Comme des Garcon s/s 13

On a previous post I discussed the impact that three Japanese designers had on the industry throughout the 1980's. Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto & Rei Kawakubo are such innovative artists, which led me to explore their works further. Recently I focused on Rei Kawakubo' brand Comme des Garcon & the s/s 13 collection. 

True to the brand Comme' ready to wear this season has great elements of surrealism & eccentricity. Most of the collection was monochrome or varied between white & beige hues. What I found most exciting about these garments was the deconstruction & outlandish structures seen on the runway. Skirts & dresses appeared with sleeves & trouser legs gracefully draped across the front & sides. It was as though each outfit was created from left over designs, forming a wonderful high end "recycled" collection. 

I decided to direct a photoshoot illustrating my own perception of this collection. As it would be impossible to find clothes remotely similar I attempted to make something myself, although I can't sew whatsoever. In uni I went to the fashion design studios and asked the students if they had any practice designs on calico fabric that they no longer needed. Luckily I received an assortment of sleeves, jackets & sheets of fabric. I then used pins & safety pins to keep it all together. 

As stated in my previous post about Comme des Garcon one of their aesthetics is the Japanese concept of beauty which is the idea of less is more. With this in mind I thought of ideas for hair & make up. With inspiration from Corrine Days shoots with Kate Moss in the 90's I decided to go for an extremely natural look for the face. However on the runway the models this season had abstract white paint on their faces, I showed this to my make up artist & advised her to do something similar with her own style combined. After seeing an oriental spread in i-D magazine I suggested that the models hair be greased back with tiny strands brought to the front. Although after trying this it didn't look quite right which encouraged us to slick the whole thing back off the models face. 

When on the Comme des Garcon website I noticed there was some amazing manga art by Otomo Katsuhiro. To portray these photos as a potential campaign for the brand I used some of Katsuhiro' manga art in my final images. 

Overall I learned a substantial amount about the brand, trying to stick to their aesthetic, advertising & quite a lot about manga through research. Generally when I style/photograph a fashion shoot I choose garments etc and build up my own concept & back story, with this shoot it was more challenging as I had to emulate a well known brand. Throughout shooting I continuously changed my mind on how I wanted it to look, this indecisiveness continued up until I edited my last photo. Perhaps it's because I was aware how difficult it would be to imitate Comme des Garcon better than the brand itself. 

Styling/photography: Ebun Black

MUA: Lucy Hurry

Model: Romy Valentina

http://www.modelmayhem.com/2817541

Queen of the Pack

As part of my imaging & styling module I recently teamed up with a 3rd year fashion design student. The designer; Kelsey Wright created an astounding collection called 'Queen of the Pack', influenced by dancehall music & Afro/Caribbean culture each garment contains a wonderful mix of African prints, elegance & attitude. I was more than happy to style & photograph this collection as it is something I would love to wear myself. As the clothes are extremely vibrant I was inspired to create a hyper-realistic setting in post production. These well made pieces are fresh & alternative which makes me excited to see what's next for this young designer. 

Fashion Designer: Kelsey Wright

Styling/Photography: Ebun Black

MUA: Lucy Hurry

Model: Vanessa Tait

http://www.modelmayhem.com/2852766 

The Message

The 1980's has always been a fascination of mine; from style, to music & the world in general. When I received this decade to do a themed photo shoot for university I was ecstatic. The theme was 1980's eclectic street style which is so broad. However it appeared so obvious to go for the classic Madonna look which I had done before. For this shoot I was inspired by British street style, looking at artists such as Neneh Cherry & the Belle Stars.

As a massive fan of the 80's I felt it was only right to explore what went on & to try & incorporate some of that into my main image. After extensive research I decided to focus on 1980's New York, not only was it a bizarre city with several new things happening I also felt it was a nice contrast to where I got my style inspiration from. I decided to use a Keith Haring painting in my final image as it clearly represents what I was trying to convey. 

Styling/Photography: Ebun Black

MUA: Elea Beall

Model: Dotty Karwacka 

 http://www.modelmayhem.com/1464084 

Tim Walker, Story Teller & Valentino, Master of Couture

Recently I visited two exhibitions in Somerset House London. Tim Walker Story Teller & Valentino, Master of Couture. The Tim Walker exhibition was everything I had hoped it would be. Each room contained a quote from Walker written in all sorts of directions, descending from the top of the walls. “Really I only photograph what I truly love”, it’s evident that the photographer loves all things fairy-tale like & theatrical. The exhibition was filled with past works from editorials to portraits. What really fascinated me were the displays of the props that had been previously used by Walker in his shoots. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tim Walker he is most known for his use of oversized props, creating fictitious story lines with each shot.

