AnOther
Magazine
VOL 3 ISSUE 8 Autumn/Winter 2020 Emily Crockford photographed by Ellie Frisby
Modern Fashions, Powerful Influences, Creative Spheres
PHOTO BY NATALIA ALAVERDIAN
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A Deeper Look
Into
Oversized Fashion “A style that was once seen as ‘dangerous’ and ‘thuggish’ is now popularised by many luxury brands as ‘edgy and ‘athletic’.”
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F
ashion is ever-changing and striving to become more innovative. Over the years proportions and styling techniques of clothes have been emphasised to a looser, more shapeless cut and the trend has been adopted worldwide. Oversized clothing has been used as a form of defying and reinforcing what is socially acceptable. I want to share with you the deeper idea behind the oversized look, where it came from and how the trend has comeback through luxury, street wear brands such as Supreme, Comme des Garçons and many more. The popularity of oversized clothing came to fashion in the 1920s and with it came certain politics surrounding the trend including race, gender and class. Coco Chanel was arguably the biggest influence on 1920s fashion. Incorporating elements of menswear into her designs revolutionised the constraints of corseted and uncomfortable garments of the era.
“The loose-fitting style was seen as a political statement as it opposed societal standards of fashion and beauty.� Chanel introduced the flapper dress which was a relaxed fitting dress or two-piece for women, it embodied the idea of a shapeless figure, diminishing the femininity of clothing. The trend reappeared multiple times throughout the decade. In the late 1970s unisex fashion was adopted, blurring the line of what was commonly considered masculine and feminine. The power suit came to fashion in the 1980s and power dressing became a form of female empowerment, encouraging women to express themselves. The loose-fitting style was seen as a political statement as it opposed societal standards of fashion and beauty. The oversized look for females was and partially still is an attempt to take back control of their physical figure by replacing feminine 4 AnOther Magazine
In the 90s the trend continued, with the rise of hip-hop fashion and street-wear into mainstream culture it became a significant part of the oversized trend. Nineties hip-hop fashion was defined by oversized fits and long silhouettes, mainly because kids who grew up in poorer cities such as LA or New York would wear hand-me downs from siblings. Sibling or no sibling wearing oversized clothes kept a lot of kids out of trouble, the bigger your t-shirt was, the bigger your “older brother” was. This street inspired aesthetic was made famous by Hollywood blockbuster films such as ‘Boyz in the Hood’ and ‘Poetic Justice’, creating an influence on people everywhere. Fast forward to the trend today, many street-inspired brands such as Off-White and Yeezy continue to produce clothing inspired by the
oversized look created throughout 90s fashion and other eras. In recent years, the runway has seen brands such as Vetements, Balenciaga and Comme des Garcons produce collections that demonstrate a looser, more exaggerated fit. A style that was once seen as ‘dangerous’ and ‘thuggish’ is now popularised by many luxury brands as ‘edgy and ‘athletic’. I have found that many people believe the cut and shape of a garment defines someone’s personal style, background and what they believe in, which highlights the unnecessary politics surrounding the trend. While there are underlying issues behind the oversized look, softer shapes and longer silhouettes create a comfortable and stylish aesthetic for the consumer, which is what most look for in fashion.
Words by ELLIE FRISBY AnOther Magazine 5
ALDE R Q Mc N EXA
N
U
EE
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PHOTO BY ANNE DENIAU
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Exploring the enduring darkness and beauty in the documentary McQueen An East end boy known as Lee to his closest family and friends but to the rest of the world he was Alexander McQueen, a controversial, lively designer that achieved great success. But how did McQueen feel about his success?
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‘You don’t move forward if you play safe’ Directors Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui created the most authentic and thrilling tribute to the inspiring but tortured fashion visionary through a moving documentary. It emotionally illustrates Lee’s extraordinary journey of being a young boy from East End working on Savile Row to a highly recognised fashion designer who disrupted the industry up until his death in 2010. The documentary features exclusive conversations with friends, family and collaborators of McQueen. His death is still so raw for the people who were closest to him which made the interviews so difficult, but it revealed the genuine love and support people had for him. Recovered archives of home videos are used throughout the documentary which show
the early days of his career including his time spent at Central St Martins studying Fashion Design. In his final year he produced his first collection for the university’s show at London Fashion Week. McQueen always wanted to create something beautiful out of the dark influences in his mind and his ‘Jack the Ripper’ show demonstrated this by combining the history of London, the victims of Jack the Ripper and research to create a story behind it all. This is when fashion editor Isabella Blow discovered McQueen and decided she wanted to make him successful. They both worked well together because they didn’t care what anybody thought and their work relationship quickly turned into a creative friendship. AnOther Magazine 9
The designer went on to constantly produce shows with clothes that cost less than £10. Using any materials he could get his hands on such as cling film, plastic bags or bin bags, he would produce a collection of garments. McQueen put on all these extraordinary shows, but he had no money to live off. He spent all his unemployment benefits on materials for his work, then avoided revealing his face on camera so he wouldn’t be spotted by benefit inspectors. All the shows were about marketing McQueen to get his name out there. Lee said ‘You never move forward if you play safe’. He wanted to do shows where people left feeling repulsed or exhilarated or some sort of emotion. ‘If you leave without any emotion, I’m not doing my job properly’. This highlighted his artistic energy, his work may have been misogynistic, but it was the truth.
