Elise Toïdé Photography

All images by Elise Toïdé 

DRESS UP SS13/14 by Stephanie Downey

Images VIA http://dressup.net.au

FASHION SHOWS AW14

VIA http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/gallery/

British Style Genius: Breaking the Rules – Fashion Rebel Look

Following on from my review of the film 'In Vogue: The Editor's Eye', this is a review by my dear friend and fellow freelance writer Ol Marin. 'British Style Genius: Breaking the Rules - Fashion Rebel Look' will also be screening at ACMI as part of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. Click here for more details. 

Side note: Ol Marin and I are currently working on a new website, which will focus on fashion in film and our local Australian fashion industry. Its arrival is imminent, so watch this space!

Image VIA here.

WORDS BY OL MARIN.

“On and of the catwalk they made an art out of being outrageous and their style legacy was to give fashion rebels everywhere the courage to wear what they want.”

British Style Genius is a series of 60-minute documentaries produced by the BBC where each examines British style from varying perspectives. Anna Gravelle’s documentary Breaking the Rules – Fashion Rebel Look (2009) is the third episode in the series and perhaps the most provocative.

The term ‘punk’ is a perplexing one to explain, especially when its origins and representations are debatable between Londoners and New Yorkers of the mid – late 70’s. For some, the ‘punk look’ will signify something as simple as sporting studded belts and torn t-shirts – an assessment devoid of any cultural and artistic consideration. Breaking the Rules – Fashion Rebel Look pays due respect to the sub-culture of punk via the oeuvre of Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano and the late Alexander McQueen, treating it as something more than a fashion statement – an attitude, a form of expression and essentially, a way of life. 

Effectively what Gravelle does is take her audience on a journey through a particular timeframe of fashion. She begins with Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren’s business venture from 1974 to 1976, a boutique called Sex, which was notorious for its bondage-inspired attire and shock value t-shirt prints. “We struck gold with fetish wear” states McClaren. The designs for Sex gradually migrated to the past for inspiration and 1950s pin up clothing – leopard print, torn skirts and Tarzan – would motivate the idea of distressed knitwear. As Westwood describes the dynamic behind her infamous pirate trousers, “It looks like you’ve shit your pants”, it becomes evident that her and McClaren’s main objective was to stir convention and rebel by means of a “confrontational street style”.

But the partnership between Westwood and McClaren would cease to flourish as punk style became mainstream. McClaren describes with great sorrow the day that Diana Spencer purchased a ‘balloon shirt’ from the store, signifying a certain seal of approval that did not sit well with McClaren – a man who never strived for general acceptance or admiration. It then became clear that the two designers had different creative visions, as Westwood began to move away from the punk style that her and McClaren revolutionised and concentrate more on creating a concrete label for her pieces. From this point onwards, Westwood would adopt specific features of 17^th Century styles and re-structure them to suit modern standards of dissent through fashion. The corset is just one example of Westwood’s evolving projects, which has been re-created time and again by many designers globally, including John Galliano.

Galliano credits Saint Martins School of Art in London for his innovative and bold style, explaining how he was “encouraged to move into different departments” by his teachers who celebrated anarchy. Like Westwood, Galliano cashed in on the idea of fetishized garments, from “naughty French maid” to Geisha-inspired tailoring, thus giving birth to the bias cut slip dress – a silk number that would become a staple LBD-type item in every woman’s wardrobe throughout the 1990’s. These concepts were part of a collection he designed in 1994, when his company was in “dire financial straits” as Anna Wintour explains. Galliano and his assistant Amanda Harlech personally drove the clothing, and the headpieces designed by milliner Stephen Jones, to Paris Fashion Week. There, they were showcased in an abandoned mansion belonging to socialite São Schlumberger and modelled by famous supermodels of the time that agreed to work for free. Although Galliano opted for the cheapest material – black lining – and a minimal aesthetic, the collection was success, providing him with the necessary financial backing he needed. With its cabaret look à la Liza Minnelli, one could pinpoint Galliano’s ode to theatre – something that the “enfant terrible” Alexander McQueen often incorporated as a characteristic in his own shows.

One of the first images that appears in Breaking the Rules – Fashion Rebel Look is that of a model clad in a pure white dress splattered with an array of grotesque-coloured paints at a live show. This was Alexander McQueen – hard-edged, provocative and transgressive. He shot to notoriety through his AW 1995 collection, Highland Rape, which was negatively criticized at the time for its violent depictions. But McQueen, who states at the beginning of this documentary, “I suppose I’m a designer with a cause”, opted to portray a historic metaphor for the bloodshed between the Brits and the Scots on Highland territory. He further shocked audiences with his ‘bumster pants’, which as one critic noted, was scandalous at the time but as soon as Britney Spears wore a pair, every girl on the Tube had their thongs exposed.

