CLUB KID VS CHARLES JEFFREY ANALYSIS

I can discern the inspiration from the Club Kids in Charles Jeffrey’s brand as it highly encompasses identity in its values. In his interview with AnotherMan, Cassidy mentioned “when the Club Kids came along, we brought the idea that our identity was enough; we didn’t have to do anything else” (Cassidy, 2019) and I believe this is reflective within Jeffrey’s brand as it acts as a safe haven for one to be themselves and that is all you have to be.

Similarly, both LOVERBOY and the Club Kids are dominated by sexuality, gender fluidity and DIY, generating a community for LGBTQIA+ and a disenfranchised generation to be as a collective and authentically celebrated. Michael Alig intended on having his own scene of unique characters (Club Kids, n.d) which I surmise to be resonant to Charles Jeffrey and his creation of models as characters. It is evident where his influence has come from and how Charles Jeffrey is successfully putting his own twist whilst merging other historical references and themes throughout his collections too.

I would love to be able to take an essence of the Club Kids further in my work, as I don’t just perceive them as a rowdy generation engulfed by drug, sex, and alcohol. I believe, like the punks, they are highly misinterpreted, and have strong messages as to why they acted as they did- something, despite being replicated within industry collections, can almost be lost due to misunderstanding. I feel an element of the Club Kid scene would be hugely reputable within my collaboration as it has such great correlations to the society we are enduring now, and the immense vulnerability and fear Generation Alpha will have forthcoming.

From learning of the Club Kid scene and their main ‘influencers’, I came across Leigh Bowery, an Australian avant-garde designer, promoter, and performance artist. Instantly, I felt Bowery’s makeup, outrageous style and provocative manner felt reminiscent of Charles Jeffrey, particularly of his early collections which were more symbolic of his graduate persona and naivety.

Leigh Bowery moved to London in 1980, after feeling alienated in his former regionthis reminded me of Charles Jeffrey and his seclusion from society due to his identity too.

Bringing a larger-than-life personality and, later, the NYC Club Scene to the English grounds, Leigh was a mainstream figure whose career resisted categorisation (Cochrane, 2018). As proprietor of the subversive club, Taboo, Bowery immersed his defiance of sexual convention and daringness to be different and shared it amongst many other creatives to flout tradition.

Again, I perceive a similarity between the LOVERBOY club nights and that of Taboo as they both connected performance art, the theatre, and all-round creative people, forming a meeting point for those to experience escapism and freedom of selfexpression.

Described as “modern art on legs” (George, n.d), Leigh Bowery consistently challenged the status quo through exaggerated and distorted silhouettes, making onlookers view his body from different perceptions and angles. Some of his designs engaged a controversial satire and easily offended the masses, however, I can see where Charles Jeffrey found his own interpretation of this and softened it down to still create an attention to his designs but not as much to insult individuals.

I love how Bowery infused his creative essences to establish a canvas with himself as the model, ultimately suggesting his dismissal for the traditional catwalk models and mode to show the human body in its natural form. The notion of distortion and making an audience delve deep into an image has always been enticing to me, so this is an area I would love to push since Charles Jeffrey has attempted this is in his imagery as well.