History of Fashion Lesson 2 PDF

lesson 2 Created @October 7, 2024 9:03 AM Class HISTORY OF FASHION 3 DOLCE & GABBANA after the 80s fembots, incredible settings, and rich decorations the geometries of minimalism and the shapeless forms of mode povera are back...

lesson 2 Created @October 7, 2024 9:03 AM Class HISTORY OF FASHION 3 DOLCE & GABBANA after the 80s fembots, incredible settings, and rich decorations the geometries of minimalism and the shapeless forms of mode povera are back, during the 90s, in a newer version called Neo-minimalism and Neo-poverism. this “Neo” prefix suggests some innovations like an evolution of the shapes that among the minimal rigour and the matter of poverism can be colored and have some decorations. Black and white only is no more a rule, as well as the only use of too strict lines. The 80s fashion sees a lot of incredible and very distinctive designers and being different from them is not so easy, but Neo-Minimalism and Neo-Poverism become the tools to go against the quotationism of that decade influencing each other and mixing the clean shapes with the power of the matter. Margiela is often geometric but his surfaces are dirty and “used” through his characteristic ready- made elements; or Galliano that infuses his theatricality with tons of anti-form elements. Thus, in the 90s, love for the past, fake poses and fiction become an “enemy to defeat”. Nature and spontaneity will replace them, like the “real women” of Dolce & Gabbana. Domenico dolce and Stefano gabbana have two opposite personalities and also two very different ways of conceiving fashion. this strong dualism that can perfectly explain dolce&gabbana philosophy thru a path that sometimes is straight and other times is full of contradictions. Gabbana (Milanese) is influenced by the richness of Sicily, the importance of being Italian and the Sicilian traditions, while dolce (Sicilian) moves to Milan to leave his roots behind. the references to mediterrean atmospheres is a common trait with Versace, who is characterized by a strong quotationism, especially related to Ancient Greece and lesson 2 1  myth. Dolce & Gabbana instead talk about “Sicilianity” that, especially in their first experimental years, recalls a strong and extreme nature inspired by Sicilian volcanoes. Also the common love for Baroque, between Versace and Dolce & Gabbana is very different: covered in gold by the first, powered by a strong vitalism by the latter. This energy is strong and inspired by a daily life without any frills. dolce&gabbana baroque is in black and white with many parameters of minimalism, such as monochrome and the absence of ornaments. “the access of decorations is not my style” says Dolce but gabbana is very different and he says that he’s very far from minimalism, also revealing his passion for the past that will lead the brand to some time travellers excursions. But for now the duo is the perfect example of the change of direction from the fiction to vitalism and organicism. the recent years of dolce&gabbana are very far from this but going back to their very first years we can find a style that is easily relatable to Moda Povera, the primitive momentum and the vitalism of the matter. An example is their first collection, called “Geometrissimo” Spring Summer 1986, an ode to the forms of Minimalism. The cuts are soft but this softness is not calm but it’s something that is alive, similarly to Yamamoto. No more fake poses and fake femininity, but real women inspired by the Italian Neo-realism of Visconti, De Sica and Rossellini with black and white images. For example the Spring Summer 1987 collection “Trasformismo” with the images by Fabrizio Ferri shot at Pantelleria. At this stage an important element for D&G, eros, is still fluid and elusive. lesson 2 2  “La Sicilia” Fall Winter 1987-88 collection officially confirms the real atmospheres chosen by D&G. Blacks and greys of the collection are not minimal and pure, but vital and shapeless, anti-form indeed. The images by Ferdinando Scianna with Marpessa are shot while “something” happens in the meantime. Once again we can see the black and white baroque with the model like a secular Madonna. Baroque and Neo-realism again for the Fall Winter 1988-89 collection with male clothes and the famous D&G pinstripe. The Fall Winter 1989-90 collection “Gli Anni ‘40” is shot by Steven Meisel on Isabella Rossellini that recalls the Italian actress Anna Magnani. Until the end of the 80s Dolce & Gabbana kept walking down a path to make a change with the previous aesthetic with Neo- minimal and Neo-poverist results. But decorations and love for the past start to be more present in their work with consistency from the Spring Summer 1990 collection called “Gli anni ‘60”. The garments are tighter and decorated with gems and crystals, and also a classic from the past is lesson 2 3  back: the corset. The eros that until this moment was only referred to in a subtle way and expressed through the matter and its shapeless silhouettes, now is evident and clear, also provocative. This new eros of Dolce & Gabbana is also expressed by new references like Fellini and his “La Dolce Vita”, as proved by the Spring Summer 1992 collection. This is a big change for the style of the brand because it will get always closer to what it was in contrast with until this moment. sexy, provocative, lingerie The Fall Winter 1996-97 collection “Le Notti di Cabiria” is full of tailoring together with strong prints and animalier patterns. still minimalism with clear 90s aesthetic flower prints, nude color, tailoring, sexiness, animal prints, pizzo lesson 2 4  Themes and experimentations of the first years with a clear Neo-Minimalism and Neo-Poverism have been replaced by quotationism, Italian cliches, pop and multicolored prints. Their eros kept evolving to reach its highest peak in the richness of “gold”. One great example of their glamour is the Fall Winter 2007 collection, before the turn to the Sicilian stereotypes. metallic colors, huge belts, animal prints still, glitter dolce & gabbana spring summer 2023, with the participation of Kim kardashian. you can see all the pieces of the evolution of the brand. on each piece there’s a tag of the collection it is from. they decided to go back to the minimalist style trying to rework the 90s style COSTUME NATIONAL Within the current of Neo-minimalism there’s also Ennio Capasa with his brand Costume National, founded together with his brother, Carlo Capasa. An Accademia di Brera-educated designer Capasa constantly switches among art and fashion, two sides of his work