so little credit, so much to give

                I wish i didn't, but I cant help but like The Row, label of Olsen twins, Mary Kate and Ashley, (or shall I say their design team). Nearly always getting it spot on, excluding the odd unfortunate fringing and python print, the refreshingly simple and dare I say, understated elegance of their collections appeal to real women, making The Row retail gold. The Row design clothes for the woman who dresses for herself and her career success, reminiscent of  90's Calvin Klein they are consistently defining 'New York cool'. Naming themselves after the notorious Savile Row, The Row have done justice to everyone by presenting impeccable and delightfully feminine tailoring. Although the amount of fur and leather used, especially for Fall 2011, might seem a bit excessive in getting across whatever message they are trying to convey, as picked up on by animal rights group PETA. Making me both sad and happy that if a pair of sickly child stars, can generate an admirable collection, then maybe as a fashion student, I will too someday.

                    

Images- www.style.com

'Ark' (6'12)

        Hunter Gatherer is an exhibition of installation, sculpture, sound, video, print and drawings by artists in response to Artemis, an artefact and art loan repository.  Artemis contains thousands of authentic and replica objects indexed through categories such as world cultures, natural history, science and social history. One of the nine artists featured is Lisa Stansbie, who presented a video entitled, 'Ark' (6'12).

The short video was filmed inside Artemis, in which the camera was on a track and passed the archived  objects at speed. The viewer looks, but does not take in the objects and species that come and go.

"As soon as I visited Artemis I knew I wanted to work with the ‘place’.I considered during the visit that this sense of place could be expanded and even fictionalized through the use of film and in particular the experience of the movement/walking amongst the static (some frozen in perspex) objects."[1]

As the camera moved past the taxidermy my initial thoughts were how the movement of the camera animated the activity of evolution. The camera was frequently reflected in the glass display boxes, which to me was a juxtaposition of new technology reflected in nature and history. This eliminated all feeling of abandon.The video was accompanied by unsettling atmospheric drones, like an exaggerated silence. An overwhelming stillness that might be felt in a vault or museum. 

All in all, the film was well shot and edited with sound that complimented the pictures. The installation was effective and invoked mystery and interest in the viewer.

Hunter Gatherer is currently on at Project Space Leeds until the 6th August.

http://huntergathererpsl.tumblr.com/

http://www.projectspaceleeds.org.uk/

http://www.zeppelinbend.com/

http://www.soanyway.org.uk/

[1] Lisa Stansbie http://huntergathererpsl.tumblr.com//
Image- screen shot from Lisa Stansbie's, 'Ark' (6'12)

       Examining the 'Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion' exhibition enabled me to fully investigate works of contemporary Japanese designers. This helped me understand their theories and concepts later translated into my own work for my 'East Meets West' brief. For this project, I was to design garments that reflected both Japanese and British cultures.

The design process included research into both traditional and contemporary designers, learning how to combine both cultures and traditions, finally designing garments that potray contemporary ideas. For example, the minimal, decontsructed works of Yohji Yamamoto, a designer heavily featured in the exhibition. The Japanese perception of minimalism in the late 1980's/ early 90's was to strip tradtions down  to their bare bones, leaving only vital aspects. A shared goal of designers in the 1990's was to dissolve conventions in a decade of reinvention. Minimalism is a movement that I feel strongly about, and that I wanted to be evident in my own work. Studying examples from Yamamoto, Kawakubo and Miyake gave me an idea of how I wanted to aproach this.

My final designs were more influeneced by Rei Kawakubo of Comme Des Garcons, who deconstructed and reinvented typical western dress in a new way. For example, the white shirt design (scans to be uploaded later), I experimented with shapes and lenghths, inspired by Shinto preist dress.

Image- http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/slideshow/S2007RTW-CMMEGRNS?event=show1524&designer=design_house98&trend=&iphoto=29

Minimalism and Fashion: Reduction in the post modern era. Elyssa Dimant. Collins Design, 2010.

The Nike Way.

      Nike, which began as an import/ export scheme of made-in-Japan running shoes and does not own any of its factories, has become a prototype for the product-free brand.[1] Taking advantages of low wages and high technology in Asia, Nike has moved out all production to overseas, with consequences on ourselves; '45,000 US apparel workers lost their jobs in 1997 alone'.[2]

With labour costs dropping and retail prices rising, Nike are raking in the evergrowing profits. Freed from the chains of production, the company has newfound time and money to focus on 'brand image', and less on the needs of their workers, ensuring that Air Maxs are the only shoes we consider buying. Competing brand, Adidas quickly took a leaf out of the Nike's book in 1993, turning over its operation to former executive at advertising giant Saatchi and Saatchi, who promptly shut down company-owned factories and moved to contracting-out in Asia.

