In all her
understated glory, she sits there; humble and full of mystery. It’s almost
unsettling, certainly unusual; to see Cindy Sherman as herself without the wigs
and theatrical make-up we’re used to seeing depicted in her ever ambiguous
photographic work.Sherman works with no
intention of presenting a clear message or meaning and I think that stands her
in great stead. For her audience to have the opportunity to create their own
associations and decisions about her work, without any preconceived ideas of
what her initial intentions may have been, is an admirable thing; not many
artists are capable of working with that certain air of detachment from the
subject and because of this she is also able to keep her own identity at the
arms length of her audience and fans.
Anyone who
knows the work of Cindy Sherman will be familiar with her tongue-in-cheek
approach to visual representation. But this time, it is the clothes that bring
her to life rather than vice versa. What we may be used to in her
over-compensating make-up jobs and prosthetics has now been turned on its head,
but why? Does this mean she is exposing herself more than ever before or has
she now become the model instead of the subject?
With bold
attire and very little else in terms of styling, Cindy Sherman has taken on a
very alternative role in her latest works. The photographs take on the very
familiar darkness she has channelled once before with her works titled ‘Centrefolds’; in fact, ever keen to
test controversy, this latest collection of photographs is almost a modern
nostalgic nod towards the previous which was notably rejected by Artforum editor, Ingrid Sischey, in 1981
due to fear of negative public responses. And so 22 years later, it would seem
she is revisiting her choice to challenge the norm once again. But the question
is, does it have the same impact? Her question to society is: ‘What difference
does 20 years make to your opinions?’
For this brief we were asked to either create a muse from imagination and inspiration or to choose an existing figure who we draw inspiration from in some way.My reason for choosing Cindy Sherman is extensive; i have always been a great fan ever since discovering her work a few years ago. The raw quality of her photographs works incredibly well with the overall flamboyant, hugely expressive and often garish nature of the images she creates. For every photograph she uses herself as the model and subject, changing her aesthetic in a number of different ways, such as prosthetics but even just as simple as theatrically composed make-up with the addition of wigs and costumes. she assumes some very striking roles as part of her work, each more striking than the last. I chose Cindy Sherman as my muse because of her ability to become someone new and so there is a number of different 'Cindy Shermans' to draw inspiration from.
(I'm not sure what's gone wrong with this post but the format has all messed up, sorry!)
Following my research into existing designers, I thought it would be interesting to look into where these designers started out; and in a lot of cases this was via sponsorship from one of the many non-profit organisations there are available. Fashion East is just one of these organisations. Known to have helped designers such as:
•RICHARD NICOLL
•HOLLY FULTON
•JONATHAN SAUNDERS
•HENRY HOLLAND
•GARETH PUGH
•ROKSANDA ILINIC
•MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF
Fashion East are sponsored by Topshop, Topman and The London Development Agency;
providing three menswear and three womenswear designers with the opportunity to present a collection on the runway to the international press. The designers receive a bursary along with a free venue and complete show production, as well as mentoring throughout the process. Since 2009, Fashion East have offered ten menswear designers, including SIBLING and Lou Dalton, an installation at London Fashion Week to showcase their collections to UK and international press and buyers.
Designers currently undergoing this programme are Ryan Lo, Maarten Van Der Horst and Astrid Anderson along with several others.
As the fantastically established Japanese designer behind the Comme des Garcons label, Rei Kawakubo has had a tremendous impact on the fashion industry. Her ability to utilise abstract shape and colour, in my opinion, has helped to shape a whole new outlook on our creativity in the way we dress ourselves. Japanese fashion has always been renowned for its sculptural, sometimes controversial approach to fashion and I think partly due to the popularity of Dover Street Market, Rei Kawakubo has done a great job of filtrating this attitude towards silhouette and overall boldness in personal aesthetic into the British fashion industry; and in return it has been received incredibly well. Unlike European and British fashion, Japanese fashion has the tendency to conveniently ignore the conventional focus on the silhouette of the female body and how clothing can flatter the form but instead focuses on how concepts and abstract shapes can be applied to the body in a three dimensional way. They choose to consider how conventional methods of dressing the body and constructing garments can be changed, manipulated and taken apart to create something dramatic and innovative rather than particularly aesthetically pleasing or functional; all of which I think Kawakubo is the most successful. Rei Kawakubo founded Comme des Garcons as a womenswear label in 1973 and later in 1978 added a menswear line. As quoted from http://www.designboom.com/portrait/comme_bio.html "for many, Kawakubo's arrival in the west, with the first Paris presentation of her collection in 1981, was something of a shock. She presented clothes the challenged accepted conventions. the collection was dubbed 'hiroshima chic' for its use of darkcolors, in particular black, which was not popular at the time."
