![]() ![]() It’s worth noting that in 1914 - long before full adoption by any military force - camouflage was being worn for fashion purposes by couturiers in Paris, who saw the patterns and adopted them for their own clothing. Russia and Germany followed suit, developing their own prints (first for their elite units), as the world hurtled towards its second World War. In World War I’s interim, it was the Italians who were able to mass-produce printed fabric, giving birth to unique camouflaged application in uniforms. Like Scottish snipers who were credited with inventing the Ghillie suit, and Finnish infantry who used white overalls for winter combat.Įarly camouflage patterns such as the widely used ‘tree bark’ pattern utilized by the French and British were expertly hand-painted by artists like sculptors and theater-set painters. Certain military divisions within began tailoring patterns and combat dress to best suit their needs in the field. Led by the opinions of Winston Churchill who believed deception to be a powerful diversionary, and psychological tactic, the British army wholly adopted camo, followed by the United States, Russia, Italy, Germany, and Portugal. Over the course of World War I, many of the countries embroiled in the conflict began to re-think the battle dress of their respective forces, introducing new patterns, colors, and entire concepts of camouflage. Despite early stereotypes of camouflage being effeminate and a cowardly tactic in combat, the advent of printed camouflage patterns was spurred by the need for visual deception, with the rising applications of highly accurate and increasingly deadly machine guns. However, certain combat-specific hues like rifle green, khaki, and slate grey were already being utilized by several European countries and the United States since the early 1800s. ![]() The word itself joined the military lexicon when it was coined by the French during World War I. But beyond the fresh applications, what is camouflage exactly? What was it originally designed for? Like many modern utilitarian fashion staples today, camouflage was born out of military necessity. ![]()
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