In what ways has Surrealism influenced fashion, and how successful are the results? You will need to include discussion of two examples. By likeability 1. What is surrealism? “Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision. ” Young Night Thoughts are surrealist from cover to cover. Unfortunately, it is a priest who speaks; a bad priest, to be sure, yet a priest. Heraclites is surrealist in dialectic. Lully is surrealist in definition. Flame is surrealist in the night of gold. Swift is surrealist in malice. Shade is surrealist in sadism. Carrier is surrealist in drowning.
Monk Lewis is surrealist in the beauty of evil. Chin von Arming is surrealist absolutely; in space and time Rabble is surrealist in death. Baudelaire is surrealist in morals. Rumbaed is surrealist in life and elsewhere. Harvey Saint-Deny is surrealist in the directed dream. Carroll is surrealist in nonsense. Husband is surrealist in pessimism. Serrate is surrealist in design. Picasso is surrealist in cubism. Bach© is surrealist in me. Rousseau is surrealist in anecdote (And© Breton, 1934, A lecture given in Brussels on 1st June 1934 at a public meeting regained by the Belgian Surrealists, http://home. Lb. AC. UK) “Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected association, in the omnipotence of dream, in the disinterested play of thought. ” -Andre Breton In the sass, the world was going through one of its ‘all time IoW phases. There was war, or worse, the fear of war, the artists who had been scattered as the result, (who were earlier based in Paris of other cities) became of the mindset that it was the overly rational thinking, the so called ‘high rationale’ of human mind that had brought upon this war.
This resulted in an inspired thought that led to a revolution. Thus the idea to follow the unconscious mind arrived, no matter how bizarre its ideas may seem. ‘The word Surrealism was invented in 1917 by Gallinule Billionaire, and adopted by fellow French poet, And© Breton, in 1924 to describe a radical movement of artists and writers, who drew on their subconscious to depict a heightened or “super-real” vision of the world. (The Surrealist comeback in design, Alice Rawson, The New York times, March 25, 2007) Perhaps this is a little hard to understand, but one of the best examples to describe owe a surrealist thinks is a Salvador Dali quote; when asked “do you take drugs”, he answered, to the interviewer’s bewilderment, “l do not take drugs. I am drugs. ” The man who commercialese the surreal – Salvador Dali Salvador Dali needs no introduction to anyone who has even remotely studied art. Not only was Dali a tremendously gifted painter, but also a designer, photographer, thinker and an extraordinary witty writer.
His autobiography ‘The secret life of Salvador Dali’ gives a very good insight into his thought process and his ideas. He was one of the first artists who brought the idea of surrealism from paper (And© Breton was a poet) to the visual arts, thus making it commercial and marketable. According to many, the idea of making surrealist art commercial was against the idea of surrealism. But as the history goes, the artists who had surrealist themes were very successful in the later sass’s.
The surrealist ideas were incorporated into fashion when Salvador Dali famously collaborated with the Italian designer Else Capillaries. The collection consisted of Lobster Dress – Lobster Dress was a simple white silk evening dress with a crimson waistband featuring a large lobster painted (by Dali) onto the skirt. Ђ Tears Dress – The Tears Dress, a slender pale blue evening gown printed with a Dali design of tromped Leila rips and tears, worn with a thigh-length veil with “real” tears carefully cut out and lined in pink and magenta. Ђ Skeleton dress – skeleton dress was a stark black crepe dress which used transport quilting to create padded ribs, spine, and leg bones. Shoe hat – the shoe hats were a particular sensation, hats that were the underside of heels on the top. Before Salvador Dali, many artists had already put forward surrealist works, and though not many are worthy of being mentioned in the name breath as Dali, some of the noticeable ones are – Giorgio De Chorizo (1888-1978) Chorizo’s early paintings were perhaps a vital key in the development of the surrealist style of painting.
Characterized by images of empty town squares, suspended corridors and macabre ghost town like depictions of streets and town squares looked like his imagination of a post war era and were full of a sort of haunting loneliness and grim. Cluttered with puzzling objects, such as clocks, giant statues and distant trains, and often featuring deep, dramatic perspectives, De Chorizo’s paintings left an indelible mark on Breton and numerous other future Surrealists.
Among his works from this early Metaphysical period are The Enigma of the Arrival and the Afternoon (1912), The Anxious Journey (1913), The Nostalgia of the Infinite (1913), Mystery and Melancholy of a Street (1914) and The Child’s Brain (1914). By the time of the first Manifesto of Surrealism, De Chorizo had moved on to a far more classical approach, much to the chagrin of Breton. He participated in Surrealist activities up to 1925, contributing to the periodicals Lilt©return and La R©volition Sour©aliases, as well as eater writing a Surrealist novel Hobbyhorses in 1929.
