The Press Democrat (2013) Out of the Bag by Diana Velika. [image] https://www.pressdemocrat.com/entertainment/9395838-181/junk-turns-into-art-at.
G_Y_Ran (2016) Interviewed for LFW 2017. [image].
Alexander, J. (2019) Top Hat by Ian Bennett Millinery. [image].
The Press Democrat (2013) Out of the Bag by Diana Velika. [image] https://www.pressdemocrat.com/entertainment/9395838-181/junk-turns-into-art-at.
A BIT ABOUT SPENCER
From globe-trotting to trashion fashion shows, Spencer’s is set up for nothing less than an extravagant life in the arts. Balancing their senior year in high school with fashion and business classes at the local college, they embarked on a rigorous summer theatre repertory program and study abroad trip to London all in 2013.
After being accepted to Manchester Metropolitan University in 2015 they have dedicated their life to fashion and living fabulously. They have been successful in this.
Since moving to the U.K. in 2015 they have worked for a wide range of brands including Paul Smith, Philip Treacy, Boohoo and Voir Fashion.
But like any phenomenon, one cannot read about Spencer to understand them.
You must experience them.
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MY NOTES ON CAMP
Contemporary fashion and queer intellectual Sasha Velour commented on the meaning of camp with the following statement: “Notes of Camp” (Bolton et al, 2019) refers to camp to mean for the type of behavior that queer people exhibit that marks us as being strange or different and was extended to define a whole phenomenon…(queer people) cannot subscribe to a system of beauty you have no pace in or understanding of you. So they create an alternate system of evaluating taste based on extravagant and effort and passion over beauty or respectability.” (Womans Wear Daily, 2019) The 2019 Met Gala theme was dedicated to a queer and camp icon Karl Lagerfeld after his passing (Waxman, 2019). His work was iconic of its extravagance and borderline tacky tastes. Conjuring indoor fashion shows around enormous rocket ships, gargantuan streamliners and elaborate gardens to compliment the simple elegance of the clothing (BRYANT, 2019). Looking at his legacy has led to a rise of camp in contemporary fashion from gameshow Moschino fashion shows (Moschino, 2019) to 70’s sci-fi Gucci advertisements (Cadogan, 2019) and arguably the elevation of drag queens from queer outcasts to celebrities. These campy methods of promotion have created iconic moments in fashion and have left strong impacts on their target audience.
In a behind the senses look into Lady Gaga’s creative process in preparing for the 2019 Met Gala, a fuller understanding of camp becomes realized (Price and Holtzinger,2019). Camp is based in effort, narrative, fantasy, special and humor. Lady Gaga references herself and persona from 10 years ago as it has become camp in retrospective. The efforts and construction that both Lady Gaga and Brandon Maxwell put into preparing for a 20-minuet performance on the red carpet are what makes camp serious. There is no detail to small, no moment unrehearsed, now hem unstitched. The extravagance is not what makes it camp, it is the effort. Another epitome of camp from the met Gala was by Billy porter. His entrance was made by being carried in on a pedestal by 4 stepping men, relishing in his glamour then dismounting to release golden isis wings (Vogue, 2019). Billy Portes rise to the red carpet can be attributed to his role on the FX show POSE, which focuses on the queer ballroom scene of the 1970s,1980’s and 1990’s (Nicolaou, 2019). The ballroom scene along with cabaret scenes are the birthplace of camp and many fashion concepts whish were adopted by mainstream celebrities such as in in the 1990 hit Vogue by Madonna (Steele, 2013).
Theirry Mugler came out of retirement to dress select celebrities such as Kim Kardashian for the 2019 Met Gala. Mulger has defiantly become camp in retrospect and his emerging from retirement is perfectly timed to dress a soon to be camp icon Kim Kardashian. (Vogue, 2019). Taking a contemporary sex symbol and dressing her to look as though she has just walked out of the sea, dripping in crystals but without a hair out of place, makes it camp. The superficial perfection born from a fantasy is what makes it camp. Since then, Mugler and Kardashian have collaborated on editorials for Vogue Arabia and relaunched his brand into the public consciousness.
References
BRYANT, K. (2019). Karl Lagerfeld’s 14 Most Fantastical Chanel Sets. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/photos/2019/02/karl-lagerfeld-best-chanel-sets.
(BRYANT, 2019)
Bolton, A., Van Godtsenhoven, K., Garfinkel, A., Cleto, F., Dufort, J. and Sontag, S. (2019) Camp. 1st ed. New York (N.Y.): The Metropolitan museum of art.
(Bolton et al, 2019)
Cadogan, D. (2019). Beam me up, Gucci! New campaign inspired by vintage sci-fi. Dazed. https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/36865/1/gucci-campaign-inspired-by-vintage-sci-fi-glen-luchford-alessandro-michele-aw17
(Cadogan, 2019)
Labruce, Bruce. (2014) Notes on camp and anti-camp. The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A363792535/ITOF?u=mmucal5&sid=ITOF&xid=8e27577c.
(Labruce, 2014)
Moschino. (2019). Game Show Couture - FW19 COLLECTION - Moods - Moschino | Moschino Shop Online. https://www.moschino.com/us_en/moschino/moods/fw19-collection/game-show-couture.html
(Moschino, 2019).
NICOLAOU, E. (2019). A History Of New York's Ball Scene. Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/06/200854/ball-culture-history-pose-fx
(Nicolaou, 2019)
Price, J. and Holtzinger, M. (2019). Behind Lady Gaga's Legendary Met Gala Looks | Vogue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBrBTFaM-64&t=335s
(Price and Holtzinger,2019).
Steele, V. (2013) A Queer history of Fashion - from the Closet to the Catwalk. New Haven: Yale University Press.
