Watch young designer Matty Bovan’s new film on girlhood

Celebrating Barbie’s birthday, the designer goes home to York to create GIRLNESS

http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/35085/1/watch-young-designer-matty-bovans-new-film-on-girlhood-for-barbie

Barbies 58th anniversary has just passed and there was no better way than to collaborate and showcase her birthday with designer Matty Bovan producing the film 'Girlness'. Barbie is known for the looks, different styles as well as having an array of jobs. In my opinion the video isn't what you would expect their collaboration to look like. Rather than being full of fakeness, cliche models and sexualisation, it takes a different approach and seems surprisingly natural. it showcases how girls are in 2017 rather than the stereotypical 'barbie' figure. 

Bovan said in an interview that Barbie was a huge influence for him growing up. He said he saw Barbie as a blank canvas that he used to make his first designs. 

The models consist of social media girls rather than the thin 'perfectly' proportioned girl we associate barbie to be. this is something i really admire in this short film. The unpredictability. Bovan said that he wanted to cast people with a real sense of who they are, showcasing modern characters. 

the models were dresses in pieces from his ss17 collection which were consciously un gendered. he wanted to push the boundaries of what defines femininity. ' She can be transformed into anything your imagination wants'. 

An erotically charged series of male and female nudes

"I wanted to catch a moment beyond those feelings and prejudices" – Sarai Mari

The interview with the photographer : 

Sarai Mari: I grew up on a small mountain which is a world heritage UNESCO site in Japan and every society there has codes of conduct for how people should behave. Traditionally women are supposed to be shy and quietly mannered, and people are scared of being isolated or left behind. They conformed to fit in and I tried to push against it. I was loud, behaved like a free-woman and drove a big motor-cycle when I was teenager, with bleach blonde hair – a bit crazy for my village people.

I moved out of my tiny village when I was 18-years-old and went to the second largest metropolitan city in Japan – Osaka – then I went to Los Angeles to study photography. I had to get out of the small society quickly to see the world and find people who had the same free-spirit as myself. I wanted to prove what I could do and do something different. This reflects my work deeply, I see people inside and out. There is so much background information I can get when I shoot the model, but I am dedicated to the moment I see before me and to photographing a unique side. 

How does your book "celebrate all definitions of gender and sexuality"?

Sarai Mari: Now is an easier world for gender. I wanted to express models’ personas in my book. There is nothing to divide men and women and LGBT people – this book is genderless and timeless.

As a society we are obsessed with defining, giving labels and gendering roles, objects and even colours – what is it about our culture that causes this need to categorise everything?

Sarai Mari: Everyone has too much prejudice over others. There are too many hate crimes. In the news I see the 'threat' immigrants pose to countries now, and it is clear we are still holding onto racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and more. I wanted to catch a moment beyond those feelings and prejudices.

The women you shoot often look powerful and defiant, do you feel an obligation to empower women in your photographs?

Sarai Mari: Yes very much so, but powerful women have a dark side also – I like the contrast. They can be fragile and sensitive. I like all strong women who push their lack of freedom to make them even stronger.

You talk about how "in our radically changing and highly judgmental society, people are often scared of being isolated or left behind." Are we using certain social media platforms as a mask?

Sarai Mari: Yes exactly. It’s a convenient way to let all the world know how fabulous you are, but there are too many layers of mask hiding the truth of yourself. Everyone knows that we are all faking it everyday, little by little, but one day it will become the truth and there will be no going back.

