“At the border of art”

 

 

I felt that it would be beneficial to my work to not only research fashion designers that highlight deconstructiveness, but to look into artists of other areas that play around the same theme. The shapes of sculptures or the materials used within the work could be crucial in helping me achieve the outcome i need. Also, when it comes to manipulating my clothing for the shoot – the ways i do this whether it be to fold, layer or cut into, can be influenced from the artists’ work. Lygia Clarke creates her sculptures to present exploration of the body and mind and her materials are very valuable for completing this theme. It is said that a lot of her work relates to the concepts of designers such as Dries Van Noten, who come under the category of deconstructive fashion, so she might be very beneficial to my work. Her sculptures seem to be made from mostly netted materials which help create a range of dimensions for her art. It shows size, movement and contrast of lighting made from the shadows and all elements create such diversity for her work. The first picture is something i thought would be useful in portraying in my styling ideas because of the different shapes made within the large piece of netting. I think actually cutting into some of my garments to create similar forms like Lygia’s sculpture will really help exaggerate means of deconstruction and showcasing the unconventional. I could also leave the freyed edges or use pieces of string or rope, similarly to the Antidote editorial to put emphasis on this idea of breaking social standards.

“Deconstructed”

 

 

I thought to show this example of fashion editorial, that actually filters through the theme of deconstruction through the breakage of objects surrounding the clothing. I have realised deconstruction doesn’t just have to be based around the body or face, but even through location or added props. I felt it was appropriate to show as it has influenced me to look into locations or backdrops that could help showcase my theme. Whether this be something regarding beauty or standards of fashion or something relating to the deconstructiveness of the clothing. I also liked how in some images the face is completely ignored and actually hidden behind other materials, and in some the face is the main focus and disregards the clothing element. Im unsure of why this actually attracted my attention, however the emphasis of her face through the broken sheet shows signs of deconstruction and maybe can relate to breaking barriers of societies norms.

 

 

These images will be good to follow when developing my styling techniques that i actually need to start playing around with and pulling together. How the stylist has layered different tones of denim and various denim pieces on top of one another or in unconventional positions allows each area of the body to become really apparent. The tones contrast one another to help create this segmented figure and the use of carefully positioned rope helps too. I could look into how rope and frayed pieces of material could help to build up layer amongst the clothing and i feel it would be a really effective technique in helping me to segment the body and emphasizing the deconstruction of the clothing. Alongside this, the backdrop in the second figure perfectly executes a subtle take on a deconstructive theme. Again, the crumpled fabric identifies as being quite segmented and splits off area from area. Executing the perfect backdrop will be very important for this shoot as it needs to compliment the clothing and theme but not take too much away from the concept.

“Lady What’s Tomorrow”

   

Examples of using normal garments in various different ways to build up layers and a more constructed form.

“Girl Interrupted”

  

This editorial i thought was quite relevant to me developing a layered technique where you can understand the concept visually but also have an understanding of the fashion direction too. I am really fond of this technique where the stylists are excessively layering mountains of clothes onto a figure to create a completely new shape or garment. This could be a great idea in showcasing what are the actual beauty standards or perfected image standards for women today, by manipulating the original body shape with oversized garments, contrasting colours and unusual shapes. I am also interested in how the sizing of clothing differs from garment to garment and really helps to exaggerate the entire image, pulling the model off the background. It looks as though multiple scarves or puffer jackets have been forced around the body, on top of similar items, to recognize a point of what is the purpose of these garments? Can they be altered or will society always know them as the same?

S/S 06

 

 

Dries Van Noten is a very relevant example of a luxury designer who aims to present the unconventional to his buyers and religiously plays on this idea of artistic deconstruction and layering.

The garments seem so carelessly thrown onto the model, but with his appropriate use of high heels, red lipsticks and overly powdered faces, he perfectly showcases such unusual materials to be of a certain glamour. This technique could be useful acknowledging because his unconventional style doesn’t appeal to society’s norms, however are still made to feel fashionable, expensive or at least majorly wanted. This links to the idea of asking ‘what are the standards for women?’ as although i may show them stripped back with various amounts of deconstructed and messy layers, they are still made to feel worthy and presentable. It all surrounds the topic of not conforming to average norms.

I think i should start collecting garments that i feel could effectively represent today’s popular choices of clothing and maybe even ones that aren’t typically shown to be on trend in society to filter through a slight contrast. It could encourage a perspective that asks, can you see a difference in what society classes as ‘fashionable’ and what is not?

S/S 1998

 

Again, showing examples of designers approaches to deconstructing garments using excessive layers and unusual materials.

“Atelier”

 

I came across these images of inside Margiela’s atelier department that actually showcase the making of the garment. This look is exactly the idea that i want to show, an almost unfinished, messy image. With the unfinished one sleeve, or blazer collar; it could be used to show what actually is important about being definite of this perfect beauty standard. The more i look into the deconstruction of clothing through modern designers, it is becoming evident that beauty will be less of a topic if i want to show emphasis on my styling. Therefore, i could develop the theme into womens standards of fashion today and the clothing or trends we are made to feel are important to have to live up to a perfect image. This could be shown through using a range of garments that could be taken as popular or on trend and deconstructing them on the body to be made to look unfinished – like these atelier examples. By doing this, it could help show excessiveness towards buying these popular clothing items just because we feel like we need to be wearing them. It would build up multiple layers and empty spaces on the figure to show an overall outcome of deconstruction.

A/W 17

  

Now i am developing a certain theme and style for this shoot, i thought it would be best to now look into how designers have actually used the theme of deconstruction. Cavallini has taken the famous trench coat design and used it to complete these various looks with multiple layers, patterns and colours. The trench coat is still very evident in each outfit, but you can see that it has obviously bee manipulated and deconstructed to reinvent a solid outfit. I am really drawn to the multiple and excessive layers that are almost thrown on top of the model, disregarding complimenting the body shape or size. The nude palette also relates to this idea of stripping back a person’s image and starting fresh, which i should also consider when forming my outfits. Changing the function of a garment like Cavallini has done here with the trench coat could be a great idea for deconstructing a perfected person. It shows an unconventional function for the original piece of clothing and doesn’t conform to societies original standards.

“Plasticity”

 

 

This is another example of how an artist has manipulated faces and bodies to break the barriers of society’s beauty standards. Although i have said i want to stay away from replicating the theme of actual facial beauty and stick to using garments to depict this instead, the use of skin and body type here is something i like. The image on the left, showing string that cuts out parts of the skin into segments is the main image i was drawn to. I like the various different segments that you immediately find yourself noticing over any part of the face, instead of the entire face blending into one. It almost highlights various parts of the face so we are drawn to noticing how beautiful each section is without it being just another face. Segmenting parts of the figure with clothing could be such an effective way in both showing the theme of the Renaissance painting and my own styling techniques. It would be a way of actually deconstructing clothing and deconstructing a figure. If doing this, the models should definitely be female so that it emphasizes these running themes of how women have had to conform to beauty standards or even fashion trends for thousands of generations.