20 Years of Dazed & Confused… Making It Up As We Go Along!

The Terrace Rooms at Somerset House. Now until 29^th January 2012

One of the first key things to mention about this exhibition is something that can be discovered before even stepping foot inside Somerset House: the name. “Making It Up As We Go Along.” It’s so refreshingly honest and so unpretentiously ‘cool’… It’s so ‘Dazed and Confused!’

Situated within the building’s extensive Terrace Rooms, the exhibition is divided into three sections. The very first, quite appropriately represents the first decade of the magazine’s existence, taking you back to where it all began in the early 1990s. Founded by the now prominent publisher & editor Jefferson Hack and renowned fashion photographer Rankin, the early days of Dazed & Confused was a time of creative experimentation for the pair along with friends and contributors including Katie Grand, Katy England and Nick Knight. Throughout the nineties the magazine’s reputation and influence within the style press quickly developed putting it on a par with more established rival publications such as The Face and i-D.

“We were so arrogant”

- Katie Grand on the early days of Dazed & Confused -

The edgy, controversial and original fashion editorials (one of the major factors behind the magazine’s early success) are displayed side by side, similar to a film strip, along various angular structures which seem to almost zig-zag across the floor and walls guiding eager eyes towards the exhibition’s next section…

…Onto the next room and we’re ontothe next decade. The wall space here is used mostly as a dedication to the portraiture of famous faces that graced the pages of Dazed & Confused during this period (Blondie, Katie Moss and Pharrell Williams to name a few,) whilst interactive TV screens enable visitors to create their own photomontages by selecting and combining various fashion imagery and portraits.

“Dazed & Confused never had a united aesthetic for portraiture: it had a code of liberation.”

- Jefferson Hack -

For me, it is the third room of the magazine’s ‘timeline’ to date, which I find to be the most interesting and intriguing for it focuses on the current and possible future format of Dazed and the new generation of talent that it has either produced or showcased. A further 2 rooms are dedicated to the work created for Dazed & Confused by the late Alexander McQueen; an example of true talent which the magazine embraced and I’m sure will continue to do so.

“We were the generation that tore out the pages of the original Dazed and stuck them on our walls.”

- Karen Langley, current Fashion Director -

One of my favourite Dazed &Confused fashion stories from this year is “It Came From The Sky” styled by Robbie Spencer and photographed by Richard Burbridge. Displayed are the final printed pages exactly as were seen in the June 2011 issue along with a set of the original embroidered art work (pictured above) by artist Maurizio Anzeri, accentuating just how much work, individuality, creativity and passion goes into creating each page for each issue.

When looking back across at all three rooms it’s quite astonishing to see how much Dazed & Confused has evolved and progressed through the years: highlighting this further is a corridor of illuminated covers from the past twenty years which step-by-step, cover-by-cover, gradually guides visitors to the exhibition’s end, leaving them only to ponder and picture the next twenty years of Dazed & Confused…

THE BIG WEIGHT DEBATE...

It’s no secret that fashion is an industry based around ‘image’. Models, celebrities and those in the public eye feel the constant strain to attain and possess the ‘perfect’ look and are often singled out or trashed if they don’t. However this pressure also extends to us, the fashion consumer: We are repeatedly influenced by what we see within the pages of fashion magazines and what designers send down the runway; even if we don’t realise it! Following the devastating deaths (caused by malnutrition) of several models over the past few years, many in the industry have begun to take action: Certain designers have banned models who are under a particular BMI from walking in their shows, whilst some fashion editors have even opted for featuring larger or ‘plus size’ girls.

However highlighting and promoting healthier and more realistic body shapes is an issue which requires constant attention and consideration… Something which for the past couple of years fashion commentator, Caryn Franklin, has been campaigning to achieve with the conception of ‘All Walks Beyond The Catwalk;’ an initiative which she founded along with Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor in 2009. Since then the three women have roped in some of fashions finest photographers, designers and editors to help challenge the industry’s customary and quite frankly out-dated perception of perfection. RECOGNISE caught up with Caryn at the launch of The Alls Walks Centre for Diversity at Graduate Fashion Week to find out more…

When you first set up All Walks Beyond The Catwalk did you dream that you would’ve achieved as much as you have?

To be honest we didn’t start off with any kind of ‘dream,’ we were just so fed up with the limited ideas we thought actually we can’t not say or do something about it anymore. We decided we needed to make presentations at each fashion college, work with students on projects and set up an All Walks Centre of Diversity: That’s just part of one project that we’ve been working on for the last two years and that has taken an enormous amount of work.

Curvaceous models have now appeared within the pages of high fashion magazine including V, Elle, Harpers Bazaar and most recently Italian Vogue. Do you feel that it is the reputable fashion editors that have the power to make a change within the industry and influence what we as the fashion consumer perceive to be the perfect ‘fashion body’?

Absolutely: Fashion editors have more power than they know. Women receive fashion journalism and imagery into their lives as if it were a prescriptive ideal. Anna Wintour could change things overnight if she wanted to by putting beauty and body diversity on her agenda.

A recent report from doctors in Italy stated that featuring larger or ‘plus size’ models on the catwalk or inside the pages of fashion publications actually do more harm than good as they supposedly encourage obesity and binge eating – what are your views on this?

