Maison Martin Margiela

researching martin margiela's work...

Sketches

Initial Parti Sketches

Some starting ideas Ive got

2nd edit

The Idea of Glamour

Here is a review I wrote for the text, A Note on Glamour by Elizabeth Wilson. I have highlighted what is relevant to the different spheres of backstage performance versus frontstage appearance.

Review on:
A Note on Glamour
By Elizabeth Wilson


Wilson has authored a respective number of books and essays about dress and fashion. In this reading she explains the evasive concept of “glamour” that we all aspire to obtain. She expresses the history of social ideology and shows where this state of being derived from and what it truly means to be glamorous.

The term originally was associated with witchcraft, occults and the devil and was a western concept that surfaced at the dawn of the industrial age. It meant to dazzle and hypnotize the onlooker with an air of beauty like no other, - “The Oxford English Dictionary cites an early eighteenth century use: ‘when devils, wizards or jugglers deceive the sight, they are said to cast a glamour over the eye of the spectator’ ” (Wilson, 2007, p96). This idea which begun in the Romantic Movement eventually developed into dandyism and progressed to the celebrity character of George “Beau” Brummel who is famous for establishing the modern mans suit.

He was an individual that used glamour as a force and personality where, “the dandy aesthetic was one of exquisite restraint, refinement, cleanliness and renunciation...the aesthetic of the dandy is basically an attitude,” (Wilson, 20071 p97). Glamour not only meant having a desirable style and attraction, but also to have a charming and magnetic personality. It as about being an individual that combined fashion and beauty with an indifference towards the world through an unanchored personality when it came to traditional social relations. Brummel is iconic became the first celebrity where everybody from every social hierarchy looked up to him with high respect and anticipation. He successfully used glamour to become a social star by sheer force of personality, then appearance.

Before Brummel, Kings and Queens inherited their celebrity status through the structure of their social system, but in environments like today’s Hollywood society chooses its celebrities by the way they act and look as leaders. Hollywood in the 1930’s and 1940’s marketed glamour and celebrity status as a product for consumption and to envy over, expressing the idea that with glamour comes a luxurious lifestyle full of friends, money and freedom. This has played a big part in this century’s ideology of success and fame where glamour and being a celebrity are perceived to be the same thing. However Wilson strongly disagrees with this concept stating, “Celebrity is all about touch; glamour is untouchable” (2007, p101).
She supports this statement by arguing that celebrities and glamour are complete opposites where being a celebrity is about having a vulgar and public life where anything personal or private is put on display and judged by the world. Wilson uses case examples such as the fame and scandal of Hugh Grant, Princess Diana and the likes. She believes true glamour is a life that is untouchable, unconsumed and unspoiled. Because Hollywood markets glamour as being a focus on a person’s outer image, there is no room for the inner self. Glamour is a word that separates the elite from the normal and sends a global message that we can dream to be glamorous but will never reach it. It is an empty dream because the tragedy of glamour includes “desire, fear, loss, and an acknowledgment of death” (Wilson, 2007, p100). She powerfully concludes, “Glamour is primarily an attribute of an individual. It is an appearance…is created in combination with dress, hair, scent and even mise en scene. Its end result is the sheen, the mask of perfection, the untouchablilty and numinous power of the icon” (Wilson, 2007, p105).

[Wilson, E (2007). Fashion Theory: A note on glamour. Oxford, New York: Berg]


 
I find this reading relates not only to the ideas of glamour and celebrity (that are highly involved in the fashion and entertainment industries), but also to my precedent Théâtre du Soleil. In my preliminary research I found;

"The company built its process based on the concept of a theatre company as a tribe or a family, a community of equal citizens: everyone receives the same wages, and the workday follows a schedule to which all actors, musicians and production assistants rigorously accommodate."

