The Comparison of the Work of Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano for Dior - Essay Example

The Comparison and Analysis of the Work of Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano for Dior Name: Institution: The Comparison and Analysis of the Work of Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano for Dior Vivienne Westwood had great reputation in fashion. She is known for her aesthetic trailblazer whose red hair is iconic and matches her personality. Many regard her as the most influential British designer in the 21st century. Vivienne Westwood was born in Glossop, Derbyshire in the year 1941, and she studied art and later taught, before she embarked on her fashion career. She later joined the rock impresario Malcolm McLarn, in the fashioning of an image for the British punk culture. This played a key role in the channeling of Westwood’s fascination with subcultures of the sadomasochism and fetishism, in the cloths that she designed and sold in various cloth lines like Let It Rock and Mr. McLaren’s store on Kings Road (Feminist Review, 1992, p. 241). On the other hand, John Galliano was born in the 1960s in Gibralta and he attended St. Anthony’s RC School and later the Wilson Grammar School, after which he went to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He drew his inspirations from the French Revolution and he later begun his own fashion label with Amanda Harlech. Vivienne Westwood in Kenya | Photo: Juergen Teller Vivienne Westwood in Kenya | Photo: Juergen Teller Vivienne Westwood in Kenya | Photo: Juergen Teller It is therefore clear that both John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood are the most influential designers we have had. They both created the most magnificent fashion of all times. John Galliano is known for the degree collections named the Les Incroyables, which is highly attributed to the drastic changes to the London art school that he owned, to the French Revolutionary street scene (McDowell, 2000, p. 45). It may be argued that fashion is driven by the desires of the designers and Vivienne Westwood understood this very well. Although it is not clear as to what can drive ethical fashion, the wish to semaphore is of a caring nature of a person walking through life in shoes. Westwood was a style setter who was chic enough to rock the hand-loomed hair poncho. She understood fashion and she had love for glamour. Westwood had an effervescent taste for the fashion and this assisted her in setting the path for the generation of fashion lebels. She excised what is regarded by many as the creative freedom, the allegorical collections which had a great deal of influence in the ethnic dress as well as the huge influence on Galliano and some of his early collections. Galliano has had a romantic and sensible eccentric in his design, and this has contributed to the emergence of the new romantic club scene. He had a talent that was noticed upon his graduation, and this drew a lot of historical references from French Revolution. Although the cloths were an exaggeration of a form of historical references, what was men’s wear was used by Westwood as a point of reference for her collection, ‘Pirates’. Galliano reinterpreted the appearance of the wear and customized it to meet his own views. This was his first collection that clearly drew inspirations for his sophistication and the extraordinary creativity. This has remained his distinguishing trademark for his cloths (Feminist Review, 1992, p. 267). The success of the themed collections of Westwood included Pirates as well as the Romantics, which were very influential on the young generation performers like Bow Wow Wow and Adam Ant among others. Her work was informed by influence, particularly the luxurious ornaments of Marie Antoinette’s costumes and pageantry of Elizabethan Court Victorian. It is said that her signature blend of hard-edged sexuality and effective history was instrumental in confirming her as a leader of international forefront. She had a high ability as a designer, and was subversive and this ensured that they had unique elements which were diverse to those of John Gallian. It is noteworthy that her mini-crinolines highly inspired the shift in the fashions’ silhouette. This spawned pouf skirts, which had been widely imitated, and this came to represent a symbol of the day (McDowell, 2000, p. 73). One of the models in Westwood’s labels Westwood is also famous as the pioneer in De-fending British Identities. Her creations took the identity of the British identity in the global fashion. She inspired the French designers including John Galliano. She was unique in her career, because she ignored the mainstream of the society and instead she opted to take a unique path. She dressed the sex pistols and this is best explained by the changes in the business name which gave an account of the influences and the artistic projects (Frankel, 2001, p. 37). This was seen to counter the Anglo-British fashion. It changed from the initial name, Let