Art-iculate: Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat

 A couple of weekends ago I ventured down to one of my favourite Central London spaces, the Fashion and Textile Museum to see the exciting new exhibition Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat. Looking back from the first ever globally reported ready-to-wear catwalk show to the recent SS12 shows, Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat documents the magic of the fashion spectacle; with fashion week street style, intimate backstage snaps of models, a guide to who’s who of the frow – from editor to blogger to celebrity – and the resulting production streamed to millions of hungry eyes the world over.

A relatively modern phenomenon, the catwalk show can be dated as far back as fashion parades that took place in Paris couture houses in the 19th Century, however it will come as a surprise to many that designers didn’t really consider going it alone and showcasing en masse until the early ‘90s, with NYFW being the first collective stage established in 1993.

Spotlighting an exclusive and aspirational sphere, this fly-on-the-wall exhibition aims to shed some light on the inner-workings of the fashion machine, conveying the heady combination of chaos and creativity, paying particular attention to how it is marketed and presented to the world, detailing what happens behind the scenes and which opinion formers make a designer’s collection global news.

Featuring over 1,000 high-octane images from the most prolific catwalk photographers of our time, this sprawling display also features some breath-taking archive samples from the most famous names in their field: Christian Lacroix, Osman, Lanvin and Vivienne Westwood to name but a few.

What is most compelling about Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat is that it simultaneously dispels several myths about fashion, with one crucial misconception being that designers are among the most influential and envied creatives’ in the world. The truth is that designers have to work to extreme deadlines, rely on the talents of the team around them: creative directors, models, hair stylists, make-up artists etc. and the support and endorsement of the influentials: fashion editors, top tier bloggers and celebrities.

Over the past five years there has been a slight shift seeing bloggers and photographers increasingly relied upon to interpret the designer’s message and play a pivotal role in the distribution of imagery via social networking sites and blogging platforms.

Offering all fashion enthusiasts and professionals alike an opportunity to experience the view from the front row, Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat is a captivating insight into the inner-workings of what is one of the world’s most successful and glamorous industries.

Catwalk to Cover – a front row seat is showing at the Fashion and Textile Museum until 26th February 2012.

SS11 Press Days: Best of Blow

Many, many weeks ago I attended the Blow PR press day and true to form it was one of the highlights of my season. Its quite hard to put my finger on why exactly I love their client list so much, but I'm pretty sure its because they generally support the newest and most progressive fashion talent around, and I love that they promote designers who don't even retail, which as a member of press and an eager potential consumer is both very exciting and intriguing.

With a really subtle nod to S&M I genuinely love these playful latex rubber costume outfits designed by William Wilde. I love the little details such as PVC bows and frills, which I'm certain are no walk in the park to perfect. Entitled Madame Boucherie, SS11 sees Wilde's inaugural collection - which is all hand-glued - transcend the realms of burlesque to create sexy outfits and lingerie, which is worlds apart from the made-to-measure bridal wear he previously turned his hand to.

Another new designer I spied is Flik Hall, whose third collection, Mannequin Parade showcases her aesthetic for bold silhouettes, captivating prints and penchant for toy limbs (as depicted below)!

A firm favourite whom I've now written about on two previous occasions is Fam Irvoll who has gone to town with oversized florals this season. I especially love the yellow high-waisted skirt (pictured below).

I absolutely love the elegance, timelessness and shift dress simplicity of David Longshaw. With kooky necklaces, embellishments and feathers galore, Longshaw is proof that the devil is in the detail.

Another designer showcasing for the third time is Welsh-born Jayne Pierson with her SS11 collection entitled, Twin Parrallel. Vaguely reminiscent of Vivienne Westwood (I suppose the imitable designer's signature style was bound to influence Pierson during her time working for the Dame), I love the different textures and superhero type colourways, which include lots of gold.

At first I was slightly freaked out, as I'm well known for not being taxidermy's biggest fan, but once I got over my preconceived notions about foxes in particular, I really responded to RP Encore's concept. Using skills I didn't even know were possible RP Encore has deftly turned corpses (among foxes and ravens) into beautiful accessories, taking casts of their claws and teeth, typifying her aesthetic with the fox clutch bag which is surprisingly roomy!

