Punk: Chaos to Couture

Brush aside all the celebrities who attended the Met Ball, and you'll see what this year's occasion was fundamentally celebrating - Punks. The Punk movement had an undeniable affect on everything - politics, culture, visual arts, music, graphic design and of course, fashion. The ripped jeans, nickel chains, out of context tartan, tshirts sporting unruly comments against society and the emergence of Fashion's Mother of Punk, Vivienne Westwood, and rising popularity of the musical anti-hero, Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols.

The Costume Institute's exhibition, Punk: Chaos to Couture, is aimed at showing us all how rebellious we can be, simply through the way we band together and change culture through our collective resentment of the system. The exhibition will be at the Met in New York City will be open from May 9 - August 14 this year, so if you're heading to The Big Apple or are already a local, make sure you channel your inner rebel and bathe in the Punk atmosphere at the exhibition.

For more information on the Punk: Chaos to Couture, head to the Met Museum website

Images courtesy of Met Museum and Suzanne DeChillo from The New York Times

Riccardo Tisci's Inner Ballerina

Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci is a modern master of fashion - having been named Designer of the Year in 2012 by GQ, designing costumes for Madonna's Superbowl comeback and Rihanna's current Diamonds world tour and of course his rebellious Givenchy collections, he has now expanded into costume design for the regal dance of Ballet. His ability to design minimal high-impact costumes is exemplified in his collaboration with the atelier of the Palais Garnier, at the Opéra national de Paris in France, for the Belgian production, Bolero De Ravel.

The mesmerizing yet haunting designs must be a sight to behold in the flesh, and even from photographs and sketches it's easy to tell the amount of dedication and intricacy in the costumes, which complement the set design by the veteran performance artist, Marina Abramović. The outstanding costumes comprise of skin tight bodysuits which are surprisingly harmonic with the translucently flowing chiffon and crystal details, and effectively depict the dancers as hypnotic alien-like creatures to the audience. Riccardo has truly shown his flexibility in fashion, and it's unpredictable to know what this fashion master will create next.

  

Bolero De Ravel is on stage until June 3, 2013 in Paris, France

For more details on the production, please go to Opéra National de Paris

Images courtesy of CR Fashion Book, A Shaded View on Fashion and Givenchy

Prada and Tiffany's Great Costumes for Gatsby

The Great Gatsby - the Great American novel and Fashion Film, is one of my favourite stories of all time. The moral of the story resonates deep within all society, making clear that corruption is only fuelled by materialism. More so than a fashion film, The Great Gatsby is a psychological exploration into how much power money and thriving for more has over a person and those around him or her.

Miuccia Prada, is the designer for the much anticipated film's costumes, with a strong focus on the femme fatale that is Daisy Buchanan. Drawing inspiration from the archives of Prada and Miu Miu, her wardrobe for the film does not emphasize the glamour of the roaring twenties, although there are hints of it, but rather the dwindling prosperity of Jay Gatsby and the doomed economic state of the world in the '30s-40s.

Some of Prada's costumes for The Great Gatsby were inspired by the "Chandelier Dress" in Prada's Spring/Summer 2010 collection, according to British Vogue

The suprisingly modern dresses for The Great Gatsby is a pure reflection of Prada's contemporary vision of fashion and how a time period's ethos can be presented in a way that relates to the situation of the world today. The costumes bare resemblance to flapper and party dresses in the '20s but "almost none were meant to be Twenties", as Prada herself states in an interview for Women's Wear Daily. 

Daisy Buchanan's famous crystal headband, designed by Tiffany & Co.

Luxury has exceeded its limit as Tiffany & Co.'s crystal pieces are paired with the costumes. Again, the pieces are seemingly more modern than what you'd expect from a film set in the '20s. The piece that tops off the Gatsby collection is Daisy's crystal headband, featuring a crystal feather - a sign of the wealth she delicately holds. Besides that, Tiffany & Co. has designed cuff links, pendants and earrings for the film (as seen below).

The Zegfeld Collection by Tiffany & Co. for The Great Gatsby

Images courtesy of British Vogue, Backseat Stylers and LollieShopping

The Great Gatsby will premiere worldwide on May 10th