It Rock, selling Teddy Boy clothes in the nostalgic American celebration of the rock and roll, to the Too Fast To Live, Too Young To die. She managed to present wears and sadomasochistic gear, and she created political identity and Nazi symbols that were used to counter the Anglo-British. She created a link between the punk and haunte cultures, in an attempt to resist commercial cultures that were linked to modernity. She mimicked Margaret Thatcher and particularly in the Tatler, which was interpreted to be an illusion to the reactionary modernism. It is amazing to observe that she also shared the traits of conservatives in her works. It is clear that her works aimed at drawing inspirations from history, an approach that was also common in John’s work. However, she manifestly distanced her work from the casual American wear that was seen to dominate the global youth market. Thus, this can be used to refer her collections, which had postures that were of Anglo-British natures and costumes, in addition to her articulation with the elements of national importance. This was seen to create identity and combinations (Feminist Review, 1992, p. 259). John Galliano design for Dior, on display at the Royal Ontario Museum, 2011 During the golden age collection in the 1981, the Nostalgia of the Mud, was a tribute to the women of Peru, who had huge tattered skirts and sheepskin jackets in muddy colors or the witches collections, which are said to have been inspired by the Haitian Voodoo rituals. She even received backing from Italian investors (Bruzzi, 2001, p. 12). In regards to the many designs that Westwood did, she is credited for the edgy trends including the mod look, the punk, as well as the androgynous designs that were very common in the 80’s. She was the brain behind what was the style of Prince Diana, which managed to impress the world fashion. On the other hand, the fashion design of John Galliano was characterized with sophisticated garments, and he is commended for having transformed the scene of what came to be known as ready to wear. Vivienne Westwood also capitalized on research to develop designs that were characterized with Minnie-Mouse, polka dots as well as the stars, and stripes that were worn with rocking-horse platform shoes. She also placed a lot of focus on developing cloths that were convenient with the female body structure and particularly the hips. This is why it was reported that her collection was an exaggeration of the feminine forms and accents. This is credited for changing the fashion. Later, this would develop to what is known as the Vive La Cocotte Collection of 1996, which is characterized with burn-cushions as well as the padded busts. The cloth designs that were developed by Westwood were inspired paintings, ceramics and literature. This is much prominent in the photographic print of the Francois Boucher’s Shepherd. On the other hand, John Galliano developed his inspiration from Danton, where he worked as a dresser. He designed jackets that were worn upside down, inside outogandies shirts, accessorized glasses, smashed and worn jewellery with rainbow colored ribbons that were worn inside the jacket. Although he was disillusioned by the fashion business in London in the 1990s, he moved to Paris, where he was influenced by Anna Wintour. Through several models such as Kate Moss, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell who modeled on friendship basis, he was able to gain monumental success as a great designer. He reinvented the 1930s line, Bais-cut dress and designed it to be modern. This created a narrow feminine tailoring and was envied by many. In the French fashion, he was popular because of nice work. It was after Alexander McQueen acquired Givenchy that saw Galliano move to a larger design under flagship of Dior. John Galliano designs were popular because of their fantastical nature and colorful background. This symbolically indicated his ability to communicate through his work, ambitions, as well as his creative collaboration of great designers. She is also known for continued deconstruction of gendered national identities, through the appropriation of the resources by dressing a black model, Naomi Campbell. She also returned to German to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was symbolically deconstructing the masculinities and the felinities in her work collection that was dedicated to Dior. She clearly focused on the creation of the national gendered identifications as well as the mechanism that helped to produce them. She used creative artistic activities which recuperated her inaugurated award. This has been assimilated to a counter-mainstream work which culminated to her invitation to the Downing Street celebrations (Frankel, 2001, p. 61). The definition of Westwood as ‘shadow monarch’ is an ideal term that is used to describe the British designer, who had great influence in the fashion that the monarch did. There was the center of influence in the British fashion, in addition to playing a fundamental