[refer to pg1 of blog for reference] 

This is quite opposite to the obvious hierarchies the Fashion Industry (i.e Anna Wintour, press/writers/reviewers, designers, production team, fashion photographers, models etc).

http://blogs.elleuk.com/beauty-notes-daily/2009/09/23/thumbs-up-for-anna-wintour/

 http://www.fashionologie.com/Anna-Wintour-Makes-Back-Night-Stars-2418933?page=0,0,12

I also consider this quote from the Theatre Du Soleil director to still be relative;

"Theatre is doubtless the most fragile of the arts, 

the theatre public is now really a very small group, but the theatre keeps reminding us of the possibility to collectively seek the histories of the people and to tell them [...] The contradictions, the battles of power, and the split in ourselves will always exist. I think the theatre best tells us of the enemy in ourselves. Yes, theatre is a grain of sand in the works."

- Ariane Mnouchkine

This relates to the contradictory term of "glamour" and the idea of fame. The pull towards being glamourous or cool creates a social hierarchy that instantly divides community, yet holds them together simultaneously.

Theatre Architecture Lecture

These are the quick notes I took when we went to see Hillary Beaton (CEO of Downstage) and Jean-Gee (not sure how to spell his name) at the Hannah Playhouse earlier this year.

Initial Brief

 OISTAT BRIEF
http://www.oistat.org/content.asp?path=depb63vd


I am endeavouring to research and explore the ideas of

The Public Performance 

(frontstage apperance)
vs.  
The Private Fact

(backstage situation)
.

 where there is a potential to merge and collide the traditional barriers that separate the two extremely contrasting spheres of action. There is a drive to broadcast and disclose what is traditionally closed

http://gossip.rateometer.com/backstage-at-the-victoria-s-secret-fashion-show/

I am interested in exposing the realities of the fashion industry to the audiences (within the industry as well as outsiders). Typical fashion audiences are usually the wide-eyed fashion slave kind, or the other kind who are experienced and already know the truths and harshness that comes with the glamour.


+ Possibly by sharing or revealing a story or narrative of the typical fashion show
(designing a theater space for any fashion designer to occupy with their event and allowing the audience to follow the performance production from backstage pre-performance to the actual performance and post-performance i.e after-party).

+ And revealing the notions and flipsides of idealism versus realism.
i.e Front stage ideas: calm, composed, "beauty", extravagance, wealth, celebrity status, glamour, being "untouchable"
     Backstage truths: stress, frantic, workmanship, technical skill, selfishness, to the minute deadlines, career competition, all over "touched"

 

Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista captured in an epic catfight by Steven Meisel

[retrieved 4 Sep, 2010 from http://www.fashionologie.com/2675353]

This image also gave me inspiration for the notion of the 'pull and push' of fashion.

+ Utilizing the pull and attraction of the fashion industry to push people away. Portray this through the flipside atmospheres and performances of the backstage and frontstage appearances.

Key words and terms I have been considering:

-Visible > Vanish  

-Devoured / Spat out

-Rave > Ravage

These are in relation to how ideas (collections/items of garment) and people in the fashion industry are treated. (Terms will be edited down and changed the further I go into development of this project.)



Spaces:
-Foyer/threshold from the exterior of the building to the interior
     Waiting or meeting area for before and after the show occurs

-Audience spaces
    Not necessarily seating or separate to the stage
 
-Fashion stage/runway (not limited to one)
    Will give the appearance that it is stagnant but can be manipulated to to move and change eg. scrim wall and rotational platform

-Backstage (for pre-performance; hair, makeup, dressing, shoes, black curtain area)

-Bathrooms
   For performers and for guests. Bathroom behaviours

-Eating area/s
   For post-performance eg. after-party (audience included)
   Communal eating tables/areas
   Opportunity to use courtyard as a communual celebration area. Tables for eating are bits of the stage dsimantled.

Fashion Viktor & Rolf RTW 2010

In this clip V&R cleverly combine their conceptual show with their ready-to-wear-show.

Note the layout of the audience and runway and stage. They use a revolving platform that is positioned halfway down the runway and the main 'older' model stands transfixed throughout the entire shoe while V&R dress and swap her in layers of garments from passing by models which are younger in age. V&R are both onstage performing in contrast to the traditional situation where the designers stay backstage to prepare the models who are the only performers.

