Fashion News Live - July 2010

FASHION'S NEW LOOK: DEADLY

Fashion ads and editorials have always thrived on using taboo and provocative subject matter, some even crossing the line into downright scandalous to get a reaction out of us.

Let’s face it, with all of the vulgar material out there, we are less shocked than ever at the billboard with three girls laying in a bed together with nothing on in an effort to advertise denim. ‘Yawn, it’s been done’, sex has been the most overused theme in advertising, especially in fashion looks: Sexy scandalous, sexy funny, sexy commercial, etc etc, I am falling asleep. But recently, another seductive subject matter has emerged from the ground…literally.

A macabre, ghostly, and in a way ‘ugly as beautiful’ trend is making the rounds through the fashion circuit. Seductive and sultry is being replaced with themes of death and phantom but done in a way that somehow still appears beautiful. This picture from a photo shoot by photographer Jessie Craig represents for me a revolutionary concept of new ways to use the camera, pose the model, and present a piece of art that could give a grown man nightmares, but you can’t help but look at it.

Though the model is no doubt flawless and beautiful, she is transformed into a monster-like figure in the picture…a reversal not usually seen in the airbrush-happy world of Photoshop fashion. It is somehow ironic and sort of refreshing to take the beauty out of it to prove that the clothes can still look good, and the picture will still get a reaction.

While the idea of death and beauty has been a theme used sparingly in editorials before, this particular shoot uncovers new approaches to the idea which has recently been re-popularized. I am curious to see if this is the direction that fashion ads will eventually take, or just something they are trying on for size.

Written by Robyn Stark