Matthew and I kept in mind this idea while trying to design for our croquis: “The design is driven by the meaning and message of the artist. The project is not about creating clothing, instead the goal is to challenge traditional definitions of fashion in order to create new proportions, silhouettes and communicate a larger message to the viewer.”
We tried to first brainstorm the main concepts in which our artists would be equally and accurately represented by exploring our two artists. We started by answering the questions posted by our teacher Stacy Steiler:
- What was your artist’s original message?
- John Sex: Have fun, don’t be afraid to show your true self
- To rebel against the norms of society and government through the style and attitude of Punk.
- What materials did they use to achieve this message?
- Sex: My artist was a performer so he sang, created music videos, dressed up in crazy costumes.
- He used his music along with performances, writings, and his style, which was made up of torn/ripped clothing with sharpie written on it and stuck together with safety pins.
- How did their work educate and/or culturally influence their community?
- John Sex helped gays become more comfortable with their own personalities. He also created an environment where normal people could appreciate the performance like art he displayed to the public and make them more common. His music videos also pushed boundaries about sex and gay sex.
- Richard helped the Punk subculture become more influential in the mainstream popular culture with the ideals of self expression towards rebellion and bravery of the Punk lifestyle and aesthetic.
- Is their work still relevant in today’s society and how does it inform the present generation?
- Sex: His performances can be related to drag shows. His music videos were mainly about sex and gay sex and there is a lot of content related to that in today’s society.
- Yes, extremely in the fashion industry with all of the Punk references and inspirations such as with Alexander McQueen and at times with Marc Jacobs.
- Would it be considered shocking, influential, counterculture, mainstream?
- Sex: I would say his work was shocking and part of a counterculture.
- He was influential and part of a counterculture that later became mainstream.
- If your artist passed away, how has their messaged evolved over time ?
- Sex: I think his message has not changed much.
- Mines alive, but now he just writes books and helps people with music.
- How do you think their work would change in order to be relevant and make the same impact on today’s society?
- Sex: It is still relevant today. People continue to talk about being true to yourself, including the gay community.
Through a dialogue that jumped off of these points, we concluded in first creating an androgynous look. Secondly, we thought of the idea to create a garment for transgenders, specifically men who wanted to look womanly in his everyday life. We first chose to do an androgynous look because
We were talking about how our concept should include how both our artists were representatives of free expression and accepting of oneself.
