Cubism & Fashion
14:02Oscar de la Renta on the whole was influenced by Spanish culture throughout his work as a fashion designer, which stems from his time in Madrid studying at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and as an apprentice for Cristobal Balenciaga, he was madly obsessed with the culture and vitality of the country,
“I fell madly for Spain, its people, its
landscape and life in Madrid. The sights, sounds, and drama of Spanish culture
— bullfights, flamenco, and the most festive celebrations such as the
traditional ferias of Seville and fallas of Valencia, were burned forever in my
imagination, defining my own aesthetic.”
Naturally de la Renta explored Picasso and
this led to his Resort Collection in 2012 which was heavily influenced by
Picasso’s work with the Cubism movement combined with previous spanish
influences.
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| Oscar de la Renta Resort Collection 2012 combined with the influential paintings by Pablo Picasso. |
The collection was composed of bold pattern
in bright colours colliding and clashing with one another while still remaining
in fragmented jigsaw pieces that don’t match up but somehow create a picture
that tricks the eye through an applique technique which clearly represents a
Picasso painting.
There are heavy influences of guitar and
Spanish matador imagery through embroidery on garments and the hats worn were
an eccentric mix of Spanish culture and cubism combined in an electric result.
The connection between Chanel and Cubism is still evident today:
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| Oscar de la Renta Resort Collection 2012 |
Cubism started an art movement from the
early twentieth century as early as 1907 and celebrates the ordinary or that
less explored previously. Although the above collection is anything but
ordinary, the basic meaning understanding of cubism is celebrating the simple
and a move away from the adoration of nature. Simple lines, flatness,
exploration of 2-D and geometric pieces and a decided leap away from the excess
we had previously seen.
Cubism as a culture engaged fashion
designers originally because of the modern feel. Designers moved towards Cubism
before it even became the movement it is today, it was a natural move away from
the corseted and grandeur of haute couture in the 1800s and into the soft and
relaxed, away from the form fitting and into the shapeless, smoothness of the
cylinder shape – which is closely associated with Cubism.
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Still Life with a Bottle of Rum 1911
Pablo Picasso
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In Paris, Gabriel Chanel and Madeline Vionnet
were designing for the post-war woman of the 1920s, and the effect of cubism
led to finding new planes on dresses and placing more importance on fragments
of fabric coming together and where the lines were cut, not looking at the
dress as a whole but instead in all it’s fragmented pieces and displaying
geometric elements in their prints.
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Left: Chanel suit Top Right:
Chanel 1920s Bottom Right: Fashion coats by Sonia Delaunay,
1920s
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Chanel’s 2012 Spring/Summer Ready to wear
collection
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Today geometric patterns are still a huge part of design and are
seen all over the runway. Alexander McQueen’s collection for SS’14 was inspired
by the 1920s dropped waist and Cubism, plenty of geometric shapes and heavy
material. Materials that have been layered on top of one another such as
leather and feathers creating that decomposed garment that I previously
mentioned when talking about Chanel and Vionnet and the new appreciation for
each fragment of a garment while still creating a synergy between each textile
with a familiar graphic design throughout the collection.
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| Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2014 |
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