Rene© Francis Emigrate Some people say that it was the haunting memory of his mother who committed suicide when he was 14 years old. It is said that he witnessed her face covered by her dress as she was pulled out of the water (she committed suicide by throwing herself in a nearby river) the haunting symbolism remained an inspiration for him, even for his famous work Less Aments. Let us come back to the point in history when the surrealist movement that And© Breton had started as a rebellion for poets had captured the minds of designers and as successfully incorporated into fashion by a crazy Spaniard.
After the collaboration of Dali and Capillaries, many designers tried surrealism as a theme but only a few were successful as a whole. Fashion and surrealism The fashion object could be a most powerful force in the simultaneous deconstruction of the figure and remembrance of its presence that inevitably dwells in the garment. Just as music could be envisioned as both an abstract form and physical presence, so too the biomorphic abstractions that characterize much Surrealist art found their way into the free forms of dress and the definition of the unman being as an abstract flow among units of the body.
The creation of illusion gives to clothing the enough implications of narrative and mystery to occur as a function of dress. According to the influential Surrealist gallery owner Julia Levi, Else Capillaries was the only fashion designer to interpret Surrealism successfully. From the starting of her Paris shop to its closing, Capillaries reconciled fashion an art, by interpreting the modern aesthetic and then Joining forces with artists who were at the time highly forward in their time. Such out of such her collaboration with Salvador Dali is a reorient one.
To be dressed by Capillaries was to acquire confidence and chic, whether one was beautiful or not. Schizophrenia’s fashion philosophy was grounded in classical mythology, particularly Ovid and the Pygmalion myth, and its stories of magical transformation and metamorphosis, themes also explored by the Surrealists. Her fashion was not only surreal and unique but also easy to wear and very feasible. Because she was able to make this transition and bring the surreal in the real world not only in theory but also in clothes that could be work in a casual manner along tit a style statement that associated a person with the surreal movement.
It is not a less known fact that she inspired one of the leading fashion designers of our time, the late Lee Alexander Macaque who had a travel case or Luggage in his shop that was visibly inspired from Schizophrenia’s skeleton dress. In the sass’s, transformation was symbolized by the butterfly. Schizophrenia’s collection of the 1938 Exposition International du Surrealism, and it included two of her most notable collaborations with Dali, the Skeleton Dress and the Tear-Illusion Dress. Dali and
Capillaries collaborated again in 1937 on the Lobster Dress, which simplicity of the white dress is belied by the erotically charged placement of the lobster on the front of the skirt, a symbolism possibly lost on the wearer. Images relating to the fashion industry, such as sewing machines, irons, dressmaker forms and mannequins, played a leading role in the surrealist theatre. During the sass Surrealism helped to liberate fashion form more dressmaking and realize the dream of the marvelous. In the words of American Fashion Historian Richard Martin, “Surrealism remains fashion’s favorite art”. Surreal thing”, Glassine Wood, 2007). ‘Some of the latest manifestations of Surrealism are screamingly commercial. Take the tromped O’Dell hoarding at 39 Avenue George V in Paris, where a construction site is padded by an eerily realistic image of a Serialized 19th-century apartment building whose structure ripples like water. Or the tops-truly boutique of the Dutch fashion designers Victor & Roll on Via Sandpapered in Milan, which is literally built upside down, with a “floor” that looks like the ceiling, and vice versa.
You can also spot Surrealism’s influence in more thoughtful design projects, like the provocative, lightly sinister work of the young product designers, such as the Swedish group, Front, and Dutch duo, Studio Job. Oscillating from Serialized commercialism to a considered reinterpretation of the original Surrealist spirit reflects the central theme of the V&A show. It examines the ambiguity of Surrealism’s relationship with commerce, and the tensions that developed during its transition from an avian garden art movement in the sass to a commercial design style from the sass. (The Surrealist comeback in design, Alice Rawson,2007) But the question remains is surrealism successful in fashion industry? Let us take the example of the late Lee Alexander Macaque. His work would probably one of the best examples of surrealism in fashion that was widely popular in the last few years and arguably still is. Macaque, famous for collaborating with Lady Gaga had once quoted that she was his unofficial muse. Lady Gaga officially unveiled her ‘Bad Romance’ single at Alexander Unseen’s Spring/Summer 2010 runway show during Paris Fashion Week.
Although Gaga wasn’t in attendance, her presence was certainly felt as her hit song streamed over the speakers during the encore of all the looks that Macaque had showed off. But was Lady Gaga the first surrealist design wearing pop icon? No. At the presentation of a new surreal collection of designer Jean-Paul Guiltier dean Paul Guiltier) gathered all the secular Paris, as well as fans of millionaire-style Guthrie from around the world. At the show in the front row along with influential politicians, financiers and other celebrities turned out to be only one woman – Madonna.
Madonna and Jean-Paul Guiltier share the same relationship Lady Gaga did with Macaque since before Lady gaga was even playing the piano and scaring her babysitters by turning up naked before them. Macaque owned the brand Alexander Macaque which was later bought by Gucci, with Macaque serving as a creative director. The same collection was also famous for models with bizarre make up and surreal outfits. This show was so successful that it crashed the networks servers. This could be called one of the greatest achievements in surrealist fashion by a designer.