"Nike, Adidas, Puma and Umbro were among the firms examined in a drive to crack down on sweatshop labour, called 'Play Fair at the Olympics'. Sports manufacturers broadly welcomed the Play Fair campaign and said they were working towards improving and safeguarding conditions for workers. Nike said it welcomed the report and was working with independent groups to improve working conditions. Adidas said it already had a code of conduct in place which requires its suppliers to comply with core labour standards."[3]

[1] & [2] Klein, N. (2000) No Logo, Canada, Knopf Canada.

[3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3531625.stm

P R A D A

         There's one thing that Miuccia Prada does better than any other designer; she gives women what they didn't know they wanted. We have learnt not to forecast as each season she surprises us with unexpected shapes in colours we had forgotten existed. A/W 2011 sees Cardin/ Couregges-esque coats, shifts and furs in retro colours that suddenly felt new. All accompanied by big buckled and buttoned belts, bags and shoes, provocative sheer fabrics, python skin and sequins were made to feel innocent. Models' heads were adorned with hats which seemed to give me, 'aviator goes for a swim in the sixties' and red tinted mono-lens sunglasses which I predict to be the most re-blogged look of the season.

As opposed to last winters collection which celebrated a womanly form, Miuccia presented a straight up and down silhouette reminiscent of flapper girls or sixties dolly birds. There is more to a Prada collection than meets the eye. It's in the twists, the boots made to look like mary janes in python skin socks and conservative fronts with flirtatious exposed backs. Katie Grand, who styled Prada shows in the early and mid-Noughties says, "She (Miuccia) loves those naughty elements. Once she was standing in the studio in this very prim, calf-length, pleated white dress, you could see straight through it to her electric-pink underwear. That mixture of being very sober and then adding something quite shocking is totally Prada".[1]

Watch full show video.

Images from  http://www.style.com

[1] The alchemist, British Vogue, March 2011, p320.

Video from YouTube

MEN IN SKIRTS

'A woman shall not wear anything that

pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a

woman's garment; for whoever does these

 things is abomination the Lord your God.'

 Deuteronomy 22.5

Togas. Frock coats. Kilts. Sarongs. Kaftans. All items traditionally worn by men. But what is acceptable male attire in today’s society? As long as there is fabric between the legs we’re happy, and comfortable? For many men, their female connotations are too potent to overcome their fear that by wearing a skirt, their gender identity might be brought into question.[1] Fashion designers, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Walter Van Beirendonck and Yohji Yamamoto continue to campaign against connotations of mens dress by presenting men looking entirely augmented and masculine. Photographer Mark Lebon comments, ‘The look (being men in skirts) was not intended to threaten a man’s masculinity, it was intended to enhance it’. [2] 

[1](From, ‘For many men’) Men In Skirts, V&A Publications.

[2] Interview with the author of ‘Men In Skirts’ by Andrew Bolton, V&A Publications. 

[3] Image, Tommy Hilfiger advertising campaign, Autumn/ Winter 1997-8. Photograph by Mike Toth.

"White is the absence of colour, but black is the presence of all colours" -Yohji Yamamoto

     Japanese fashion design has left a big impression on dress and attitudes towards it over the last 30 years.

Barbican hosts the first exhibition in Europe telling the story of contemporary Japanese fashion with designers such as Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakudo and Issey Miyake at the forefront of this revolutionary movement. 

'Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion' explores in depth, 'the unique sensibility of Japanese design, and its sense of beauty embodied in clothing'. [1] Organized by The Barbican and the Kyoto Costume Institute, the exhibition features video presentations, specialist publications and items not seen in any other collections worldwide.

I entered the exhibition space not knowing quite what to expect. I found myself confronted with a minimal setting divided by immaculate, floating muslin sheets, perfect for displaying the often intricate and colourful creations. The journey started with early Yamamoto deconstruction. Progressing through to 'Flatness' and the creation of 'Ma', the space between the wearer and the clothes, delightfully illustrated by Issey Miyake's 'Pleats Please' and Rei Kawakubo. The ground floor expands into sections named, Praise of Shadows, Tradition, Innovation and Cool Japan, whilst the upper level hosts individual spaces dedicated to each designer. Video projections are also shown throughout the exhibition showing rare and fascinating footage of fashion shows and short documentaries.

                                

                              

Kate Bush, Head of Art Galleries, Barbican Centre, said: "The great Japanese designers – Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto – changed fashion forever in the 1980s. The tight silhouettes of Western couture were jettisoned for new fluid shapes. Out went the magnificent ornament and extravagant techniques of the post-war tradition and in came a stark, monochrome palette and an entirely new decorative language – holes, rips, frays and tears – emerging from the stuff of fabric itself."[2]

These clothes really need to be examined in the flesh to be fully appreciated making this exhibition a must see for any design enthusiast. This is an influencing and inspiring exhibition which left me little bit starstruck...

          

All event information can be found at the Barbican website:

http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=10771

[1] http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=10771
[2]http://pichaus.com/design-fashion-barbican-exhibitions-@77bf44e25e8b662829108635a90c5231/
All images, Google