Ponderings on Fashion as Art

Recently I have been dealing with some of the dark side of the business.  I will not get into details here because I want to make this a positive and thoughtful place.  Not an angst ridden rant.

That being said these bad feelings have made me more thoughtful on why I do certain things, the way I do them and how I feel about my personal work.  Truth be told I'm not doing all this to make big money.  Would it be nice, of course!  I'm into fashion because I love it, I love every single miniscule aspect of it, from the design sketch, patterns, muslin up till that final photo shoot where it shines.

Fashion or more specifically for me garments as an art is a very tricky and difficult path.  I am making things that I want to stand alone and draw attention and invoke a feeling.  Similar to how a wrong frame can compromise a great painting so can a myriad of elements do to a garment.  Just one element out of place, out of balance can cause utter catastrophe and the focus escapes where it should be. I feel like clothing as art can be the most easily misrepresented thing due to those elements.  This is why I personally am extremely selective with whom I work with in styling, photography, makeup and hair.  I have my own artistic image to preserve.  I don't just willy nilly allow anyone to rent from my collection racks either.  It may seem stuck up but that is just how much I care about my craft and image as a designer. 

I like to create garments that are sculptural so that when a person wears them it transforms them into a walking beauty.  It makes people do a double take and think wow that is amazing or interesting.  That my pieces alone can stand out and make an original impression.  I like to be on just the cusp of costume and Avant Garde.  I like my photos plain and crisp in terms of background and makeup.  I like to have hairstyles that reflect the feeling of the clothing but nothing too exaggerated or with a lot of extensions. 

My background is mostly in draping.  I view it as another form of sculpture.  It was really difficult in college for me to decide if which direction I wanted to head in either Sculpture or Fashion.  It was too much to try and do them both.  My deciding factor was that fashion could potentially be a career where as much as I love sculpture and especially stone and woodwork I could never make a career out of it.  Funny how life pans out because I haven't exactly made a living career from fashion either.    That doesn't mean I love it any less or that I will quit at it anytime soon. 

 

My preferred way to show my work are through photo shoots but also on all white mannequins at gallery events.  With the photo shoot's that I arrange I have control of majority of the elements and I chose to work with photographers that are going for the same style as I am, or who focus on the clothing being the main attraction rather then the model.   In gallery settings I always use a plain white mannequin so that everything can be displayed with the least amount of distraction from the clothing and details.

Just as I take great care in making the garments I take as much consideration and care in presenting them as well.  I think that all goes into what makes a great collection and a great designer.

All Photos taken by Adam Leigh-Manuell

Models are Rianna Topper and Amanda Tempel (Miss Ohio 2010)

Makeup by Riquina

Hair by Tosha Stimmage

Garments are all from Torn Angel