Perhaps the most famous of his famous surrealist works are his signature high heels. Macaque, 40 at the time of his death can be labeled the most famous and the best example of designers inspired by surrealism in their work. Viviane Westwood Dame Viviane Westwood popularity constantly gains momentum. Her punk attitude is more alive in the Naughtiest than ever and her outspoken, Union Jack waving Englishmen (with a few added safety pins and tea stains), is undiminished. It is fitting that the Establishment has recognized her work by making her a Dame.
Viviane Westwood – fashion’s older stateswoman that many wish to emulate, with her younger husband Andrea Chronicler and energy for shaking things up whilst keeping her feet on the ground – seems to only recruit admirers. Cutting edge but lassie, she is unflinchingly rooted in what matters, whether it is human rights or classical fiction. No trendy noise for her, Just cleavage, mischief, and CAPITAL LETTER MESSAGES such as sass’s “l AM NOT A TERRORIST, please don’t arrest me baby -r- shirts. Her first catwalk show was presented in 1981, featuring the collaboration of Westwood and McAllen. The theme that year was Pirates.
Subsequent Westwood theme titles in the early years included Savage (1982), Buffalo Girls (Autumn/Winter 1982-83) and Clint Eastward, (Autumn-Winter 1984-85) under the Worlds Ends Label he stopped producing the line in 1985 to concentrate on her Viviane Westwood Lines. Viviane Westwood says (“Sometimes you need to transport your idea to an empty landscape and then populate it with fantastic looking people. “). She dubbed the period 1981 to 1985 New romantic and 1988-1991 “The Pagan Years” during which “Viennese heroes changed from punks and ragamuffins to ‘Taller’ girls wearing clothes that parodied the upper class. The period from 1993 to 1999 she called “Megalomania” and from 2000 to the present – “Exploration” (vogue, 2007) Viviane Westwood has always been a fan of surrealist work and is herself a punk. It is also a known fact that her ex husband was the manager of the sex pistols and they were also associated with surrealism in music. The future of surrealism in fashion – upcoming designers such as Yang Du Surrealist fashion designer Yang Du established her brand Yang Du in London in 09 after studying in the central Saint Martin’s College of art and design, and working for designers such as Viviane Westwood, John Gilligan, and Giles Deacon.
It is evident in her work that she is a former artist and a fan of surrealism and impressionism. Her work is ultra hip, very colorful and can be seen as a mix of post modern and impressionist. She is especially fond of animal prints, painting animal faces on dresses, and using models with vivid makeup although a notch less vivid than Alexander Macaque. Unlike most surrealists Yang Dud’s inspirations are less controversial. She stated that she gets her inspirations from her travels. These have included India and Ecuador.
Her latest design includes a cactus hat that has actual spines in the top. In the new winter collection, the colors were pastel with animal prints along the dress line. When asked about her design ideology in an interview, she said “My ideology… I am ere open-minded to new things, and mostly, look at things from a very different angle. I often go on trips, where I take lots of photos and meet lots of people. When I come back to London, I always have so much in my mind, some of them like stories which I really want to share through the clothes I design. (Amelia’s magazine, 2009) Surrealism in fashion photography Although surrealism is apparent in fashion, it is even more so in fashion photography. It would be almost worthless for a designer to create a design which looked surreal if the photographer couldn’t capture the thought of the designer. Fashion photography thus can be called as a way to express surrealism in fashion. Also fashion photography can be used to make a normal collection surreal. One of the author’s best photographers is Toshiba Canoe who in her career (1950-1960) made hundreds of collages, and quit the profession after married.
Her photography is inspired by surrealist painters such as Giorgio De Chorizo, Max Ernst, Joan Mir¶, and Francis Pica. It is apparent that she did all her work from an out of the world prospective which is one of the reasons that her pictures though surreal look very believable, and honest. Some of her famous works are the horse and the bride in the sea and the bride on the door. Conclusion The surrealist movement changed many aspects of art. No other visual art was the same after the surrealist movement.
Surrealism is that form of art which believes in anything that the subconscious mind can conjure up. It is the way of life for great minds like Salvador Dali who dreamed more than they breathed. In the fashion industry, it was a huge step when Salvador Dali collaborated with Capillaries not only because it lead to two of the most talented minds of the generation to come soother, but also because it opened the door for surrealist art to come in the field of fashion and blossom.
And so it did. The careers of Alexander Macaque and Viviane Westwood are a testimony to this fact. And as for the future, the designers like Yang Du are taking forward the legacy and continue to inspire the people with their surreal work that one knows to be untrue but is still forced to think twice. And that is the beauty of the surreal art. It may be argued that the surreal art like most others will one day be obsolete and out of fashion but it is also ever changing.
