Where Fashion Inspiration Comes From Cultural Studies Essay

Where port Inspiration Comes From Cultural Studies EssayIn the ad go under of Coco Chanel, Fashion is nearly what is chance. Fashion constructers unceasingly use the conception of stirring is on the street. Consumers themselves especi solelyy the young iodines, be very imaginative and inquisitive astir(predicate) clothing and designers look to this for inspiration and innovation when creating bran-fresh papers. One typical fake initiated many years ago by the young and ordinary people off the street, ar jeans, now both designer has their have got signature version.Tr land ups and the latest looks follow todays shifting society. Sports events bid the Olympics and what is happening in the media, movies and music also reflect means. Famous celebrities ar an excellent opportunity to promote rising looks and influence ideas. The runways mirror what is happening in the world and fashion designers use this to create their work. In the fashion world they call it the bubb le-up-effect, which could be a nonher reason to why fashion appears to comport a similar look or theme, peculiarly if all designers are tuning into the spirit of the current times for inspiration.Carl Jungs theory about the collective unconscious which studied peoples minds and showed that it is inevitable in todays ever festering society for individuals to reflect and think the same ideas, at the same time. Is this not a consideration to designers when accusing naked as a jaybird(prenominal) people of copying and plagiarising their work, that kind of these designs, are original in their own right, curiously when all designers are looking at the world or so them, to influence their work.Clothes are about curbing a human being and the proportions of the human consistency are split into three blocks. The head, the trunk, which runs from the shoulders to the pubis and finally the extremities, which include devil arms and two legs (Martin,2009,pg73). Apparel has to fit almos t this shape, so it could be argued that designs will take on similar looks to others, as no dress would be made to fit a three armed person.Fashion forcasting within the industry has become big business and plays a immense part when in dramatis personaeing designers and their team, of what is deemed to be the newest fashion themes and colours for the following season. Agencies much(prenominal) as Nelly Rodi based in Paris contain over 30 trend forecasters who travel all over the world gathering photographs, illustrations and cloth swatches for inspiration for their trend-books.Each season this agency produces separate trend books incuding knitwear, colours, prints and ready-to-wear to be sent to their clients which include Mango, HM, Givenchy amongst other high profiled prt a porter designers (Seivewright, 2007,pg 82/83).There are lots of these agencies around including Style-Vision, Trendspotter, In miscellaneaat who all do exactly the same job. However, an online service ca lled Worth orbicular Style Network created in 1998 is the leading online trend-analysis and research service, which in a click of the mouse provides creative and business intelligence for the apparel, style, design and sell industries. (wgsn,online). This appears to be the quickest means to get the latest information to designers quotes Roger Tredre, the WGSNs editor-in-chief specially with the ever changing nature of fashion, speed is of the essence (Seivewright, 2007,pg 86).It is extremly difficult to spill to a designer and ask them were they get their inspiration from, as nix wants to give away their sources and of course, nobody would ever admit to using other peoples ideas. However, according to a New York based fashion designer designers do look to other designers for inspiration (see appendix 1). However the word courtroom everlastingly appears to be an influential tool in designing. This could be every an old iconic fashion designer, such as the late Christian Dior who inspired collections for Vivienne Westwood, with his new look of the late 1940s and also paintings from French Rococo artist Jean-Antoine Watteau.Vivienne Westwood, in an interview for the Victoria and Albert Museum, rundle about how Christian Dior had inspired her with his designs, one being the long unforgiving fitted wool new look dress. This is a form of tribute and tourist court to a designer, as instead of stealing his original ideas and innovation, she has celebrated him for influencing her work, as she was a teenager growing up when this magical look was around and women were starting to dress more than glamorous. Today Vivienne Westwood finds her inspiration from the past especially in the VAs collections of fashion, furniture and paintings. (vam,2004,online)However, in the case of Muiccia Prada homage and inspiration is purchasing a jacket in an expensive Paris vintage store called Didier Ludot and the next season this identical Dior jacket is in the new Prada c ollection. No different in design to the one bought previously from Paris. This surely is not homage rather design theft. Topshop or any other high street store would not get away with this stolen innovation, especially if it was a near identical to a influential top end designer such as Prada or Chloe. Fashion designers have always looked back through the archives of history for inspiration. (learcenter,2005,online)From a recent email from a designer who works for Ralph Lauren in New York and who has previously worked for Abercrombie and Fitch, spoke not only about designers looking to other designers for inspiration, but the vastness of vintage garments. They also try to copy these vintage designs in more modern stuffs and put their own spin on them. Another idea was looking again at what had previously sold soundly in the past and updating this in new fabrics and different colours. Another creative and fun idea is using snippets from bought and vintage samples, and merging d ifferent ideas in concert a collar from one style with a pocket of other (Appendix 1).In a Marc Jacobs documentary filmed in 2006,for his 2007 shows, Marc Jacobs who designs for Louis Vuitton as well as under his own label, shows where he gets his inspiration from. He uses walls cover in vintage fashion magazines, posters, flowers and old tortured fabrics to gather new innovation, using snippets from all these sources to enthuse new ideas. Again he looks through the archives of their successful designs and updates previous lines. Bricolage, is a french term apply in the creative process of fashion and according to many is one of the primary dynamics. This term simply means reinventing something new by changing elements, mixing and bringing the clothing back to life by inputting new fabrics and stitch ideas. This is evident amongst all designers including Marc Jacobs An old mauve jumper becomes a lovely updated cashmere jumper (youtube,2006,online).With so much dress history procu rable today shown in costume museums and vintage Vogues, as well as other influential magazines, it comes as no surprise that designers will always look to the past or other cultures for inspiration. Vivienne Westwood has in many collections utilize direct references to historical silhouettes and styles, such as famous paintings.Here is a picture of the Watteau evening dress created by Vivienne Westwood for a collection in 1996. This style is influenced from a Watteau painting of his cousins captured in image 1. It is very straightforward in the shape and fullness of this dress that this artist, has inspired her with this creation.Victorian interpretations have always been a source of inspiration for other designers including DG who use the Victorian sleeves to inspire him, when creating a different look to a modern denim jacket.Fashion frequently looks to shape and materials of the past, as a form inspiration for new styles, as the workmanship and attention to detail is rarely achievable nowadays. According to Sue Jenkyn Jones who wrote the book Fashion Design, it also triggers a nostalgia for bygone lifestyles and the emotional aspect of clothing is an important element of design (Jones,2005,pg24).New technologies in fabrics and prints have always been seen as a form of inspiration. Designers will often select materials, gaining and enthusing ideas from its look, feel and aesthetics,before designing a garment. This will then generate ideas from the silhouette and shape the fabric forms. Moodboards and visuals of a theme or idea will then start to be created selecting colours, historical references, lace, trims and eventually, ideas will start to present themselves.Fabric trade shows have a huge impact on the fashion world, however premier(a) Vision which is held in Paris, every September, is the largest and the most influential of these events. Over 800 fabric manufacturers, as well as a huge host of designers and buyers await these shows. Apparently i t is not unusual to see designers like Christian Lacroix at these events, looking for inspiration as well as new specialize weaves (Tungate,2005,pg81/82).It is easy to see now were inspiration comes from, however when inspiration gets identify for imitation, how fair is this. Resources are put at risk. Designers invest time as well as huge amounts of money sourcing inspiration, testing fabrics, drafting dress patterns and checking that their creations are fresh, innovative and of a quality for there discerning customer. Who pays the footing or is it only fair that every fashionista gets a chance to own a piece of luxury.