The presentation took place and it went really good as I heard some pretty good comments from my peers along with my tutor. Below I will show screenshots of the presentation along with the commentary that followed. The presentation was about Alexander McQueen and his bumsters pants along with his work and influence. It consisted of 12 slides and the brief is shown below:
The Presentation
Prepare a Powerpoint to present to your group. After the session you will upload this to your Blog with your own commentary and the feedback you have been given.
Your presentation should include:
· An outline of what you are presenting · A short biography or brief background to your research element · Examples of work (painting, collections, illustrations, designs) or uses of specific materials or techniques – choose works or examples that you have knowledge of and are familiar with · A critical analysis of the work or examples you are showing · How your artist/designer/maker worked – what techniques did they use? How were they were appliedto the work? · How this research is Contextual to your project work – what links can you make to the project you are working on this term? · Who influenced your artist/designer/maker – did they have a mentor? Was it a tutor or a member of the Art/Design Movement that they were part of? · How has your chosen research element influenced other artists? Were they a major influence on another generation of designers/artists? · A reflection and summation of your presentation · A reference section including your sources and picture references
· Question Time
The presentation:
Good Morning everyone and welcome to my presentation. Today, I will be talking about Alexander McQueen, his work specifically the bumsters and how he influenced the world.
Lee Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer who grew up with 5 siblings in a working class family. Even if his mother taught social science and his father was a taxi driver, he always strived to make the best out of the situation. At 16 he left school and was mentored at London's Anderson and Sheppard where he even tailored a suit for Prince Charles. He then worked for Gieves and Hawks where he was influenced for his theatrical designs. He then began working Kojik Tatsuno in London and proceeded to travel to Italy to work with Romio Jiggy. He then attended Central Saint Martins in London in 1990 until 1992 where Isabella Blow bought his entire Thesis collection hence introducing him to the real fashion world. He create his own label but worked for Givenchy and Luis Vuitton until he gained enough capital to kickstart his company. After leaving the fashion house he began expressing himself through his designs hence winning multiple awards such as the aforementioned and International designer of the year. McQueen died at the age of 40 due to suicide a bit later after his mothers death in 2010.
McQueen is mostly known for his tailoring skills alongside embroidery, lace making and metal working. Tailoring was used in all of his pieces and became vital for the construction of his clothes. He enhanced his skills and learned how to cut and perfect jackets at Savilerow tailors Anderson and Sheppard and how to become an expert in cutting trousers and Gieves and Hawks. His tailoring journey lasted about 4 years. He proceeded to train at Bermans and Nathans which were theatrical costumiers and learned how to create coats and waistcoats. His aim at tailoring was detail and deconstruction and how to break the norm which was what was depicted in his work. In addition he was inspired by the stated countries but favoured Japan as he fully incorporates the Japanese Kimono stylistically and thematically in his collections. Now I will show a part of a video of his runway show named Plato Atlantis S/S 2010.
Above you can see his work as figure 3 shows his autumn winter 2009 collection, figure 4 shows the last part of the spring summer 1999 collection which is when robots spray painted the last look to prove a point and make a statement and figure 5 shows the savage beauty at the met exhibition which took place in 2011, a year after his death.
The Bumsters were pants cut below the waistline and went 3 inches up to the front. McQueen was the creator of these pants in 1993 at his postgraduate A/W collection named "The Taxi Driver" most probably after his father. The Bumsters were an instant hit as they were something new to the existing low rise, presented expert tailoring skills but also portrayed the most erotic part of the body as stated by McQueen, the lower part of the spine. They wanted to blur the gender binary but also enhance the upper torso as they elongated it but also make women feel empowered in their clothing and make people feel scared of them. They were inspired by the realism of the British street and McQueen wanted to provoke it. People thought that they were inspired by when builder bums are exposed when the pants fall lower. They were again showcased in the "Highland Rape" show in Autumn/ Winter in 1995. They were worn by celebrities including Madonna and Beyonce for commercial and MTV appearances until the 2000s. Bumster skirts were the sisters of bumster pants but were made for the more feminine audience to feel powerful and well. In addition McQueen was called a misogynist for the name of the highland rape show which was absurd as he had 3 sisters and the show was made to inspire women and make them stronger. It referred to the Bristish army act named ethnic cleansing and portrayed how women were still seen as at the time. On the right hand side the bumster skirt can be seen and on the first right and second left the bumster pants can be seen on women and on men in on the first left.
The Bumsters are contextual to my work as their cut and design have an eccentric feel just like my designs, they have a purpose just like my work has an aim which is to empower people and make them adopt acceptance of mistakes and moving on but also are an empowering tool just like my designs which aim to portray self love and being confident in your own skin without any limitations. Here you can see exactly how the torso was elongated along with their length upwards which was 3 inches.
McQueen influenced the world as fashion is now viewed as an art, a movement or even a form of story telling. Designers and Audiences have been empowered to make their dreams a reality and push the boundaries into creating the best they can. He was one of the first people to collaborate with makeup and the runway which has changed the world and empowered so many. Additionally he was one of the first to turn runways into runway 'shows' and not just catwalks. As you can see above on the right are McQueens hand painted butterflies and on the left Victorias Secret fashion show which all of the Angel Wings were thematic just like all of McQueens fashion shows and designs.
Overall McQueen has never failed to amaze as all of his works have become iconic statements of his Era and inspired so many. His work is contextual to mine especially the bumsters as I will incorporate them into my work as they are more than just a piece of clothing, they are art, a movement themselves, empower but can also take up so many meanings that one wants to showcase, just like my collection, the fallen angel which represents anti-perfection and acceptance which is one of McQueens elements. McQueen will never be forgotten as he has created a legacy that still continues.
Here are my text references.
and Picture references.
Thank you for listening, please feel free to ask any questions you may have developed throughout.
Below are the actual links to the text references:
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