This action of taking clothes off the older model and giving it to the younger models was a literal representation of the the rites of passage that occurs in the fashion industry. Once a model hits or looks a certain age her career 'expires' and is given to other younger and fresh-faced models. Sad, fleeting and cut-throat. This also occurs in the sports, acting and musical industries. 

Notion of not one idea or person is permanent and that everything (people, nature, architecture and design) are moving constantly evolving or exchanging in fleeting cycles.

also see

For the past decade, all of Viktor & Rolf's conceptual shows have been extremely detailed, theatrical and interesting to watch and analyse.




Mizrahi Show Stills

- Use of scrim wall (revealling what is traditionally concealed)

Viktor & Rolf Stills

Scrims

I've explored some research on what scrims are and how they work. Trying to get my hands on some

Dictionary Definition:

1. A durable, loosely woven cotton or linen fabric used for curtains or upholstery lining or in industry.

2. A transparent fabric used as a drop in the theater to create special effects of lights or atmosphere.

Marketing Dictionary Definition:

1. Gauzelike curtain used in theater, motion picture, and television presentations to give special lighting effects. When illuminated from one side, the material is translucent; when illuminated from the other side, it is opaque. Therefore, a scrim can be used to give the illusion of a wall; then, with a change in lighting, the audience can see the action going on behind the wall.

2. Translucent material used to diffuse or decrease the light intensity from a lighting instrument. Scrims are frequently used on scoops or other floodlights to heighten their soft light quality.

Architecture Dictionary Definition:

1. A coarse mesh-like material such as heavy cloth, fiberglass, or wire mesh, used to bridge and reinforce a joint or as a base for plastering or painting.
2. A light open-weave fabric, sometimes painted or dyed, used as a drop curtain or part of a drop curtain; transparent, but less so than theatrical gauze.  

[ref: courtesy of http://www.answers.com/topic/scrim]

[image above courtesy of http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://www.onbroadwaytheater.com/scrim.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.onbroadwaytheater.com/vtobt.html&usg=__czrrinsmBlqVAB7d1qblRHceQwU=&h=376&w=586&sz=39&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=JDVm4l1DkpmMDM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=169&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscrim%2Bwall%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1225%26bih%3D776%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=218&ei=vhmCTLT3J4misQP92_X2Bw&oei=IBmCTOLRH424sQPxovX2Bw&esq=4&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0&tx=96&ty=38]

Isaac Mizrahi Unzipped

Last weekend I watched the doco Unzipped about fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi (from the 1990's) and I've finally found a clip about it on Youtube. The doco I found from the DVD store was so old they only had one copy in video, so it took me a while to figure out how to use the VCR again! Blast from the past.

When watching this, the only real connection I found to our project was towards the end of the doco where he gets a large scrim wall made to reveal what goes on backstage to the audience. The effect is shown quickly at 1:50sec in this clip:

I found the majority of the doco unapplicable.

Here's a review from Amazon:

Douglas Keeve's witty, energetic 1995 documentary about his then-lover, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, begins with Mizrahi reading mixed reviews of his 1993 show of new outfits and then follows him for the next year as Mizrahi seeks inspiration for his next public showcase. Sardonic, witty, and immensely likable, Mizrahi sets about finding his new muse, which turns out to be a lively but unlikely marriage of "'50s cheesecake meets Eskimo fake fur." Keeve shows us most stages of the production process and the related disasters and heightened anxieties that attend. He also gives us a big finish with a fly-on-the-wall look at the backstage mania that fuels those celebrity-packed rituals, where leggy supermodels walk dispassionately down long runways. Some of the best, bitchiest stuff is in the way the busy models deal with the presence of Keeve's cameras: Naomi Campbell comes across as a crab while Cindy Crawford could easily be anybody's swell, flirty pal. But we already knew that, didn't we? Shot mostly in black and white, with color stock reserved, quite wisely, for the climactic big show. --Tom Keogh  

[ref:http://www.amazon.com/Unzipped-Isaac-Mizrahi/dp/B0000DZ3E1] 


These are the the notes I took while watching: