plur
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inside page 03
editor’s letter
page 04 spotify user page 06
1900s
page 08 1910s page 10
1920s
page 12 1930s page 16
1940s
page 18 1950s page 22
balenciaga: shaping fashion
page 24 1960s page 28
1970s
page 34 1980s page 38
1990s
page 42 alexander mcqueen page 44
2000s
page 46 2010s page 51
references
editor’s letter If I were to say the words ‘1970’ and ‘anarchy’ to you, I can almost guarantee an image of a studded, mohican-styled, leather-clad punk type would immediately spring to mind. Likewise, if I said ‘1960s’ and ‘Woodstock’ I’m sure some long-haired, bearded male wearing round glasses and a flower crown would be the response. These subcultures, from the flapper girls of the 1920s to the grungy Kurt Cobain lovers of the 1990s, have shaped the fashion trends of the past century; which is why I find the marriage of music and fashion a fascinating prospect. Most subcultures are born out of a combination of societal conditions and popular or emerging music genres of the time: just look at
the Sex Pistols and their huge success in the 1970s with their rebellious and controversial song God Save the Queen. A person’s love of a particular genre of music, combined with the kinds of gigs they attend or the kind of people they’re attracted to, will often impact the way they express themselves and consequently the way they dress. David Bowie once said, “In order to look special wearing ‘the unique’; it must be worn with your persona and if the two don’t blend then the look becomes pear-shaped.” I’ve chosen to illustrate the last century of fashion through music and the weird and wonderful subcultures that have evolved and adapted throughout the decades. I’ve always had a keen interest in music mainly due to having the likes of Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Oasis and The Cure as the soundtrack of my childhood. Combined with fashion and the nostalgic, cyclical nature of historical trends re-appearing in new collections, I felt really excited to explore the connection further, alongside the faces and icons
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of the era and their impact on generational trends. What’s the relationship between fashion and music today? With our consumer buying habits constantly changing and E-Commerce still coming into fruition, it’s unknown how the subcultures of today are going to manifest themselves. But that’s all part of the engaging, exciting and ever-changing fashion industry. Just look at Tommy Hilfiger’s SS18 collection, which is highly reminiscent of Marc Jacobs’ infamous 1994 ‘Grunge’ collection, complete with vintage style silk layered over mesh and distressed denim; or the silver metallic pieces seen in the Chanel AW17 collection which struck me as having an overriding 1980s, power-dressing feel to it. With the back catalogue of 20th and 21st Century music and the ease with which we can now access it, it allows everyone’s personal style to have a tailor-made soundtrack.
So, what’s yours?
Clemmie Hyde Editor
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spotify:user:clemmieh97
Music has always been a huge part of my life - I have it on the background pretty much 24/7 and I don’t know what I’d do without it. I spend countless hours on Spotify discovering new favourite artists, until not only I, but everyone around me is sick to death of them. Here, however, I’ve included a selection of artists I’ll never tire of listening to. From childhood favourites like The Beatles and The Smiths to new additions like Jorja Smith, SZA or Spendtime Palace. The beauty of music is that it can
completely transport you back to a particular moment or feeling in your life The Vaccines and Red Hot Chili Peppers are definitely Leeds Fest favourites for me, while Frank Ocean and Drake take me right back to Amsterdam the summer after finishing A-Levels. I love having a varied music taste as it means there’s always a hidden gem to be unearthed and I’ve had the best time tracking the evolution of music from the turn of the 20th century, right up until today.
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“Ragtime is the best heart-raiser and worry-banisher I know.� Irving Berlin
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fashion & music
“Explore the last 120 years of fashion through the prism of music”
Music has played a pivotal role in documenting a huge range of subjects throughout history; not only pop culture, but societal conditions, politics and technological advancements. The women shows in these photographs are an honest representation of early 1900s ‘street style,’ taken in a series by photographer, Edward Linley Sambourne. I love the whole concept of street style and the way it allows every person to freely express who are internally, externally. I felt having these photos first act as a good starting point for this project as I explore the links between music genres and the fashions of each decade. Notice how the skirt is slightly above the ankle in each of the images as this in itself represents a turning point in music history and the emergence of ragtime - shorter skirts and a looser waist silhouette meant practicality for dancing.
The name ragtime comes from it’s ragged, syncopated ryhthmn used to create an exciting and fresh genre of music which was somewhat pioneered by Scott Joplin, one of the earliest jazz musicians. Not only did Scott Joplin compose some of the most iconic ragtime songs (such as ‘The Entertainer’ and ‘Maple Leaf Rag’) he also allowed music to become more accessible to the public by printing his compositions on sheet music. The fact that people could then play the songs themselves, combined with the growing popularity of owning a gramophone meant music was well and truly embedded in people’s daily life. This, therefore, is where this evolution of music began; from ragtime, to jazz, from swing to rock and roll and from grunge to hip-hop - each of which has it’s own iconic musician and therefore influencing trend-setter.
