Christian Dior

Christian Dior was the master of control and release. Anchoring garments and volume to understructures was one of his many fortes. The combination of restriction with areas of sensuous volume is something that I particularly hope to achieve in my work - Dior is a masterclass.

References:

img1 http://emariam.tumblr.com/post/1426263234
img2 http://www.bluetramontana.com/2010/02/book-clifford-coffin-photographs-from.html

Vivienne Westwood

I am including Westwood in my designer index no so much because her aesthetic resonates with mine but because her design practice does. I heard from someone who worked with her that a very large component of her designing process and construction process is done by tweaking on the stand. I find it necessary to do the same thing. Though I think flat pattern-making extremely important and enjoyable, I find every little change I make I need to toile - that physical incarnation is so important. Then - slicing it here, pinning it there - somethings can only be done on the stand. Viva la toile!

References:

img1+2 Spring/Summer 2010 style.com

Claude Montana

Claude Montana's work in the 80s and early 90s was BIG - influenced, I'm sure, by the period. However his work betrays an ongoing fascination with volume that cannot be explained away by the decade. His enduring dedication to cut, fabric and creating space between the garment and the body (similarly to Miyake now), Montana's designs are an exciting parallel to my own interest regarding interaction between the body and fabric. Also, discovering his use of folding and peeling - revealing - is a serendipitous realisation considering my current project.

References:

img1+2 http://strawberige.blogspot.com/2009/11/fashion-flashback-claude-montana.html
img3 http://fashionproject9.onsugar.com/Claude-Montana---What-Counts-11823011

Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan's Inertia collection and exhibition are an amazing demonstration of successfully creating a feeling of movement in a garment. The windswept effect not only affects how we perceive the clothing, but also the environment they are in.

From a dissemination perspective, I think having supporting objet in an exhibition setting works really well. Elevating the space from a retail feel, the sculptures are also an opportunity to explore the concept or research being explored without being constrained by the body or specific materials.

References:

img1 http://pichaus.com/design-spring-projects-chalayan-@9d8124752199f51da9375c4089c97f5c/

img2 http://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/27/dezeen-podcast-hussein-chalayan-at-the-design-museum/

Irving Penn

Irving Penn's photography, particularly his work with Balenciaga, has an exceptional felling of 'woosh' as Peter and I have decided to call it. That is, a sense of the fabric having a life of its own away from the body, traveling independently if you will. A sense of movement, not like rippling drape, but like directional volume - volume which draws the eye across space, thereby creating a feeling of movement.

It is unclear to what extent the garments themselves possess this quality, or to what extent it is created by the photography. Irrespective, the dynamic images are beautiful inspiration for creating garments with structure, volume, and movement.

References:

img1 http://fashionisgreat.com/eye-candy/irving-penn-for-balenciaga-that-dress-can-be-seen-at-the/

img2 http://lafdisabella.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/irving_penn_balenciaga_dress_paris_19501.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ilikethis.co/2010/11/25/photographs-auction-at-christies/

Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto's sculptural garments show the beautiful and incredible things that can be done in this field - that is, when it is desired for a piece of clothing to depart from the body, however briefly.

The top picture is a photograph by Nick Knight. The sculptural nature of the garment is what I identify with within this image - it is ambiguous whether the garment itself exists in this capacity or whether the method of silhouette depiction in fact imbues it in the garment. The garment sticks out amazingly - supported by the tulle yet itself so minimal, structural and impossible. It jars visually (in a good way) because it isn't following the normal set of physics we interpret the world through: it defies gravity.

Image number two is interesting: I love that it is called a sculpture in the blurb, rather than a garment (which it is). This dress (or skirt/top combo) has me practically in raptures - oh! the layers swinging against each other, pitching forward, leaning back - the two fabrics interacting yet so separate in colour and velocity. Ah!

References:

img1 http://wunderbuzz.co.uk/people/nick-knight/

img2 www.artknowledgenews.com/ Asian_Art_Museum.html

Haider Ackermann

Haider Ackermann consistenly works to redefine the erogenous zones. Here is a perfect example how the decision to place importance on something (in this scenario, the side of the thigh)is enough to give it actual or real importance. By ascending the heirarchy of conciousness through simply being presented to the audience, the area's meaning becomes charged and magnified by the gaze and focus of the other

This taps into the difference between being shown something and seeing something. A good way to explain what I mean is to describe the way my mother taught the concept to her media students: she brought a girl to the front of the class and sat her on a stool. Then she set up a video camera that streamed her onto a screen.

If it was just a girl sitting on a stool it would not be significant. What is significant is the image: she has been chosen to be presented to you in this pose, with this lighting, in this situation. She is a representation of something, imbued with meaning. She is no longer a girl sitting on a stool.

Similarly, if the woman dressed in Ackermann was wearing nothing, or covered completely, there would be no significance, no erotic sensitivity attached to the thigh area. It is because the area has been framed by intent that it is so.

References:

img1 Fall/Winter '11 www.style.com