role in the global trends. It is thus clear that she found her inspiration in the culture, politics and the history of the country, and this made her to influence other fashion designers (McDowell, 2000, p. 51). Both Vivienne and John, as designers, managed to perpetuate the national clothing, through engaging in tradition as well as the transgression. Her work is in the mix of the attraction to the culture of the British people through imaginary. This created the British identity through her representation. However, the cloth she designed presented a great contradiction, particularly in regard to her respect to the British culture and her love for sex and fun. Her work is thus characterized as a great revolution, due to the influence and the many inspirations she drew from the punk to historic attraction of the French Haute Counture, fascination and desire. In parody of the Scottish and British traditions, she takes an ambivalent role in playing with the cultural indicators. However, she stands between subversion and conventional. She ideally attempts to deconstruct the people’s fashion, when she uses historical references. This raises a paradoxical concept which is revolutionary (Frankel, 2001, p. 78). Westwood’s artwork featuring the Geldof girls On the other hand, John’s work is no different because it is based on some cross cultural values that are instrument in accounting for his background. Having drawn his inspiration from Vivienne, he bases his design on the history. Westwood’s work is characterized by many forms of inspiration, and it fluctuates from punk to the dandyism which are the main challenges to the norms of status and class. She is seen to have invited people to transgress traditions with the intent of creating a new British culture. This movement created great impact as it was the symbol of the malaise of British identity (Bruzzi, 2001, p. 34). During the 1080’s, she appeared to have lost her identity through the representation of the identity. She went on to explore the cultures of third world, which were gaining visibility due to the multicultural life in Britain. However, in the 1990’s, she focused on historicism. She went back to the British culture by reinventing costumes and reinterpreted the corset which was symbolic to the British culture (Polan & Tredre, 2009, p. 314). The 21st century was another era in her career. She changed from historism and moved on to evoke the ethnic trends that she had explored in the 1980’s. She worked to transgress the British society through imaginary introduction of modernism in fashion, which was on the decline due to lack of inventions by the designers. This is one of the many things that have made her the greatest designer in the globe (Sheridan, 2010, p. 91). John Galliano like Westwood, is a great British designer, who migrated to London in his teenage years. He lacked education on the traditions of the British people. His mother was keen of the baroque and this is attributed to the attraction to fashion and design. He is the first English designer to become the art director of the French fashion house in the year 1995. In the year 1996, he became the director of Dior. While he was at his native homeland, France, John Galliano created the school of catwalk, which left an inspiration that was drawn from the French revolution. This explains why his work is torn between the English roots. He has affection for the English as well as the quasi magnetism to the French Haute Couture (Feminist Review, 1992, p. 241). It is worth noting that while Westwood’s strong ambivalence towards British Monarchy is Cleary from her product, John Galliano has had more difficulties in expressing his feelings towards the English Culture as well as the identity of the his culture. His creation of the dress for Lady Diana during the inauguration of the exposition that dedicated Dior at MoMa of New York, could be said to be an expression of his feeling towards the Monarch. It is also argued that John Galliano is connected to some elements of the English culture, including the love tradition as well as the appeal to the tabloids scandal. Such elements are very common in his work, and they reinterpret the classicism of Christian Dior (Bruzzi, 2001, p. 42). It is argued that John Galliano is really in touch in the midst of the French Haunte Counture. It appears to be his universe, although he continuous to find most of his inspiration within the British imaginary. It appears that John Galliano has upended the tradition of the French culture. His pirate jacket is an ideal illustration from winter 2001 collection. He found the inspiration in the British imaginary, “a deconstructed look, the corset, the Union Jack.” The interpretation of his collection appears to be an ideal interpretation of the British history; poverty of the folk and the influence of the monarchy. Picture of a Vietnamese model His work is characterized with the wild, the freak and trash gender. All these are very specific to the fashion of the British people. He