FAVOURITE COLLECTIONS
Comme des Garcons Fall 2009 RTW
Comme des Garcons Spring 2012 RTW
Comme des Garcons Fall 2012 RTW
The Fall 2012 RTW collection is a stand out favourite collection for me purely due to it's simplicity and daring bold colour and shape of the exact aesthetic which designers avoid; the two dimensional. As quoted by Tim Blanks in his Style.com review in reaction to trend guru Li Edelkoort's negative comments towards online fashion show documentation, "all that detail going on in back, but who was aware of it, bar the few
hundred people in the live audience? Maybe that's why so many designers
have been talking about "tri-dimensionality" this season. And maybe
that's why the ever you-go-north-I'll-go-south Rei Kawakubo chose this
particular moment to present a show that glorified the flat. "The future's in two dimensions" was its provocative premise, and fans of Flat Stanley
would have wallowed in the cutout paper-dolliness of looks like the red
and pink felted coat-dresses that opened the show, or the lilac jacket
and pants that followed. The only thing missing was the little paper
tabs. But as the collection moved on, it felt less like Rei was being a
contrary Mary than that she was actually making a comment on the state
of the industry.
COLLABORATION
H&M
"The famously avant-garde Japanese label, spearheaded by design
powerhouse Rei Kawakubo, will provide a range of both men's and
womenswear, as well as childrenswear, accessories and a new unisex
fragrance for the retailer. In honour of its Japanese roots, the
collaborative line will launch exclusively at H&M in Tokyo in
November before being rolled out worldwide a few days later." (http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2008/04/03/comme-des-garcons-for-handm)
Although I'm not a huge fan of the application of pattern and surface design in my own work, I am really drawn to it in other peoples' collections and this is a perfect example of the kind of thing I like. The combination of traditional and abstract is a very recognisable aesthetic from Rei Kawakubo and by reworking six of the Hermes designs into limited edition pieces, they look set to be a great success. This 'vintage' silk scarf design has been very popular in recent years with young fashionstas utilising it as a way of giving their look a traditional edge.
"Kawakubo proved to be a 'very easy' and 'very nice' partner-in-crime.
'She knows what she wants,' Barret says, and was a seamless fit for
Hermès, where collaboration is termed 'as opening the door, giving the
keys and saying, let's have fun. ' An introductory meeting was followed
by a second at the Hermès flagship shop in Paris, where Kawakubo was
shown 250 scarves from the archives, 'so she could figure out what the
treasure was,' Barret says. Kawakubo 'looked, watched and touched
everything' and then asked 'a ton of technical questions'. 'She was very
sharp and precise about printing,' Barret adds.
'And that was very exciting.' Afterwards, Kawakubo asked for coloured
copies of all the designs, from the 1950s, the 1970s and the present
day, which would allow her to 'think about it and to know what to do'.
At that time, there had been no mention of how many pieces she planned
to create. But a few months later Kawakubo's designs for the two
collections, Noir et Blanc and Couleur, appeared." (http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG9809180/Stablemates-Rei-Kawakubo-collaborates-with-Hermes.html)
MY OPINION
Rei Kawakubo is personally one of my favourite designers as I have a particular interest in Japanese fashion and in turn, Comme des Garcons. The label has such a striking and bold aesthetic which I find very inspirational to my own design work as I have a tedency and desire to design and create garments of a less realistic formation. Structural and almost sculptural design is of great interest to me rather than presenting the body adorned in conventional, traditionally constructed garments. I prefer creativity and clothing with a concept which doesn't necessarily abide by the fashion 'rules.'
Comme des Garçons | Fall Winter 2012/2013 Full Fashion Show | Exclusive
So French hair stylist Charlie Le Mindu has officially turned his attention to clothing fashion. Renowned for some of Lady Gaga's striking and sculptural hair styles, he is now using his love for the art of hair to demonstrate a somewhat unconventional clothing line. Charlie Le Mindu began designing clothes in 2009 but is now due to show at Paris Haute Couture week with his Spring 2013 collection using human hair and Japanese leather as his predominant choice of materials and is quoted "The hair just looks like textured leather,...it’s very organic, but also kind of fetishistic.”
"To describe Le Mindu's childhood as unusual would be an understatement.
Born to a Spanish gypsy father and a French drag king mother (one of the
first in the country), Le Mindu's youth was filled with reluctant rugby
matches and trips to watch his mother work the stage at gay nightclubs.
"My mother always reminds me that, from the age of six, I wanted to be a
hairdresser," says Le Mindu, who got his start playing with Mummy's
locks and shaving the hair off his Barbie dolls. "I wanted to make them
look like lesbians," he quips in his frank, utterly French, and often
unintentionally funny tone." (http://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/charlie-le-mindu/#_) And upon my learning of this, there appears to be instant clarity in terms of where his inspiration and drive formulates from, considering his four years cutting the hair of drag queens in Berlin from the age of 17, it is understandable that his development of style happened to be a little eccentric. Although despite this, from the very beginning of his career he has always preferred to work traditionally and insisted on traditional training methods when learning his trade in hair styling. Himself donning a retro punk revival 'do' inspired by that of Johnny Depp in Cry Baby, this traditional insistence is clear to see. He is quoted by Interview Magazine to have described "this day and age, maybe because of grunge and all that, people think it's
sexy to look like a mess. And it is. But sometimes we need to look to
the past. Not copy it, but just take it as an example."
