(Book)
The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: from the sidewalk to the catwalk
(Webpages – Fashion Photographers)
Terry Richardson Drui and Tiago
Jason Kibbler
(Article from i-D magazine) Sofia Hattingh
Photograph by Frances Carter
I started with the Jean Paul Gaultier book as it had a large collection of his work which allowed me to draw some themes from this to take forward in the rest of my research. The main pieces displayed in the book that I focused on were the ones that involved eroticism and heightened sexuality as I wanted to explore how designers incorporated eroticism and fetish within their works as I found this to be a key feature of Gaultier’s work. I selected a few images from the book to illustrate this point such as the male corsets and the structured female piece which was more of a deconstructed corset which is a piece that embodies both the themes I wanted to explore.
I researched into eroticism and fetishism with fashion design however I couldn’t find that much that had a whole website or webpage for it so I decided to research into fashion photographers who explored sexuality within their work as this was a more fruitful research option. I found my 3 photographers by looking at sites which had collections of fashion photographers who were currently working and very successful. Terry Richardson was one of the main photographers I wanted to look into as he was involved in the scandalous Tom Ford campaign which was banned in multiple countries due to it over sexualising the female body to advertise the cologne. After looking into the more extreme end of the sexual fashion photography I looked at slightly softer examples such as Drui and Tiago and Jason Kibbler both whose work explores a more dignified expression of the female body. Whilst both photographers explore nudity and suggestive sexuality it doesn’t hold the same intensity and atmosphere as Richardson’s work which feels more expletive and intrusive which is more intimidating to the viewer.
For the newspaper article section of my contextual research I found an article in i-D magazine which had an interview with Sophia Hattingh who in 2015 made glasses which had pubic hair put in them. This magazine article related very well to my other research as it involved fetishism within fashion which was more controversial and made a statement about how society reacts to sexuality displayed in the media. Through researching into this article I was able to see how Hattingh wanted to push the boundaries of fashion materials and societies acceptance of sexuality by putting more controversial materials into her work.
Reference bibliography
Editorial Portfolio- Drui and Tiago (2017) Editorial Portfolio – Druiandtiago. Available from http://driuandtiago.com/Editorial-Portfolio [Accessed 25 October 2017]
Terry Richardson Official Website (2017) Terry Richardson Official Website. Available from http://www.terryrichardson.com/archive/#/vintage/39/3 [Accessed 25 October 2017]
Jason Kibbler (2017) Jason Kibbler. Available from http://jasonkibbler.com [Accessed 25 October 2017]
Sarah Gooding (2015) reframing gender, identity, and sexuality in fashion with sophia hattingh. i-D Magazine, 16 January, https://i-d.vice.com/en_au/article/mbvp73/reframing-gender-identity-and-sexuality-in-fashion-with-sophia-hattingh
Menkes, S (2011) The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: from the sidewalk to the catwalk. Unknown: The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in association with Abrams