Vogue 100: A Century of Style

The National Portrait Gallery collaborated with British Vogue and showcased Vogue 100: A Century of Style. The exhibition had a range of photography that has been commissioned by British Vogue over the years. It was really interesting to see all the different styles that Vogue has experimented with, there was photography from 1916 when Vogue was founded and recent shoots that took place last year. My favourite part of the exhibition was looking at all the different magazine covers and the layouts inside.They started off heavily illustrated and minimalistic but now, Vogue is known for its strong photography and structured layout. I would like to see more illustrative content within the current British Vogue, it makes it look more artistic and it would also stand out from the other contemporary fashion magazines. Also, the amount of advertisements have increased heavily, taking away the personal elements of the magazine. Above are a few images that I took whilst looking around the museum. I love the first image, it's so elegant and sensual. I love how the rose has been sculptured into the shape of a hat and the use of lighting is really effective, it acts as a silhouette. The second image shows recent images that have been featured in the magazine. The bottom left is my favourite because Vivienne Westwood is one of my favourite fashionistas! Her courage with fashion is admirable. Kate Moss was featured in almost every room of the exhibition. It was clear to see that she was a covergirl for Vogue and one of the most used models, this is because she is so versatile.

Head down to The National Portrait Gallery!

The future of fashion with Alexa Chung

British Vogue collaborated with Alexa Chung in order to give viewers an insight into the future of fashion. The documentary starts off with Alexa explaining her journey as a young girl and how she became an inspiration to fashion lovers. I found this interesting because in the documentary, she talks to successful designers, art directors and speaks with current/past students studying at Central Saint Martins, modelling agencies and journalists. This allows us to get an all round view of fashion and its future from different levels of profession. As the brand Balmain has recently featured in most magazines and articles (due to their collaboration with H&M), I found the mini interview with Olivier Rousteing captivating, although this collection is not his best, I believe he is the current king of communication.

Rousteing promotes Instagram in the interview, vouching that it is the perfect way to communicate and as the majority of the nation are on social media, why not use it at a platform for communication. Many criticise Olivier for his choice of models and the frequent famous faces, however, after watching the clip, Rousteing reveals that he uses women such as Kim Kardashian and Rihanna because these women are strong and his collections represent strong willed women. Olivier strongly believes that using diverse models is important for the future and he encourages women to show their personalities and this can be done by showing the confidence in their body shapes. “Fashion is open minded” and models should be too, he states that he will continue to “push the boundaries of ethnicity”.

Considering Olivier was designing for H&M, I thought his collection would have been more affordable, less catwalk and more high street. Having said that, here are my favourite pieces from the H&M X Balmain Collection:

The focus in the interview was the idea that social media and the revolution of fashion is evolving. However, with this, there is the fear of print, what does the future hold for printed magazines? Will they slowly die out? The world of technology is moving in the right direction but I still think there is a need for printed magazines, they offer a different experience to online magazines. I would definitely recommend this documentary, it expands on what the future holds and is useful to those thinking about pursuing a career in fashion, or those are just interested in the industry. 

Check it out!

Photo Credit - Google Images
Quotations referenced from the documentary: The Future of Fashion with Alexa Chung

The Eye Has to Travel

From Harpers Bazaar to Vogue, Diana Vreeland is one of the most influential fashion editors of all time. Yesterday, we watched her documentary “The Eye Has to Travel” which gave me an insight into her life prior to success and how she became “the one and only fashion editor”. Initially, Vreeland comes across as a confident woman, however, from a young age she was very uncomfortable with her appearance and her mother regularly commented on her being the “ugly duckling” of the family which damaged her confidence. Despite this, she continued to keep her head up and focus on her ambitions. 

Whilst listening to the documentary, every time a new idea was mentioned for an editorial cover, I kept finding links between her work and previous insecurities that stemmed from childhood. For example, someone quoted in the documentary that Diana “didn’t edit herself” she embraced her beauty and loved being natural. This also links to her publication of Barbra Steisand’s nose on American Vogue. Barbra was very insecure about her nose but Diana wanted to celebrate the attributes that made people unique. She continued to do this with other women such as Twiggy who at the time was insecure about her skinny frame and Penelope Tree who didn’t like her unusual look. I admire professionals such as Diana Vreeland who go against the social norms, she doesn’t get rid of certain features that are not seen as beautiful, she embraces them. In my eyes, what is deemed to be “perfection” in todays media is not true beauty.

Imperfections create true beauty!

Quotations referenced from the documentary - "The Eye Has to Travel"
Photo Credit - Google Images