If we explore closely the life and work of each of these designers, we will come to the realisation that they were not just fashion designers, but pioneers, inventors, visual architects, concept artists and most importantly, dreamers. With any luck, Breaking the Rules – Fashion Rebel Look, will abolish the ignorant opinion that many people have towards fashion on the catwalk. Bringing to light the fact that not all of the creations are made to be worn on the street. They are pieces of art deliberately exaggerated by artists to emphasize the concept behind each collection, to fight for a cause and make themselves heard.

MATHILDE MAALOUF.

Mathilde Maalouf is an emerging fashion designer based in Denmark. Her graduate collection from the Kolding School of Design in Copenhagen this year was a showcase of clean lines, good craftsmanship, sleek looks, quaint backpacks and chic/crisp minimalist design. 

All images VIA http://petrakleis.com/

MAD MEN STYLE: PREMIERE OF SEASON SIX.

CLICK BELOW FOR MORE IMAGES

THE ROLE OF A FASHION JOURNALIST.

 

IMAGE by KATY SMAIL

WORDS BY SIGRID (SIGGI) MCCARTHY.

As someone striving to become a professional writer, I find myself thinking more and more about the type of writer I hope to be. There are various avenues that I could potentially explore, but it is fashion journalism that appeals to me most. With this in mind, I have started to wonder what it means to be a fashion journalist…

What exactly is a fashion journalist, and how is the role of fashion journalism changing?

Over the past few years, I have noticed a considerable change in the way information relating to fashion is being distributed and received. The shift towards digital media has meant that the value one places on content is waning. Often what you find online are mere regurgitations of press releases, and the promptness of updates means they lack analysis, depth, imagination and original point of view. Digital blogs and magazines often get caught up in being first and so there is ultimately less attention paid to detail. It’s more about publishing something before everyone else does than publishing something of a higher quality. Fashion writers, critics and reporters all fall under the umbrella of fashion journalism, but I worry that the development of technology will potentially harm the quality of fashion journalism going forward.

Each season, the four fashion capitals of the world - New York City, London, Milan, and Paris - serve a decadent platter of new runway looks, inviting only the most influential people to attend the feast. For many years fashion journalists have been our portals into the latest collections, giving us access to the exclusive runway shows and quenching our thirst for beauty. As each season passes however, the role of the fashion journalist becomes increasingly unclear and their relationship to those in the industry steadily changes.

For years, designers relied heavily on fashion journalists to accurately report on their shows and to praise their body of work, because fashion publications filtered what was released to the general public. It was a fashion publication's responsibility to cover the international fashion weeks and to give the general public an insight into the latest collections, but the rise of the Internet has changed this and we are now seeing a shift in the relationship between a journalist and a designer. Nowadays, there is a much larger media circus that designers have to cater to, and it is no longer just the Vogues and Harpers Bazaars and Elles that matter. Blogs, digital magazines and social media are now creating new platforms for self-proclaimed ‘journalists’ to express themselves and designers are being exposed to a much larger audience – an audience that wants an all-access pass.

Thanks to the digital age, we can now see the clothing better than those sitting almost at arm’s length from the models. Professional photographs are being uploaded online only minutes after the final model has left the catwalk, and live streaming of fashion shows are now available to anyone with an internet connection or smart phone. All from the comfort of our own homes, we can zoom in on the finer details of the clothing and we can click pause on the high-resolution video footage available. With this in mind, is the role of a fashion journalist redundant? We no longer need to wait for fashion publications to showcase the highlights of international fashion weeks, because we have almost instant access ourselves. The Internet has ultimately given birth to a whole new way of distributing and receiving information.

One could argue that anyone with a way with words has the potential to be a fashion journalist, but surely there is more to it than having a broad vocabulary and understanding the meanings of the words ‘whimsical’ and ‘couture’?  In order for fashion journalism to remain valuable to its readers and relevant to the industry as a whole, I argue that journalists need to provide more than mere descriptions of fashion. A deeper level of critique is necessary, yet very few journalists write candidly. What we often find in fashion journalism today is writing that lacks any real critique or judgements, and this is due in part to the fact that those willing to criticise designers are often publicly ostracized and punished for their outspoken views. Cathy Horyn, the notorious fashion reporter for The New York Times, is not unfamiliar with being on the ‘bad side’ of prominent designers. Her writing is unapologetic and she isn’t afraid to scrutinize and call people out on their shit. For many seasons now, Cathy Horyn has been banned from various designers’ shows, including Armani and Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent. This doesn’t stop her from giving her two cents however, as she takes advantage of digital media and accesses shows via online streaming and photographs.

