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Isaac Mizrahi: How the button changed fashion
Isaac Mizrahi: Cómo el botón cambió la moda
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Cómo el sencillo botón cambió el mundo, según el diseñador de moda Isaac Mizrahi.
Isaac Mizrahi - Fashion designer
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ... Full bio
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ... Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
There are no bad buttons,
there are only bad people.
there are only bad people.
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No hay botones malos;
solo hay personas malas.
solo hay personas malas.
00:14
How does that sound? OK?
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¿De acuerdo?
00:15
[Small thing.]
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[Cosa pequeña.]
00:16
[Big idea.]
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[Idea grande.]
00:19
[Isaac Mizrahi on
the Button]
the Button]
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[Isaac Mizrahi habla del botón]
00:23
No one knows who invented the button.
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Nadie sabe quién inventó el botón.
00:25
It might have shown up
as early as 2,000 BCE.
as early as 2,000 BCE.
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Quizá su origen se remonte al 2000 AEC.
00:28
It was decorative when it first started,
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Era decorativo al principio,
00:31
just something pretty
sewn onto your clothes.
sewn onto your clothes.
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solo algo bonito cosido a la ropa.
00:33
Then about 3,000 years later,
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Luego, unos 3000 años más tarde,
00:35
someone finally invented the buttonhole,
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alguien por fin inventó el ojal
00:38
and buttons were suddenly useful.
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y, de repente, los botones
se volvieron útiles.
se volvieron útiles.
00:40
The button and the buttonhole
is such a great invention.
is such a great invention.
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El botón con el ojal
es una invención excelente.
es una invención excelente.
00:44
Not only does it slip
through the buttonhole,
through the buttonhole,
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El botón no solo se desliza por el ojal,
00:46
but then it kind of falls into place,
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sino que luego encaja en su posición
y entonces se tiene la seguridad
00:48
and so you're completely secure,
like it's never going to open.
like it's never going to open.
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de que la prenda nunca se abrirá.
00:51
The design of a button hasn't changed much
since the Middle Ages.
since the Middle Ages.
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El diseño del botón no ha cambiado mucho
desde la Edad Media.
desde la Edad Media.
00:55
It's one of the most enduring
designs in history.
designs in history.
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Es uno de los diseños
más perdurables de la historia.
más perdurables de la historia.
00:58
For me, the best buttons
are usually round.
are usually round.
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Para mí, los mejores botones
normalmente son los redondos.
normalmente son los redondos.
01:01
There's either a dome button
with a little shank,
with a little shank,
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Hay botones en forma de domo
con un solo agujero,
con un solo agujero,
01:04
or there's just this sort of round thing
with either a rim or not a rim,
with either a rim or not a rim,
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o hay botones redondos con o sin borde
01:08
either two holes or four holes.
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que tienen dos agujeros o cuatro.
01:10
Almost more important than the button
is the buttonhole.
is the buttonhole.
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Casi más importante que el botón
es el ojal.
01:13
And the way you figure that out is:
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Eso se calcula
sumando el diámetro del botón
sumando el diámetro del botón
01:15
the diameter of the button
plus the width of the button,
plus the width of the button,
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al ancho del botón,
más algo de flexibilidad.
01:18
plus a little bit of ease.
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01:19
Before buttons, clothes were bigger --
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Antes de la invención del botón,
la ropa era más grande, más amorfa
la ropa era más grande, más amorfa
01:22
they were more kind of amorphous,
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01:24
and people, like, wriggled into them
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y uno se retorcía para ponérsela
01:26
or just kind of wrapped
themselves in things.
themselves in things.
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o se envolvía en ella.
01:28
But then fashion moved closer to the body
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Pero luego la moda
se ajustó más al cuerpo
se ajustó más al cuerpo
01:32
as we discovered uses for the button.
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conforme descubrimos usos para el botón.
01:34
At one time, it was the one way
to make clothes fit against the body.
to make clothes fit against the body.
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En algún momento, era la única manera
de hacer que la ropa
se ajustara al cuerpo.
se ajustara al cuerpo.
01:41
I think the reason buttons have endured
for so long, historically,
for so long, historically,
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Creo que la razón por la cual los botones
han durado tanto históricamente es que
han durado tanto históricamente es que
01:44
is because they actually work
to keep our clothes shut.
to keep our clothes shut.
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de verdad mantienen cerrada la ropa.
01:47
Zippers break;
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Los cierres se rompen.
01:48
Velcro makes a lot of noise,
and it wears out after a while.
and it wears out after a while.
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El velcro hace mucho ruido
y se estropea con el tiempo.
01:51
If a button falls off,
you just literally sew that thing on.
you just literally sew that thing on.
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Si se te cae un botón,
simplemente lo coses de nuevo y ya.
simplemente lo coses de nuevo y ya.
01:54
A button is kind of there
for the long run.
for the long run.
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Un botón está allí a largo plazo.
01:57
It's not just the most
elemental design ever,
elemental design ever,
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No es solo el diseño
más elemental de la historia,
más elemental de la historia,
02:00
it's also such a crazy fashion statement.
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sino una singular declaración de moda.
02:04
When I was a kid, my mom knit me
this beautiful sweater.
this beautiful sweater.
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De niño, mamá me tejió un suéter bonito.
02:08
I didn't like it.
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No me gustó.
02:09
And then I found these buttons,
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Pero luego encontré estos botones,
02:10
and the minute the buttons were
on the sweater, I loved it.
on the sweater, I loved it.
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y tan pronto estuvieron
en el suéter, me encantó.
en el suéter, me encantó.
02:13
If you don't have good taste
and you can't pick out a button,
and you can't pick out a button,
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Si no tienes buen gusto
y no puedes elegir un botón,
y no puedes elegir un botón,
deja que lo elija otra persona, ¿sí?
02:16
then let someone else do it, you know?
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02:18
I mean that.
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En serio.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Isaac Mizrahi - Fashion designerFashion designer Isaac Mizrahi mixes high fashion and the mass market, with a line of haute couture and a line for Target. Plus a talk show, a cabaret act, a movie, a new book ...
Why you should listen
Design-wise, Isaac Mizrahi is best known for bridging the gap between high and low -- creating gorgeous couture confections for the likes of Eartha Kitt and others, as well as a hugely popular, groundbreakingly affordable line for Target.
His design mission comes wrapped in endless charisma. He's a talk-show host, he's performed his own one-man show Off-Broadway, he was the subject of the hilarious documentary Unzipped, and he does regular cabaret nights at Joe's Pub in New York City. His new book is called How to Have Style .
Isaac Mizrahi | Speaker | TED.com