As a hair stylist and designer combined, Charlie Le Mindu takes influence from 'older' icons such as Cher, Iggy Pop and John Waters as well as lesser known personalities who may be known for certain statements or obscurities. "Conversely, he is also inspired by a number of new and unique performers
from the present, citing Canadian artist, musician and music video
director Claire Boucher (a.k.a Grimes), British singer-songwriter and
actress Rita Ora, American rapper and lyricist Azealia Banks (formerly
known as Miss Bank$)."
COLLABORATION
Charlie Le Mindu has really been able to flaunt his name since his collaboration with Lady Gaga. She has been spotted countless times wearing his boundary-pushing, exclusive creations; these designs even making it to her album covers. She has stepped out wearing some incredible pieces by Le Mindu, particularly head pieces, and has been a great platform for his career in terms of gaining recognition and to some degree acceptance by the fashion industry. It would now probably come as no surprise to you that he was infact also the mystery artistic mind behind Gaga's world renowned 'hair bow.'
MY OPINION
I personally am not a huge fan of Charlie Le Mindu's work. There are some pieces which are beautiful, undeniably creative and innovative but I think it is very difficult to make such an unusual choice of material; such being human hair, look professional and sophisticated. Although he is clearly incredibly talented and advanced in his craft, I prefer his work on wigs and head pieces rather than his body adorments and I see them as appearing slightly cheap and often out of taste.
As our main focus currently is based around distinguishing what our influences are and what makes us the designers we are, I was asked to describe myself across three mood boards by collecting selected images of things I particularly like or am drawn to in terms of colours, composition and artistic style across all disciplines such as fashion, architecture, photography and art as well as music tastes, iconic figures and even film preferences. All of these things are valuable sources of inspiration, and as an artistic individual, things we draw from constantly without even making a conscious effort to do so. These sources are all around us all of the time; we can draw inspiration from anything and so I thought this was a really good excercise to visually collate examples of a huge range of things we simply 'like' and to see it laid out all together; I think its a really effective way of identifying an aesthetic and becoming aware of common features to associate with what may well develop into a personal style for your work in years to come. Of course tastes change but I think it places me at a great advantage to be able to identify my style and preference so that I am able to constantly refer back to particular images as inspiration. Personally, as is probably apparent by looking at my mood boards below, I favour a more minimalist look in terms of shape and composition but in contrast am also hugely drawn to bold prints, colours and shapes within my own dress style which often translates through to my design work in various ways. I think on a whole, I am simply drawn to images, fashion and such like which has the ability to make an impact in some way; whether it be because it is intrusive with colour and/or shape or if it be the content itself such as the eery Tim Walker photographs shown in the first mood board below. I think my attraction to bold colours and prints in the clothing I wear myself has a great impact on my enjoyment of adopting a simple, minimalistic style when it comes to my work and vice versa. In terms of my mood boards themselves, it just came naturally for me to fade out the images and increase their transparency as I felt it created a cleaner finish; as someone who is effectively a technophobe and am next to useless when it comes to photoshop, I found this was the nicest way to work around and avoid the layering of images looking ugly with bold corners intruding on each other and creating a rather cluttered collection of images rather than something which works together beautifully to portray a collective image as a whole. Between myself and my partner, we used the following collection of words to describe my mood boards:
colourful
transparent
constrasting
linear
angular
modern
minimalistic
structural
bold
arty
grunge
pattern
simple
Following on from my self analysis, I was then asked to move on to my partner's mood boards and analyse those in the same way. I began with the most obvious adjectives and then built on them, looking for less obvious but apparent qualities. My descriptive list is as follows:
(In order from top to bottom)
skeletal
anatomy
silhouette
sculptural
daring
form
experimental
impacting
fashion
natural
characters
super heroes
sci-fi
make believe
fiction
comedy
playful
humorous
sarcastic
fastastical
graphic
geometric
colour blocking
scientific
physics
illusional
crystals
bold
neon
astronomy
I think it is clear to see from these three mood boards that Jess has a very eclectic taste, taking inspiration from a huge range of sources and genres of media. Firstly, by looking at the first mood board we are able to see that she is drawn to a very sculptural style when it comes to fashion design, with a great imaginative approach to altering and addressing the silhouette; this is also reiterated by the abstract and geometric images presented on the left. This mood board depicts a very bold aesthetic with a strong reference to science, particularly astrology suggesting that Jess takes great inspiration from bright colours and abstract shapes created in a natural way. I think with the inclusion of the 'novelty' mood board above, it suggests that Jess has a playful approach to her work and has a work ethic derived towards the idea of enjoyment and maybe even costume. Fictional characters have been inspiring designers for years; I think the idea of bringing the make believe into the real world has a great appeal particularly when it comes to fashion because, when done well, fictional characters can be translated with great effect into something of high desirability in the fashion industry due to the costume-like features without appearing to be a cheap, novelty attempt to take inspiration from such a sources.
