Alexander McQueen’s 1999 spring/summer collection was no doubt one of the most memorable moments of the year. This show began with physically handicapped athlete Aimee Mullins taking to the runway wearing prosthetic legs, and ended with model Shalom Harlow positioning herself on a turn table at the central show field, wearing a plain white strapless dress. As the turn table began to rotate, two robotic machines suddenly came to life and started spraying black and yellow lacquer. This finale not only became a real talking point at that time, but also brought great impact still lives on, over 19 years later. Now hailed as an art piece, the very dress can be seen on display at the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
This image of Shalom Harlow wearing the painted dress is so interesting and inspiring and full of aesthetic sense. This finale performance of the show combines contemporary art and modern technology together, accomplishing the amazing pioneering work of the whole fashion history. The model Shalom Harlow standing in the central stage with robotic machines dousing the dress provides audiences a contemporary performance art show. I personally love the style of combining art with technology. This dress, congealed with the creative ideas of McQueen, brings a sense of the future.
In 1990, famous fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier designed the iconic cone bra corsets for her 1990 Blond Ambition world tour; since then, this bra corset set off the trans-century fashion trend of “Lingerie Look”. This design not only redefined the meaning of sexy, but also advocated a power for women and a new concept of beauty of difference. According to the interview of Gaultier, a talented self-taught designer, Madonna used the corsets design as a tool to become more powerful.
As far as I am concerned, the image of this corsets design is very aesthetic. Gaultier himself is usually attracted to people who are different; this ultra-sexy bra corsets also brings strong-minded women like Madonna the difference and power that gives others around inspirations and creates their own new fashion trend.
This design work inspired me a lot. Adding creative changes to the normal elements of clothes to make the normal ones become different and more attractive is one of the things I want to achieve in my design process. This iconic cone bra corsets by Gaultier inspires me to pay attention to more diversified beauty and to use the design works to show the attitude toward fashion and life.
