion from its aura” . Feminist rejected the sexy and opressive clothing in different ways. They started dressing more masculine or completely ignored fashion in order to regain their 'natural femininity'. Bra off, armpit hair present.

THIRD WAVE

The third wave of feminism was build on the ideas and theoretical analyzes of the second wave of feminism. This third wave differs from the two previous ones by new methods, different goals and finding a balanced approach to diversity within society and feminism. In the fashion world, more and more designers were looking for a new femininity that would challenge the traditional gender differences in fashionA good example of this is the work of Vivienne Westwood. Initially, Westwood incorporated subcultural elements from punk into her contemporary clothing. The bad girl was born. After the commercialization of punk, Westwood's interest shifted in the 1980s to, among other things, the technical aspect of Victorian fashion. This resulted in collections with wearable busts, corsets and crinolines with which she emphasized the female body.

NOWADAYS

A forth wave has started in the 2010s and is still happening. It has a focus for spreading awareness about feminism through internet and has a focus on intersectionality. Intersectionality means realising the interplay between race, gender, origin, class, age, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and so further. It is acknowledging that everyone has different expierences regarding discrimination, opression and sexism. We must consider different factors that could affect an individual and combining them instead of isolating each factor. Maria Grazia Chiuri's first collection for Dior, was inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Dior announced that a percentage of proceeds from the sale of each shirt will benefit The Clara Lionel Foundation, Rihanna's non-profit organization. "Seeing artists such as Rihanna wearing the We Should All Be Feminists T-shirt showed me how important it is for women to advance their fight," Chiuri said in a statement, "My position in a house as influential as Dior, but also my role as a mother, reminds me every day of my responsibilities and the importance of my actions."