The Fashion Show as a Spectacle of Illusion

Today I had to present my Thesis subject titled "The Fashion Show as a Spectacle of Illusion".  It was quite nerve racking as it was the first time to present my solid idea of what I have been researching.  This title links into my original research that started off with the Palace of Versailles and the frivolous life of Marie Antoinette by researching the excessive nature of the fashion show and how it has developed into a theatrical production throughout time.  I look into the beauty of the palace and the lifestyles that were once lived there and uncover the rebellious and frivolous realities behind the idea of perfection.  It also explores the fashion show as a form of representation of fashionable ideals.  In order to link it to fashion theory, I then began to research the feminine ideal and how the fashion show is a type of representation of which to portray these excessive ideals and expectations.  

Page from my Research Diary:
Marie Antoinette's Trianon and Bedroom

I also look into the history of the fashion show, which were previously known as mannequin parades and how these parades evolved throughout time and developed as a spectacle. The fashion show can simply be defined as a presentation of a collection of clothing on moving bodies for an audience.  I will look into Charles Frederick Worth and Lady Duff Gordon as the first “designers” start these mannequin parades in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Lady Duff Gordon was the first known dress designer to produce fashion shows of which models had “stage personas” according to Christopher Breward which pushed the idea of a fashion show turning into a theatrical production. 

Models performed the fantasy and lifestyle that the designers were trying to portray through their designs, which allowed them to become a form of illusion or fantasy that was desired by their clients.  The designers created an atmosphere through these fashion shows, which often created the illusion and aura of exclusivity, which is what the clients bought into as Evans (2001) quotes;

…Behind the enchanted spectacle, this was business.  Part of the mystique of couture is that the client feels she is the unique purchaser of a model… (Evans 2001, pp. 286-287)

Throughout time, the fashion show has continued to develop as a theatrical production which can be seen through designers such as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Viktor and Rolf etc.

 John Galliano for Dior, Haute Couture, Spring-Summer, 1998.

Photograph by Niall McInerney

The above picture shows the John Galliano collection for Dior in 1998 where the models are celebrated like actors in theatre and shows evidence of the extravagant nature of the fashion show.  

 John Galliano, Spring-Summer 1997. Photograph Patrice Stable

This is another example of how Galliano places the viewer in an altered sense of reality.  Models were once again placed in a theatrical production and danced around the stage dressed in extravagant outfits.

The next video I will show you is another great example of one of these shows in motion.  The models are so over the top in their movements and very dramatic.  The first two minutes of the show allows a story to be told and then the collection begins to unfold...

John Galliano for Dior Fall 2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2XGs-7xsZE

Chanel's Resort 2013 collection is an example of a collection with similar opulent and excessive inspirations to my own.  The inspirations behind this collection was creating a modern day Marie Antoinette as if she were to live in todays period of time.  Although my collection will be entirely different this is still a great way to see how another designer has used similar inspirations.  The show was also set in the Gardens of Versailles surrounded by fountains and the palace itself.

Chanel Resort 2013
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/2013RST-CHANEL

I aim to use this research in relation to my design practice through the theme of illusion in fashionable ideals and how these ideals are portrayed through the excessive nature of the spectacle.    I also want to contrast this with the idea of alternative dress in rebellion to these ideals.  The excessive, beautiful and heavily ornamental nature of 19^th Century dress will be the main inspiration along with the fantastical nature of the spectacle due to the emphasis on excess and illusion.  My collection will be heavily textiles based through digital print, which is where I want to bring in the illusions by making the prints appear three-dimensional and excessively trick the eye. I want to portray the illusion of excess through print and contrast this with modern streamline garments and the rebellious undertones will come through the structure of the garments, which will incorporate tailoring and also relate to the idea of dress reform.  The garment forms will be very angular and geometric and the use of line will be essential in exploring garment structure in relation to illusion by making the body appear a different way to what is reality through panelling and print. Overall, the key themes in my collection will link to ideas of excess, illusion and rebellion.