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the entertainer
Scott Joplin
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elsa schiarapelli
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christopher kane
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Balenciaga
shaping fashion
Stepping into the Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion exhibition at the world renowned Victoria and Albert museum, I found myself feeling somewhat star-struck. Coming face-to-face with such iconic, carefully-crafted pieces was overwhelming to say the least. Cristóbal Balenciaga is recognised as one of the most radical designers of the 20th century, known for his abstraction and manipulation of the female figure during the 1950s. These radical designs were displayed in a combination of rotating mannequins, open sketchbooks and quotes posted on the walls, creating an immersive and inviting environment to appreciate his inspiring
works. The use of X-ray imagery, used to display the construction within the dresses was fascinating as it gave a real insight into the craftsmanship and skill required to produce such complex pieces. A quote on one of the walls by André Courrèges, a French Futurist designer who trained as a pattern-cutter for Balenciaga from 1950 until 1961, perfectly describes the atmosphere in the workrooms at Balenciaga, stating, “Pure white, unornamented and intensively silent… In a room of fifty people, you could hear the buzzing of a fly.” A glass display case presented a row of widely ranging black gowns, each with a distinctive design feature. I was first drawn to ‘The Envelope Dress’ designed in 1967, the year before Balenciaga’s retirement. It’s triangular, sculptural form meant the dress wasn’t the most successful in terms of practically. However, it epitomises the work Balenciaga did to move the idea of femininity and female dress away from the corseted waist and full skirt (which had been brought back to the mainstream by Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ in the previous decade) and towards more ground-breaking, innovative garments. Designer
Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons often takes inspiration from the particularly sculptural pieces, shown by her avant-garde, conceptual creations, which often challenge the ideals of the form: her latest AW/17 collection was entitled ‘The Future of Silhouette.’ Although Balenciaga’s designs shocked critics at their time of release, it has since allowed them to be timeless and have a lasting effect on the fashion industry, as well as influencing current and upcoming designers. ‘The Baby Doll Dress’ was next up in the exhibition, exuding a distinctly retro, 1960s vibe. However, upon it’s debut in 1951 the semisheer dress caused controversy. It’s basic design features a closely-fitting bodice style top with a drop hem skirt underneath a
23 layer of oversized, figure-skimming, embroidered mesh. This creates an interesting juxtaposition as it reveals the stereotypically ‘feminine’ curves while at the same time partially concealing the figure, giving the dress a more androgynous silhouette. I found it interesting, standing in front of the designs, to think that a dress that appeared so quintessentially 1960s had at first been so ground-breaking. A dress entitled ‘The Sack Dress’ drew my attention for being distinctly ordinary in contrast to the more abstract designs in the exhibit. However, this black, long-sleeved, shift-style dress seemingly caused the most controversy for being exactly what it known as: a sack. The Daily Mail reacted to it’s debut in 1957 by simply stating ‘It’s hard to be sexy in a sack’. This garment would have been particularly shocking as a stark contrast to Dior’s ‘New Look’ which was first
introduced in Paris in 1947 in order to re-introduce a sense of seduction, glamour and ‘classic’ femininity to the female silhouette, which had been somewhat lost throughout World War II. The clear evolution of Balenciaga’s designs and the historic references to accompany each design created a fascinating exhibition space, almost evoking a sense of going back in time to each gown’s societal circumstances. After carefully studying each of the gowns, I made my way to the second floor where I was greeted by an array of contemporary, avant-garde designs from the likes of Molly Goddard, Gareth Pugh and Josep Font; each with a correlation to Balenciaga’s designs and the risks he took to alter the female silhouette. An intriguing video was being projected on the wall displaying interviews with a few of today’s upcoming designers and the ways in which Balenciaga’s design have influenced their own work. Molly Goddard explained how she, “likes the way he works with the body, which is not necessarily supporting it and following it, but actually doing the total
opposite… so it’s always quite surprising… and that is the most inspiring thing.” It gives a real sense of the impact the Spanish designer has had, not only in the 1950s and 1960s, but today. Goddard is best known for her tulle party dresses that are highly reminiscent of Balenciaga’s ‘Baby Doll Dress’. A ground breaking designer such as Balenciaga allows the upcoming designers of today to push boundaries further by exploring the use of textures, cut, silhouette and, most importantly, abstraction. The Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion exhibition was expertly presented and curated to give a really good insight into his methodology, concepts and craftsmanship and was highly beneficial to my current studies as I explore the fashions of the 20th and 21st centuries.