An erotically charged series of male and female nudes

"I wanted to catch a moment beyond those feelings and prejudices" – Sarai Mari

Blood Orange performs at Kenzo’s Paris Fashion Week show

‘discovery of an arctic surfing subculture’

I have always loved the collections kenzo comes out with. In his AW17 collection, the looks were inspired by the “discovery of an arctic surfing subculture”, they were made to look as if you were about to brave a harsh environment. The models walked alongside soothing music that was played to accompany the eclectic mix of clothing. The collection was filled with geometric shapes and patterns as well as a large focus being on the bags which consisted of coloured furs and Kenzo in large letters. The collection to me took an almost futuristic stylised approach, with puffa jackets and see through awkwardly shaped glasses. The collection featured a lot of layering, mixing and juxtaposing patterns were evident. The makeup took quite a simplistic approach, featuring perhaps only a simple swipe of colour on the eyelids adding to the idea of it being quite futuristic and out of the box. As the show went on, more and more patterns appeared in large quantities, wrapped round the models. The fabric taking an almost curtain like feel due to the thick heavily patterned look it had to it. 

THE END OF AMERICAN APPAREL 

American Apparels aim was to create clothes that didn't harm or exploit those who made them. 

At the end of last week, after a highly-publicised bankruptcy, the news came that American Apparel had been sold to Gildan which is a Canadian company who most likely produced many of the garments coming from some of your favourite band logos or streetwear graphics are printed on. This means that all 110 US American Apparel stores will close. The factory will also close which has 3500 employed meaning that they will now lose their jobs. 

i have always admired American Apparel for its values and the clothes produced by the brand, Though it was always out of my price range. The brand was definitely symbolic of a wider issue. They wanted you to spend more on clothes made fairly with fair paid workers (sweatshop free) that spend less on underpaid worker in terrible conditions. It was one of the main clothing manufactorers in North America with the highest paid workers.  

Sadly, the high amount of competitors whom aren't sweatshop free and sell clothes at a much lower price came out better.

LOUIS VUITTON X SUPREME 

    

There has been an immense hype around the thought of the collaboration between the luxury designer Louis Vuitton and the street New York skate label. All of the collection has been released, from looking through the collection, what i have seen so far it looks like it may become one of the biggest fashion partnerships in history.

The collection entails elements of denim, sports bags, scarves, and shoes which all seem to be covered with supremes iconic logo, paired with the classic elements of louis Vuitton. When first looking through this collection i was immediately drawn to the scarfs, still looking like the luxury brands designs, though featuring block lettering adding an element of street style to the luxury brands iconic designs.  

In 2000, the closest that Supreme got to an official collaboration with Louis Vuitton was a cease & desist letter for its Louis Vuitton inspired logo T-shirts, beanies, and skate decks. This has heightened the surprise and hype around the collaboration. They even featured the garments that Supreme allegedly copied from louis Vuitton back in 2000 which i know will heighten the surprise a lot of people have about the collaboration. 

I am loving this collaboration. Supreme being that of a skater brand catered to a younger consumer and louis Vuitton being tough to afford for most of us, the fact they collaborated emphasises the idea that streetwear is evidently a huge component in the fashion industry that even inspire other designers. Supreme have a huge audience of younger consumers giving louis Vuitton a wider range of consumers. The collaboration has produced a huge following and given us a collection bigger than any other before. 

TRUMP- POWERFUL NUDE PHOTOSHOOT 

18-year-old college student named Aria Watson. Her new photo series, titled #SignedByTrump, is a very powerful Trump-themed art piece. The series highlights the Republican’s offensive comments and flagrant misogyny. The series shows unretouched close-ups of naked female bodies, with some of his most controversial offensive quotes written across their bodies. 

“All I wanted from these photos was to help people realise who Donald Trump really is, and I just want to feel heard,” explained Watson. “I know most people are set on their opinions about Trump, but I just hope one person sees #SignedByTrump and it opens their eyes.”

She is currently a student, she shot the photos as a final project in her photography class. She first posted the series to her Tumblr page, which made them go viral. 

“The election was going on at the time, and I felt very strongly about the candidates and their views, so I decided to mix my political opinions with my photography,” she said. “I knew I had to create something different.”

Watson photographed herself for the portraits, as well as four of her close friends – though the series has since been criticised for not being more diverse. At the time trump was not elected yet and she hoped to have an impact on the upcoming results with her powerful imagery which were sure to reach people world wide.