that influence each other with references both related to geometries and more dynamic elements. lesson 2 5  The alliance between geometries and “poverty” to go against the past so loved during the 80s, with Costume National becomes a way of expressing its poetic. Among the references of Capasa there’s the artist Kazimir Malevič (on the right) but also Barnett Newman and Daniel Buren, as an homage to Rationalism, together with Lucio Fontana as one of the representatives of “The Informal”, more focused on the matter and abstract elements. Thus explaining the two different souls of Costume National. But there are also references to Francis Bacon, some Arte Povera artists such as Alberto Burri and Jannis Kounellis, and Pop Art too. lesson 2 6  In 1983 Ennio Capasa moves to Japan to learn from Yamamoto for three years of fundamental training. Here, he is astonished by the strength of the Japanese designer and Capasa starts describing his own approach as a primal madness, a tendency to anti-form that is actually translated through the perfect balance between vitalism and organicism on a side and his geometries on the other. He founds his brand in 1986, on the same period of the Antwerp Six and Helmut Lang, soon reaching a big audience of fans, mainly because of his easy to wear experimentalism. Since the beginning Capasa is focused on a real woman, similarly to Dolce & Gabbana and very far from the 80s idea of the woman. So also his campaigns are focused on a daily life, for example the one shot by Terry Richardson for the Spring Summer 2003 collection. lesson 2 7  From strict geometries to a more Neo- minimal approach with overlapped volumes and monochromy, but also anti-form references and a hymn to color itself. Thus, we can find geometries that become fluid or reworked with textured finishings, but also completed by street references. In the Spring Summer 2013 collection the geometries become sinuous thanks to the cuts with a clear tendency to more shapeless silhouettes. for the asymmetry, he’s very close to Ann Deemulemester color block approach (combination of colors) reference to Jil Sander by Raf Simons ANTONIO MARRAS Antonio Marras, with his art installations and his garments expresses a rebellion to ordinary beauty thanks to his gloomy vision. His work is for sure based on contrasts between calm-fear, old-new, natural-artificial all empowered by strong and vital energies, as all neo- minimalists and neo-poverists. He expresses his soul through poor materials, but often also through precious ones with decorations and embroideries. An organicism that wants to talk about the reality and the real world, seen through his eyes. lesson 2 8  Marras describes macabre presences recalling Expressionism with artists such as Egon Schiele and Francis Bacon. These creepy creatures are also accompanied by collages and assemblies, pieces of reality from old photos, fabric scraps and ready-made with references to another artistic current: the Dadaism and Marcel Duchamp. On his runways this reference is pretty clear but also his inspiration to other dadaist artists such as the collages by Hannah Höch and the objects trouvés by Kurt Schwitters. He is really fascinated by what is consumed and worn out by time. “I’m really attracted by what can survive the passage of time.” Marras world is also described through art installations such as “Uno più, uno meno” in collaboration with artist Claudia Losi. A series of creepy puppets linked together by red ropes that recalls veins. All this, his work and his art, express also a strong connection with lesson 2 9  his land, Sardinia, similarly to what Dolce & Gabbana did through their connection with Sicily. Differently from 80s designers, Marras destroys, rips, tears and then stitches together like Margiela, but most of all like Galliano to whom he is really close, especially for the anti-form approach. And similarly to Galliano the power of matter is never untamed. In Marras there are also memories of the past, not as an homage to historical culture and references, but simply to look at objects, situations and characters with sad and unhappy existences, as well as outcasts of society. There’s a solidarity between men, earth, and nature. Adopting neo-poverist solutions means to choose organic and wrapping shapes, but also adding decorations and colors to them. The Sardinian folkloric tradition offers two figures that perfectly summarizes this Marras DNA: Mamuthones and Issohadores. The first is primitive with a black mask, sheepskin and lesson 2 10  many bells on the back; the latter wears a white mask, an embroidered shawl and gold buttons. These two traditional figures represent Marras aesthetic with an animalistic side and a more sophisticated one. The designer always tries to find the balance between these two souls. As a self-taught designer, Antonio Marras takes over his family fabric store after his father’s death. His first collection is a ready-to-wear one of 1987 entitled “Piano... piano, Dolce Carlotta” (Hush... Hush, sweet Charlotte) inspired by the homonymous movie by Robert Aldrich. Already at this early stage, Marras shows his ready-made tendency with appliqué and embroidery. Marras most powerful shows start with his Haute Couture. For example the Haute Couture Fall Winter 1997-98 collection entitled “Ligazzos Rubios” that presents a sort of Sardinian priestess with red ropes, a recurring theme for Marras, also considerable as human veins. In this period there’s a clear reference to the poverism of Kawakubo, Yamamoto, Miyake and Margiela with looks that recall a woman-nature. lesson 2 11  The Haute Couture Fall Winter 1998-99 collection “Adelasia di Torres (il Sale)” in which models wear garments covered by salt crystals of a lake near Alghero in Sardinia. Another clear reference to what is organic and primitive, to the biologic world. A kind of fashion that wants to create a link with the environment, as Yamamoto did previously. The relationship between Mamuthones and Issohadores on which Marras worked through his Haute Couture collections is also translated into his ready-to-wear ones. For example the Fall Winter 2003-04 collection called “Eleonora d’Arborea”, a judge of the XIV Century. A theme that could make us think of a past reference, a sort of quotationism. But even though there are references to the past, Marras simply wants to tell a story with the purpose of utilizing worn out elements to send existential messages (and to talk about existences) with a touch of anti-form that, in this collection, is represented by many objects trouvés. lesson 2 12