Created by mechanical engineer and metal worker Clare Whit, I absolutely love the costume pieces below, especially the rather heavy soldered platform shoes.

Another designer I love, whom I had in mind when talking about designers who don't actually sell their work is Dean Sidaway, who works as a stylist, design consultant and lecturer at Central Saint Martins. Fingers crossed one day I'll be able to afford to privately commission one of his pieces.

JAMIE REID: IN CONVERSATION @ V&A- 24TH APRIL

Last night I had the great pleasure of attending another Friday night event at the V+A, and this week saw the turn of Jamie Reid in conversation. This wouldn’t have been my first choice, but H wanted to go so armed with the preliminary knowledge that he’s an artist and used to work with the Sex Pistols, off I went to learn more about him first hand.

Hate to say ‘I told you so’, but it wasn’t that great. I think maybe if you are a huge fan of the Sex Pistols and wanted to ask Jamie questions about them or Vivienne Westwood (which people unashamedly did) then it would’ve been great fun, but I guess I might have set my expectations of Jamie himself too high.

It started off really well with Jamie introducing himself as an ‘artist, anarchist and graphic designer, among many other things’. He passionately talked us through a slide show of all of his earlier and famed works using them to illustrate his life timeline. It transpired that Jamie went to Croydon polytechnic college with Malcolm McLaren (hence the Sex Pistols connection) whom he lost contact with after college. After leaving art college Jamie was part of a group of artists that started a collective called Suburban Press (see imagery below). This was a community led initiative which highlighted local issues, but also campaigned for increased civil rights and most memorably spoke on behalf of the miners during the strikes of the late 1970s. It was his experiences at the Suburban Press that really informed Reid’s artistic style and he went on for many years to create propaganda for and against numerous political campaigns. When the suburban Press closed after around four years Reid decided to move to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and rather randomly received a letter from Malcolm McLaren telling him all about a great new band he’d discovered called the Sex Pistols. He requested that Reid move back to London to work with the Pistols on album artwork and promotional materials. After accepting McClaren’s offer Reid recalls moving back to London and ‘suddenly my work was in all of the newspapers before the Sex Pistols even had a record deal’.
Among the best of Reid’s iconic works with the Sex Pistols are ‘Fuck Forever’, ‘Anarchy in the UK’ and 'Never Trust a Punk'(pictured above and below).
The story of Reid’s life seems to get a bit blurry at the point where he claims that the lovely Dame Vivienne and Malcolm ripped him off when they opened their famed store on the King’s Road called ‘SEX, and used his prints on t-shirts and other merchandise’. As you might have expected after they parted ways the subjects of Reid’s work changed dramatically with him focusing several years (on and off) creating ‘repetitions of imagery and emblems’.

When the discussion had moved on from the Sex Pistols things got a bit confused and became quite philosophical and a bit too highbrow for me. At first I thought it was just me being a bit restless and grumpy (I blame the crutches!!), but the audience seemed a bit stumped to think of relevant questions so Jamie continued talking about his inspirations and motivations which is when I got lost.

Among his inspirations are druidism (an ancient Celtic religion where nature was worshipped), romantic poets such as Blake and the artist Jackson Pollock. Great insights were:
Who killed Bambi?
Colour is power- so always has a presence in his work. He believes in the healing powers of colour
Assertoric (a proposition in Aristotlean logic) lets him see the magic and order in things
So weird ramblings aside it was worth going to find out more about him and who he is. Recently he has done some great things such as his fashion collaboration with Comme des Garcon which launched in 2007 with his propoganda art plastered all over the exterior of Dover Street Market (see imagery below). Reid mentioned in the lecture that the Tate galleries have just purchased some of his early collages from his Punk series, so would be great to look out for them next time I visit the Tates. Whilst I haven’t written many positive things about Jamie Reid’s lecture I do really like his work and think he did great things for the progression of graphic design. I really like his early pre punk artwork as it was really relevant for the time period and admire that it had a political message. Another thing I really liked was his use of typography and that his best works were created largely by collage.

Images of Jamie Reid artwork courtesy of Google.