The layout of the exhibition for me was well presented, keeping you enticed throughout. With Tim Walker, Story Teller you wouldn't necessarily need to be a lover of fashion to enjoy it as it focusses on his concepts as a photographer. As Tim Walker said himself; “The creation of fictive worlds & parallel lives is the stuff of photography”. 

Some photos & quick sketches: 

Valentino Master of Couture for me was the least favourable of the two exhibitions. Although it can’t be denied that Valentino has been making exquisite garments since the 1950’s the exhibition lacked excitement & a ridiculous amount of creativity. When entering the first room there was an immediate anti – climax compared to the bright, jovial exhibition I had just come out of. I have put into consideration that the Valentino brand stands for elegant, sophisticated couture however I do believe this is no excuse for a dull atmosphere. The first room contained letters, cards etc. to Valentino from various industry professional such as Anna Wintour, whilst others appeared completely pointless for example a Christmas card from Prince Charles!

The most memorable room was “The Catwalk” on each side it had mannequins some seated, others standing behind a rope whilst spectators (the public) walked down the middle. Empty seats next to the mannequins had paper with names of celebrities written on them to give the effect of a runway. In my opinion this layout was unimaginative. The garments on the models, although extremely well made didn’t intrigue me & weren’t grouped together by collection or year which made the set up quite odd looking.

My favourite part of the exhibition was a section which showed examples & videos on various techniques used by Valentino with fabrics e.g. ‘Pagine’. This is using disks of organze silk piled to create a page effect.

 All in all I wasn’t a massive fan of the Valentino exhibition but would strongly recommend Tim Walker, Story Teller to anyone.

Japans Impact on the Fashion Industry in the 1980's

Up until the 1980’s the western world had always instigated what was new and on trend. This soon changed when three Japanese designers opened the eyes of many across the world with their garments. Initially in the 1970’s Issey Miyake invented a new concept to structuring pieces. “A Piece of Cloth” was the idea of a flat design, this meant that when the body was covered by one piece of fabric it would create different shapes each time as no one body is the same. This look had never been seen in couture and was massively influenced by traditional Japanese clothes. Miyake continued discovering new artistic techniques in the 80’s with his style of pleating, usually a fabric is cut & sewn into a design and then pleated however Miyake began doing this process in the reverse. Issey Miyake set the body as the basis of clothing creating a completely new type of couture. 

In the early 80’s two designers that shocked the world with their innovative creations were Rei Kawakubo & Yohji Yamamoto. Their collections were like no other containing an air of shabby chic that became known as the “beggar look” or “ragged look”. Presented in monochromatic hues, consisting of torn fabric & somewhat shapeless fits, the two were portraying a Japanese concept of beauty which caused controversy in the fashion capitals at the time.

Rei Kawakubo, founder of the avant – garde brand Comme des Garcons is a fashion pioneer. Her nonconformist and iconoclastic visions changed the way of Pret a Porter (ready to wear) on the runway. Although Kawakubos designs were anti-fashion she still succeeded in creating stunning deconstructed & asymmetrical works of art. In the early 80’s this was unheard of, unsurprisingly several journalists slated the look merely due to confusion & perhaps ignorance. Today Comme des Garcons is a high end brand with Rei Kawakubo still designing rebellious looks you’ve never seen before.

Yohji Yamamoto, now a brand well known world-wide in the fashion industry was not always classed as one of the top designers like today. In the 1980’s he was misunderstood the same way as Kawakubo & Miyake. Using oversized silhouettes, single hues & creating a shabbiness to his work startled the industry. His perspective on fashion didn’t follow trends and was completely unconventional. It appeared that Yamamoto’ only influence was Japanese culture & even at that it wasn’t basic Japanese clothing. Yohji Yamamoto was inspired by the farmers of Japan, free of influencing shapes, colours & textiles. In the western world at the time women’s fashion was all about sexuality & glamour which Yamamoto didn’t comply. 

Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo & Yohji Yamamoto are three of the most influential fashion designers of the 1980’s. If they hadn’t of made such a massive impact with their ground breaking lines, textiles & anti - fashion designs who knows what path the runway may have taken. Although they opened the minds of future fashion designers around the world they also made another important change to the industry. Tokyo Japan is now considered one of the fashion capitals alongside; Milan, Paris, New York & London. There’s something quite unique culturally, which I believe helps mould new inspiring artists continuously changing the way of fashion.