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“There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game it’s easy All you need is love”
beatlemania
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1960s
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“Subcultures are the melding of fashion and music - the embodiment of lived existences and personal and collective histories.�
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vivienne westwood
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david bowie
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1980s
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marc jacobs
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peace love unity respect
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tommy hilfiger AW17
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alexander mcqueen
the hooligan of british fashion
The first five words that spring to mind when I think of Alexander McQueen: controversial, innovative, provocative, hedonist, suicide. An eccentric, ground-breaking character who died far before his time. Nicknamed ‘l’enfant terrible’ and ‘the hooligan of British fashion,’ Alexander McQueen, to me, is one of the most influential fashion designers and couturiers of the 21st century. His early collections, in particular, are
widely recognised for their use of spectacular and controversial shock tactics; such as the recreation of Joel Peter Witkin’s infamous photograph, ‘Sanitarium’ as the finale to his S/S 2001 ‘Voss’ collection, which is personally my favourite of his shows. Controversy has often played a starring role in the
evolution of fashion – without it, fashion (instead of being a fast-paced, ever-changing industry) would remain static and dull. McQueen played a pivotal role in 1990s/2000s fashion by not only pushing boundaries and making headlines but by setting wearable trends and creating iconic collections that are still hugely relevant and well-received today. A notable trend piece that McQueen brought to the mainstream was hipster jeans. The appropriately named ‘bumster’ trousers McQueen is famed for (seen particularly in his A/W 1998 collection ‘Highland Rape’) inspired countless pop celebrities and fashion-lovers alike to don the quite horrifying low-rise jean trend; Christina, Britney, Paris and Rihanna to name just a few. The bumster style was thought to replicate the so-called ‘builder’s bum,’ when trousers are uninten-
43 tionally too low. However, McQueen later stated that the design was intended to elongate the female form claiming that “It wasn’t about showing the bum... that part of the body - not so much the buttocks, but the bottom of the spine - that’s the most erotic part of anyone’s body, man or woman.” Innovation and use of technology are also central elements to McQueen’s catwalk shows, most widely recognised in his SS99 show wherein Shalom Harlow emerged in a white gown, before taking position on a rotating, circular platform surrounded by spray guns (typically seen in car garages). As the model rotated, the robots fired yellow and black paint onto the dress, creating a one of a kind, Jackson Pollock-style, couture gown directly in front of the audience’s eyes. I find the juxtaposition of the two worlds a really interesting way for McQueen to sell his product and his brand; the clash of highbrow women and socialites against the mechanical, working-class connotations of the car spray guns.
Having perfected the art of tailoring during an apprenticeship on Savile Row, McQueen was an artist who knew his craft meticulously. When he wasn’t sewing explicit messages such as ‘I’m a c**nt’ into the linings of his clients’ suits, he was creating suits for the likes of Prince Charles; before moving on to complete his masters in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins. McQueen’s journey from a working-class background, growing up in East London to being one of the most influential and successful designers of our time, as well as battling mental health issues and being homosexual in an era when it wasn’t as widely accepted as it is today, is something to respect and admire. If we were to consider performance catwalks today, Karl Lagerfeld’s collections for Chanel, particularly the AW14 Ready-to-Wear supermarket show, however McQueen was
one of the first designers to bring a sense of spectacle and magic to his shows; creating immersive, captivating and other-worldly performance pieces to the forefront of the fashion industry. Personally, he’s always influenced my own photography and videography work in terms of concept, styling and direction, due to his freedom of creativity and imagination. I’m also hugely looking forward to expanding my knowledge further next year following the release of his biopic, ‘The Ripper’ starring Jack O’Connell.
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bibliography alexander mcqueen • Alexander, E. (2015) How Alexander McQueen Changed Fashion. Retrieved from: http://www.glamourmagazine. co.uk/gallery/alexander-mcqueen-exhibition-preview-how-he-changed-fashion • VOGUE (March 2014) Chanel Autumn/Winter Ready-To-Wear show report. Retrieved from: http://www. vogue.co.uk/shows/autumn-winter2014-ready-to-wear/chanel • natalyO9725 (July 27, 2012) McQueen and I [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=fNK2mKT8n9o • Biography.com Editors (April 2017) Alexander McQueen – Fashion Designer. Retrieved from: https://www. biography.com/people/alexander-mcqueen-541384 • Bradley, L. (November 14, 2013) The Alexander McQueen Bumster. Retrieved at: http://www.anothermag. com/fashion-beauty/3181/the-alexander-mcqueen-bumster
other • Croll, J. (2014) Fashion That Changed The World. • Reed, P. (12 November 2013) Fifty Fashion Looks That Changed the 1990s
balenciaga: shaping fashion • Victoria and Albert Museum, London, (27 May 2017 - 18 February 2018) ‘Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion’ • V&A, (date unknown) Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion. Retrieved at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/ balenciaga-shaping-fashion • Conlon, S. (24 May 2017) Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion - Inside the new V&A Exhibition | British Vogue. Retrieved at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ article/v-a-museum-balenciaga-exhibition-preview-curator-cassie-davie-strodder
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