Monday, October 8, 2007

concept with a capital c


"Grey Gardens" at John Galliano
"Pirates of the Caribbean" at Jean Paul Gaultier
Marcel Marceau, Pierrot, and something about violins at Viktor & Rolf

Being referential is one thing but clobbering us over the head with inanely tired and irrelevant references is maddening and plain dumb. Is Jean Paul Gaultier receiving backing from Jerry Bruckheimer in effort to test out new forms of product placement? After his triumphant and marathon anniversary couture show this summer, is John Galliano all dried up of ideas? And there are too many questions for Viktor & Rolf and their conscious effort to present more wearable clothes that actually looked amateur and unflattering. Presenting fresh ideas is a challenge for any artist, but it's that journey to continuously reveal something new and exciting that makes the end product compelling and resonate. Instead some designers choose to force feed us obvious ideas and concepts that make you feel like they're shouting with a large bullhorn that they too are in on the cult genius of Little Edie Beale. Who cares? Reign on in the Big Idea and say something worthwhile.

2 comments:

robby said...

I was just marveling over how literal the Galliano outfit is.

It's amusing how people were debating whether the MJ show was based on Grey Gardens or Isabella Blow, and then Galliano and McQueen show up and leave no question about the basis of their inspiration.

Leigh said...

the difference is that mcqueen's show is quite possibly the most amazing thing i've seen in years.