(Steele, 2013)
Vogue Videos. (2019). Billy Porter on Bringing Respect Back to Camp. https://video.vogue.com/watch/met-gala-billy-porter-on-bringing-respect-back-to-camp?_ga=2.194695534.233969305.1568914713-1783003208.1568129214 [Accessed 19 Aug. 2019].
(Vogue, 2019)
Vogue (2019). Kim Kardashian West & Kanye West on Her Ocean-Soaked Met Look | Met Gala 2019 With Liza Koshy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmSegZsckag
(Vogue, 2019)
WAXMAN, O. (2019). 'The Word Is Camp': What to Know About the Inspiration for This Year’s Met Gala, as Explained in 1964. Time. https://time.com/5584111/met-gala-2019-camp-history/
(Waxman, 2019)
Womans Wear Daily. (2019). Met Gala 2019: Sasha Velour's Critical Camp Eye | WWD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu3CfYb3osY&t=101s [Accessed 19 Aug. 2019].
(Womans Wear Daily, 2019)
RAINBOW WASHING
June 1st marks the beginning of pride month, and with it a shower of Rainbow Washing. Rainbow Washing is when during pride month a business will apply LGBTQIA+ promotional material to its storefront, products or online advertising (Abad-Santos, 2018). But once pride month ends, all of it is taken down and forgotten about until next year. This isn't very different to the Christmas season one could argue. But pride month isn't a holiday, it is a protest.
Rainbow Washing is a symptom of a rainbow capitalism. Rainbow capitalism is the incorporation of the LGBT movement and sexual diversity to capitalism and the market economy, viewed especially in a critical lens as this incorporation pertains to the gay, cisgender, western, white, and upper middle-class communities and market . Meaning a business or brand will adopt pride promotion to appear to be an alley of the LGBTQIA+ community while not contributing to it.
Brands such as H&M, NEXT and Nike among many launched pride collections in 2019 with varying levels of contribution to LGBTQIA+ communities. “ J.Crew donates 50 percent of the purchase price of its pride T-shirts; H&M only donates 10 percent of the sales from its “Pride Out Loud” collection. Nike’s website doesn’t say how much of the proceeds from its Be True campaign the company donates, but it does say that Nike has donated almost $2.7 million since 2012.” (Radin, 2019) While many of the companies that use pride as promotion make no contributions at all, some have been exposed for their hypocrisy. Adidas, which has a special section of its site called the “pride pack” selling rainbow merchandise to honor Pride Month. But it’s also one of the major sponsors for this year’s World Cup, which takes place in Russia, a country with anti-LGBTQ laws that make it unsafe for fans and athletes (Baskin, 2019). That contradiction throws into sharp relief the emptiness that can lie at the center of corporate gestures of “support” for the LGBTQ community.
There is nothing wrong with businesses adopting allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community, so long as they make significant contributions to it year-round not just in June. Not just when it is easy.
References
Abad-Santos, A. (2018). How LGBTQ Pride Month became a branded holiday. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/2018/6/25/17476850/pride-month-lgbtq-corporate-explained [Accessed 19 Jul. 2019].
BASKIN, B. (2019). Rainbows Aren't Enough: Taking Stock of Fashion's Approach to Pride. [online] The Business of Fashion. Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/professional/rainbows-arent-enough-taking-stock-of-fashions-approach-to-pride [Accessed 19 Aug. 2019].
RADIN, S. (2019). How Fashion And Beauty Brands Are Capitalizing on Queerness By Selling Rainbow Pride Products. [online] Teen Vogue. Available at: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/rainbow-capitalism-fashion-beauty-pride-month [Accessed 19 Jul. 2019].
CLOTHES SWAP
Among Millennial and Gen Z a second hand shopping movement has risen. One which aligns with their values of social engagement, sustainability and personal economic struggle (Nichols, M. and Ashanti, T. 2019). I am referring to of course, the clothes swap. A clothes swap is where a group of people gather clothes from their wardrobe, they no longer want that are in good condition and trade them in part of a group (Tuttle, 2019).
After moving to London, I came across and Facebook event for a clothes swap near Kings Cross. You could bring up to eight items and swap them for anything you like. Best of all, it was totally free. Having moved to a new city alone, I was certainly nervous about what the environment would be like. I was surprised to find it a very calm, open vibe that encouraged people to talk to strangers who were trying things on. Giving an encouraging word on the color or the fit helped people to bond and have fun in the swap.
It became part of my monthly routine to come to this swap and meet old friends, make new friend and walk away with interesting things I would never think to buy. There was a sense of community and generosity with trading clothes with people who also needed a bit of encouragement. This is by no means a unique experience as clothes swaps have become common place in many cities and designed for different groups. Swaps can be designed for students, alternative styles or for only designer items. Regardless of the swap focus, they all provide people with a social environment where they can save money and recycle clothing and walk away with a better wardrobe (Reuters,2019).
References
NICHOLS, M. and ASHTIANI, T. (2019). The Fight Against Fast Fashion, and Solutions for a Sustainable Society. [online] Pepperdine-graphic.com. Available at: https://pepperdine-graphic.com/the-fight-against-fast-fashion-and-solutions-for-a-sustainable-society/ [Accessed 2 Sep. 2019].
REUTERS (2019). Millennials Follow Uber with New Fashion Trading Model. [online] The Business of Fashion. Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/millennials-follow-uber-with-new-fashion-trading-model [Accessed 19 Aug. 2019].
Tuttle, B. (2019). I’ll Trade You My Skinny Jeans for Your Skinny Jeans. [online] TIME.com. Available at: http://business.time.com/2012/05/07/ill-trade-you-my-skinny-jeans-for-your-skinny-jeans/ [Accessed 19 Aug. 2019].