Strawberries & Stilettos: 2015

Sheer tights have always portrayed an image of feminism, elegance and poise within fashion. Sheer tights were initially created as a way for a woman to cover her legs due to the unacceptance of the legs on show in public, but became a §wardrobe accessory in the 70’s and 80’s. The revolution of Nylon, gave consumers a bigger opportunity to be able to buy tights at a reasonable price, as silk was very expensive, so finding this alternative had a huge impact on the fashion industry at this time, and being the 1930’s, and the beginning of world war II, it was important to find something as cheap as possible as it was the start of the rationing.

The 1950’s saw the development of stretch nylon, the fibre was developed to be crimped under heat pressure that would allow more stretch of the fabric; extreme stretch to improve comfort and mobility.

The 80’s saw a lot more use of sheer fabrics, and the acceptance of the body being on show, and nudity becoming a part of the fashionable image.

Sheer garments are now becoming a huge part of current trends, not only nylon garments, but chiffon and organza. Initially tights were designed to hide a part of the body, where as now sheer materials are being used to advertise and show off areas. What is too sheer? Does it exist?

Does the transparency of a garment make it too provocative? Are tights as elegant and feminine as they were once before? These are the areas I wanted to explore. Could the concept of sheer tights be altered? Could I create something diverse and juxtaposed and unlike anything that has been seen before? I want people to see tights with a broader imagination, and show how fashion can change the portrayal of a garment or object.

I wanted to explore other means of incorporating tights into fashion pieces, and removing the image we have on tights currently. Tights are known for being worn on the legs but I wanted to use various body parts to show how they can be manipulated into something completely different. Femininity is something that tights always represented, but I feel that transforming them into something that is the opposite, would create a diverse opinion. I experimented with not just tights, incorporating stuffing and other materials. I wanted to make something quite 2D, more 3D, creating a bigger statement. The Idea of putting the tights on the head was to create something quite uncomfortable and quite aggressive which completely opposes the concept of elegant tights. The scarf piece created though could still be seen as quite elegant and chic, so when put together creates a confusing image. The fact that tights are almost transparent show that something is still on view, but stuffing the tights removes the transparency, and putting the tights on the face almost removes and hides any identity, which makes an elegant fashion object change into something quite intimidating.

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Culture

Louis Vuitton Series 3

So on Monday the 12th October, my university course and myself visited the Louis Vuitton exhibition in The strand in London. It was such an incredible experience and I would highly recommend it for any fashion or Louis Vuitton lovers. The exhibition itself was curated and designed by Nicholas Chesquiere, who worked alongside the Vuitton family. The exhibition was made up from the archive Nicholas found when exploring the life of Louis himself. All of his original designs and concepts were found, and these are what inspired the collections today. Louis' son George also helped with the findings and the development of his fathers brand, which kept his designs personal and traditional to the original Louis Vuitton creations. When walking into the exhibition, the first thing we see is the geodesic dome, which is made up from equilateral triangles inspired by La Geode in Paris made in the 19th century which holds an Omnimax theatre in Parc de la Villette at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie. This was a starting point of this collection. Everything the exhibition was inspired by was found in the magic trunk archive, and was developed into this innovative and contemporary development. All of the prints and logos used were inspired by the original monogram that Vuitton designed in his initial years as a designer. These were modernised and developed into a new design. The Petite Malle was something that I absolutely loved. The Petite malle was designed and influenced by the flat top trunk originally designed by Louis, but was more of a wearable accessory. Louis Vuitton was the original designer of the flat top trunk, which was stackable which was massively revolutionised in the 19th century. All other trunks in the past had round tops so that any water would run off of them, but Vuitton developed the malletage protection which was a quilt like effect. Louis Vuitton began his journey aged 14 and started his 2 year voyage to paris, which he completed by walking. He began his career as personal packer and box maker and developed his trunk from this, opening his own and first factory in 1859. Louis Vuitton's designs have always been recognisable, and have kept a tradition from the history of the brand. The yellow thread found on Louis Vuitton bags were inspired by beeswax which has become a way of spotting a genuine Vuitton bag. The 3 little crosses seen on some of the Petite Malle's were taken from a trunk that Vuitton designed for Albert Kahn, a french banker who wanted a original Vuitton that could be recognised after a long journey; therefore the 3 little crosses were a feature for this purpose, and has become a recognisable, and reused feature on the new Louis Vuitton designs. On current Vuitton bags, the new locks have been designed so that the L will turn into a V and unlock the bag, adding to Chesquiere's modern sci-fi look. All of the new collection takes features from all past Vuitton designs, and transformed into a modern collection, but includes some of Chesquiere's personality and interest in Music, and the edgy 80's look. Free Posters and stickers were given away at the exhibition, and this allowed us to take some of the exhibition away with us, the free stickers were also inspired by the fact that stickers used to be put on trunks before and after journeys, and this showed that they were good packers, which is something really unique and sums up the stunning Louis Vuitton brand and collections. I would highly recommend this exhibition to anyone who loves fashion or art history, or anyone with a love for the Louis Vuitton brand. Was a fabulous and memorable exhibition that I will remember for years to come!

http://uk.louisvuitton.com/eng-gb/fashion/series-3-exhibition-london#/exhibition