I’m just so tempted to say that this is rubbish! These aren’t ‘plus’ size models; they are ordinary women with healthy bodies. I’d be very interested to know how this study was done and how it was validated. Ben Barry a PhD Cambridge graduate from the Judge Business School will be releasing his research this September: For the last 3 years he’s been doing cross-cultural studies of 3,000 women over America, Canada and England around their response to models that represent a more achievable beauty. The only people that look like catwalk models are catwalk models; every other female does not. So when consumers were given more realistic and diverse models to relate to there was more intention to purchase. What Ben is doing is providing fashion companies (who, lets face it, are only in it to make money) with a confirmation that ‘route to profit,’ will not be threatened if they feature and provide for a diverse range of body shapes.

Do you find the term ‘plus size’ in it self has negative connotations?

We [All Walks] don’t use the term ‘plus size’ - it’s the fashion industry who say’s they’re large or extra in relation to standard models. The term immediately says to ordinary women ‘you’re too big for us!’

Your project, ‘Snapped’ was a great success and you managed to get a lot of influential designers and fashion industry experts involved: I’m intrigued to know if there was any designer whom you asked to get involved and they said no?

Not one that we asked to be involved said no. There was only one who said ‘I would absolutely love to do it but unfortunately my business is just not set up for that extra challenge quite yet.’ And everyone else we’ve approached from Rankin and Nick Knight to Elle and i-D said yes. That says it all doesn’t it!

Tell me more about your most recent initiative that encourages fashion students to consider different body sizes and shapes during their training?

We realised most students only train on a tailor’s dummy, which is a UK size 8 to 10 then they transfer their designs to a model who is paid to mimic a tailors dummy. The tailor’s dummy and the model both only hold one position and of course one cannot give any feedback whilst the other is paid to remain silent... So wouldn’t it be better at some point in their training to give students the chance to engage with an ordinary woman by putting the design on her body and get some helpful feedback? We know from projects that have already been done that the human connection is strengthened. Students start to understand their garments are not just meant for catwalk display.

You’re a patron for BEAT (which supports those with eating disorders) – how is the charity involved with All Walks Beyond The Catwalk?

The first All Walks project was inspired by the charity’s Chief Executive, Susan Ringwood, who asked us if it was possible to show fashion on a range of body shapes. What I have discovered from my work with BEAT is that it would not be effective for us [All Walks] to approach the fashion industry with a hardcore message of eating disorders and self harm; people just don’t respond well and become defensive. We realised we needed to go into the fashion industry celebrating the positive power of fashion to talk to women about their bodies. We were adamant that ethnicity and age were also portrayed in a diverse way. BEAT stepped down after the first project but we continued on our own taking our next project with Rankin to the National Portrait Gallery, collaborating with colleges and setting up the Centre of Diversity.

Caryn, Debra and the All Walks team are currently visiting fashion colleges throughout the UK encouraging the designers of the future to broaden the beauty and body ideals that fashion promotes.

Please visit allwalks.org for more info.

Interview extract from RECOGNISE, issue 9 - words & interview: ME

Images - styling: ME //photography: CAT HARBOUR

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY... continued!

Venice, April 2011:

Piazza San Marco / St Mark's Square...

Gondolas and a traditional Italian cafe...

The canal...

Street buskers...

Eerie traditional Venetian masks: characters / styles include 'Medico Della Peste' (The Plague Doctor), 'Volta' and 'Bauta'...

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY...

Looking at Vivian's photographs yesterday inspired me to dig out some I took myself in Paris last year (using 120mm noir film)... It also encouraged me to rush to the photo lab to get a couple of black and white films developed I took whilst in Venice earlier this year: I will post up the results when I get them back!

Waiter at Le Paris cafe, Notre Dame. February 2010

An accordion busker on the Paris Metro. February 2010

DISCOVERED: VIVIAN MAIER...

Yesterday I stumbled across a wonderful photography exhibition in Kings Cross that showcased the work of street photographer, Vivian Maier.

The story related to the discovery of this photographer is fascinating: just like I had stumbled across the exhibition, someone (a man by the name of John Maloof) only a few years previously had stumbled across Vivians work, after a box containing undeveloped film rolls and thousands upon thousands of negatives were bought by Maloof in a thrift auction house in Maier’s home town of Chicago. It is said that she took hundreds and thousands of pictures in her life time but sadly never shared them with anybody. Around 90% of her archive has now been reconstructed and brought to the public eye through exhibitions such as this one (entitled ‘Vivian Maier: A Life Uncovered’)

As well as the story of their discovery I also found the images in themselves to be intriguing and reminded me greatly of the work of pioneering French street photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Doisneau. Like them, she captured emotions and moods… she captured details such as a couple holding hands or the damaged heel on an old woman’s shoe, which would often be missed by a general passer-by. She mostly focused on the poor as towards the end of her life Vivian herself was living in poverty and even ended up homeless so felt as if she could relate to the faces which were staring back at her through her lens.

‘Vivian Maier: A Life Uncovered’is currently running up until July 24^th at the German Gymnasium, (London NW1) as part of the London Street Photography Festival.

GOLD THAT SHINES BRIGHTER...

On Friday night I attended a special evening hosted by the Fairtrade Foundation to celebrate the launch of Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold in conjunction with London Jewellery Week. From traditional fine jewellery to contemporary sculptural pieces, the event showcased a range of ethical designers including CRED, Linnie McLarty, Ute Decker and Ingle & Rhode.

Recognise magazine's Features Editor, Sarah Alcock and myself were lucky enough to speak to one of the miners who at the forefront of the Fairtrade Gold revolution has inspired many a designer to take part in the movement by sourcing their metal and stones in an ethical and fair way without sacrificing innovative design and creativity.

Ethically sourced ruby and fairtrade gold ring by Linnie McLarty




Fairtrade gold Arm Sculpture by Ute Decker