appears opposed to the sense of the French elegance in fashion. Concisely, John Gelliano has the French spirit in the English body. John Galliano has also focused his work on recent trends like the tartan (Frankel, 2001, p. 37). The fashion sector raised the question of identity, which is perplexing. Designers have their own unique designs that identify with particular cultures and countries. It is thus clear that the British culture has a very strong influence on the rest of the world, and Vivienne Westwood has played a key role in the advancing of the influence of the English culture. John Galliano has been highly influence by the English culture and he has opted to identify with it as opposed to the haute-Couture (Polan & Tredre, 2009, p. 314). It may be seen to suggest that Westwood was not really reflecting the English identity, although she managed to successively make it in her collections. She is a representation for the major components of the modern day British fashion. She successfully crossed the channel, by relinquishing the ‘father of Haunte Couture’ like her predecessor Charles Worth (Bruzzi, 2001, p. 57). Pictures of models in dresses designed by Westwood The work of Westwood is characterized with eccentric and erotic fashions which are historically referred. Her work displays a rich creativity with elegancy that is associated with sexual scandalous. The queen punt late mutated to what came to be a successful fashion label. This has made her part of the British legacy. This is because she incorporated gesture as well as physical movements in most of her designs. Westwood managed to create a theatrical element. This is known for putting the models on platform shoes with the sole purpose of making them to step out more dramatically. In addition, she has successfully used laces and corsets in enhancing the figures of the models (Textile Institute, 1997, p. 120). Westwood and John Galliano have successfully represented fashion to the world through their creativity. The collection of the interviews that are available, clearly presents creative designers which have not only showcased their best talent, but also have highly influenced reproduction of their work through constant development of more designs. They have managed to illuminate their artistic works, thus preserving their glory in the field of design. Their artistic work has been enriched with other social economic values which have clearly explained how fashion has significantly altered with modernity. Through the pictures which illustrate their works, it is clear that the text cannot be well understood without the pictures. These designers are notable in the field of fashion and design, as they have played a symbolic role in developing the modern day fashion (Bruzzi, 2001, p. 12). In 1993, Ann Wintour, the editor of American Vogue, persuaded Sao Schlumberger, a Portuguese socialite to lend Galliano her mansion for his fashion show. It was during the fashion show that Galliano unveiled the Princess Lucretia collection, which was inspired by the Russuan princess. This fashion show indicated how great he was in his work. It earned him a lot of credit and he would later be appointed as the chief designer of Givenchy, and he was later named as the chief women’s wear designer of Christian Dior. John Galliano is reported to have presented dresses that inspired the homeless people he admired while he was jogging in Paris. Although there is an ironic twist of how he derived such inspiration from the homeless, he fundamentally managed to invent what has transformed the fashion industry. Fashion has been ideologically developed to the level of representing style, beauty, as well as elegancy in the society. The two, John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood are two designers who share a lot in common, and this may be attributed to their success in the field of fashion and design. They are iconic in revolutionalizing fashion, through their personal initiatives that have seen the development of various collections and are more fashionable and unique in modernity. It clear that the two have facilitated change through their influence and it cannot go unnoticed (Newton & Rolph, 2003, p. 156). References Bruzzi, S., 2001. Fashion Cultures: Theories, Explorations and Analysis. London: Routledge. Feminist Review, 1992. Feminist Review. London: Routledge. Frankel, S., 2001. Visionaries: Interviews with Fashion Designers. Melbourne: V & A Publishers. McDowell, C., 2000. John Galliano. London: Cassell PLC. Newton, K., & Rolph, C., 2003. Masquerade: Women’s Contemporary Portrait Photograph. London: Fotogallery. Polan, B., & Tredre, R., 2009. The Great Fashion Designers. London: Berg Publishers. Sheridan, J., 2010. Fashion, Media, Promotion: The New Black Magic. London: John Wiley & Sons. Textile Institute, 1997. Textiles and the Information Society. Papers Presented at the 78th World Conference of the Textile Institute in Association With Textile Symposium of Seve and Sepve, Manchester, England. Read More