The relationship between a designer / fashion house and the media is undoubtedly a complicated one. Fashion publications potentially hold back from making scathing remarks in the fear of losing advertising and money, and this makes me question the validity of reviews. Money from advertising plays such a huge part in the success of a fashion publication, so there is significant pressure for journalists to keep fashion houses happy. If you are to flip through a Vogue magazine for example, you’ll notice just how many pages are in fact advertising. Without it, in this unstable market, there is little hope that print magazines can continue to exist. So is it possible for a successful fashion journalist to report and analyse freely, or does one automatically need to filter his/her voice?

I often wonder what distinguishes a good/relevant fashion journalist from a poor/irrelevant one, but maybe there is no simple answer. It is obviously easier for someone like myself to speak and write freely because I am not currently employed by a fashion publication. I am not bound by business partnerships and financial restraints, and so I can stay true to my own voice. Going forward, I hope that fashion journalism finds a way to stay relevant and it is not replaced by visual aids. I hope it remains insightful and that people take chances. I hope that 'ethics' and 'sustainability' become words used as often as ‘whimsical’ and ‘couture’ and readers expect more from fashion journalists than mere descriptions of clothing. As readers, we should be demanding a certain level of intellect in fashion journalism because as I’ve mentioned in many of my posts before, style and substance should co-exist.

THE SOCIAL STUDIO.

** This dress is made from only recycled and excess manufacturing materials gathered from the local industry. 

WORDS BY SIGRID (SIGGI) MCCARTHY.

After graduating from a Bachelor of International Studies last year, I was unsure whether I was cut out for a career in Foreign Aid and Development. (I originally chose this as my future career path, but after coming back from an internship in Nepal - where I led a women's empowerment program - I started having doubts.)

For my final research project in third year, I researched the local fashion industry and the ways in which many local outworkers were being exploited. Not only did this project open my eyes to the ills of the fashion industry - an industry that I am very interested in and have respected for a long time - but it also highlighted to me that I could potentially mix my love of fashion with my strong interest in human rights and the environment. 

In order to really make a difference in this industry, I believe that one must acknowledge the potential for ethics and aesthetics to coexist and that more so, one must actually love fashion. You cannot write the industry off all together and treat it as a frivolous joke when attempting to create change. Like it or not, the fashion industry plays a huge role in society, and the general public is not going to wake up one day and convert to a nudist's way of living. Instead of merely coming from a critical standpoint, we need to create new ways of ensuring that consumers have ethical and stylish alternatives to fast, unsustainable fashion. 

Undoubtedly, there is still a stigma attached to the term sustainable fashion - something along the lines of undyed homespuns and unattractive design - but I believe there is potential for designers to completely eradicate this stigma.

Whilst I do think we have a long way to go in terms of offering consumers greater choice when attempting to shop ethically, I would like to emphasise that there are many labels, both international and local, already striving to create garments with both integrity and an understanding of good design and execution.     

The Social Studio is a Melbourne-based label doing something really special. As stated on their website:

"The Social Studio label is designed and made at our Studio to an extremely high quality using hand dying and finishing techniques. All garments are ethically made using only reclaimed and up-cycled materials gathered from local industry. This is certified by Ethical Clothing Australia.

Each collection is a collaboration; between all the new and emerging designers at the Studio bringing together an array of talents, styles and cultural influences to create vibrant and contemporary collections bi-annually."

I would highly recommend popping into the Studio, which is located at 128 Smith Street in Collingwood. They make everything on site in an exposed workshop, and the staff are very friendly/knowledgable. It's refreshing to find a transparent business that encourages their customers to understand the origin of their purchases. 

NOTE: This photo is of a sequinned dress I bought today from The Social Studio. I need to buy a proper slip to go underneath it, as this one is just a lace nightie of mine and doesn't quite work with the dress, but you get the idea. My apologies for the terrible quality of the photo - you're looking at a guerrilla type photo shoot in my room with the MacBook program 'Photo Booth.' I will upload some better ones soon to do the dress justice! 

PHOTOS BY JESSIE ADAMS.

VIA http://www.valentinefillolcordierportfolio.blogspot.com.au/