McQueen once stated ‘I find beauty in grotesque’ which can be seen as an underlying theme in each of his collections’ The darkness, depth of thought and the unprecedented aesthetics used, related to a lot of his childhood and past violence he was exposed to. Particularly in his collection ‘Highland Rape’, the clothes, the models and the set were represented in a brutal style. This was a way of protecting women and himself through his collection. Lee was exposed to violent behaviours and sexual abuse from his older sisters previous husband Terence Hulyer. McQueen once stated ‘I find beauty in grotesque’, which can be seen as an underlying theme in each of his collections. McQueen has long been known for shocking crowds on the runway by blurring the lines of immaculate tailoring and eccentricity. The designer constantly pushed limits of what people expected from him, whether it be barbed wire statement pieces or half-naked models storming the runway. His talent is undeniable and this documentary captures every emotion possible throughout his remarkable journey.
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The name Alexander McQueen started to grow and he was offered the role of creative director at Givenchy in Paris which he used to help finance his emerging label in London. Producing 14 collections a year for both brands created a lot of pressure for Lee and his close working team, but he really made people do the impossible. With close friendships starting to fall apart from the pressure, Lee spiralled into a dark place. His former friend Isabella Blow sadly committed suicide after a long battle of depression, before she passed she described the onset of depression to her friends ”like when you get a sore throat and you know that you’re going to get the flu, you know its coming, but you cant do anything about it’. Her tragic passing had a huge effect on McQueen. A few years later his mother passed away, his collections got deeper and darker with everything in his life leading to feelings of torment. His career was successful, but his personal life and overall health was dolefully deteriorating. Disturbed and depressed on the eve of his mother’s funeral in 2010 Lee took his own life. A tragic ending for such a loving and caring fashion visionary.
Photo by GARY WALLIS Words by ELLIE FRISBY
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CROCKFORD
PHOTO BY ELLIE FRISBY
Fashion Photography
Emily Crockford has an evident creative eye for photography. Learning how to work with a camera at a young age sparked Emily’s passion for the subject. Succeeding in photography classes during school alongside working on personal projects for her portfolio, Emily ended up studying Fashion Photography at Leeds Arts University.
Words by ELLIE FRISBY
When did you first get into photography + was there a specific moment you knew it
Photos by EMILY CROCKFORD
was a career you wanted to pursue?
think my interest in it stems right back to when I was around 5, when my grandad started teaching me how a camera works. A more serious interest started when I was 14/15, when I took it up as a hobby. I’d say it was when I began looking into courses and
when
University of Edinburgh, I got offers from both and it merely came down to the fact that Leeds was a fashion based course and Edinburgh was fine art based.
“As cliché as it sounds, I genuinely
visiting
“It was between Leeds and
different I saw it
universities as a serious
career option, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else really.”
When you were applying for University was Leeds your first choice or were there any
Leeds was also a better choice as it’s far enough away from home to have my freedom, but close enough for me to come home regularly to see my family.”
How would you describe the course you are doing in three words and what’s your favourite part about it?
“I would have to describe it as
competitive,
exciting
and
challenging. The best part is having the creative freedom to do what I like while having access to all the equipment I could dream of.”
other’s that interested you?
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PHOTO BY EMILY CROCKFORD
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Do you have a favourite part of the process for example shooting or editing?
“My favourite part is filtering through all the images I have taken, editing them and seeing the final result. It can be really tricky sometimes on a shoot trying to tell whether you’ve got ‘the shot’ but its always such a good feeling when you look through them after and you have.”
What makes a good picture stand out from the 100s of other takes?
“I’m a major perfectionist so if the framing or lighting or pose is even a little bit off then I’ll disregard the photo, when all the elects marry together ill choose it.”
Whose work influences you the most and why?
“It varies really depending on what project I’m working on and what style I’m shooting in, but I love Ian Kenneth-Birds portraits, Petra
Collins’
execution
of
PHOTO BY EMILY CROCKFORD
analogue
photography and Campbell Addy’s whole outlook and approach to the industry.”
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Among
your
work
which
project
your
favourite
or
at
university, piece
and
is why?
“I think out of all of them my favourite is either my shoot I did for BEST Clothing because it was my first time working commercially and was so rewarding. Also the project I’m currently working on which I haven’t posted as of yet. I think it’s going to be so much more satisfying having created a body of work while being so restricted.”
If you could collaborate on a shoot
PHOTO BY EMILY CROCKFORD FOR BEST CLOTHING
with any influencer who would it be? How “I think I’d want to collaborate with a
inspired
are
you during
staying lockdown?
stylist or art director over an influencer because the whole creative process of
“Not easily in all honesty, I have to keep
a shoot can be really overwhelming.
reminding myself that everyone is in the
However, I would say that casting contributes
same position so I’m not the only one feeling
to about 80% to how successful the concept
unmotivated. I’m taking photographs when I
of the of the shoot will be. If the casting
want to not because I feel like I have to. I’ve been
is off it can completely ruin the shoot. So
forcing myself to get up at 9 every day and stay
the model I’d want to work with would be
in a routine so I can be productive, but I imagine
fully dependent on the shoot concept.”
that’ll go out the window after my last deadline,”
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Where do you see yourself in five years?
“We’ve actually just done a whole module on planning for the future so I have a few answers. I’m looking to potentially get a position at a high profile online fashion retailer, like Misguided or Pretty Little Thing and work my way up that way, rather than delve into free lancing straight away. I’m not yet confident enough in my own work to believe I’d make a decent enough living in freelance work. But in 5 years maybe I’d have a stronger freelance presence alongside a solid 9-5 job in the fashion industy.”
PHOTO BY EMILY CROCKFORD AnOther Magazine 17