It’s nigh-on-impossible to conceive of a Political Fashion project without thinking immediately of Vivienne Westwood. Unorthodox, outspoken and always questioning, her film ‘Aldermaston’ is characteristic of a designer whose entire career has been marked out by didactic, politicised dress in which the medium is always all about the message.
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Whether twisting gender, addressing climate change or advocating safer sex, Walter Van Beirendonck's design philosophy has always had a politicised bent – naturally, or perhaps unnaturally, his film for Political Fashion, in collaboration with Bart Hess, is no exception.
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The only thing we could expect with Peaches' take on Political Fashion was the unexpected. Her contribution takes the idea of the big-hair pap-happy 'glamour girl,' pushes this stereotype to the extreme, only to break it down.
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Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" is an inevitable point of comparison for the face-to-face Political Fashion film from new British label Original Sins.
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Consumption, consumer, consuming... Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton-Jones explore all of the above in their contribution to Political Fashion – questioning what we ultimately gain as a society steeped in voracious acquisition.
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The first words – “Tell me about politics and fashion” – open up a veritable Pandora’s Box as Craig McDean’s camera gives us an insider’s view, reportage-style, of the industry’s own answers (or arguments) as to what is Political Fashion. Face –to-face, straight up, and distinctly black-and-white.
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For May, our first Political Fashion film comes courtesy of Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, examining, dissembling and ultimately deconstructing the familiar forms and conventions of fashion - and specifically the fashion show.
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Centred around childlike - even doll-like - imagery and innocence suffused with colour, Camille Vivier's Political Fashion film is indeed a feast for the eyes. But with its title referencing the practice of carving dead cuttlefish into angels and devils, 'Jenny Haniver' hints at something darker beneath the surface.
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Any male GP will tell you it's good bedside manner to train one's eyes on uncontroversial things when an young lady exposes her breasts. A knowing Freja Beha Erichsen helps us out in her contribution to Political Fashion by offering us something to read instead.
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Our latest week of Political Fashion begins with a film from master milliner Stephen Jones, expounding his own thoughts on the politics of fashion and fashionability alongside excerpts from his illustrious career.
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You can talk about a model citizen, but Belgrade-born New York based model Natasa V is a true citizen of the world. In her Political Fashion film, director Barnaby Roper (literally) strips her to the bare essentials, but the most intriguing element is what she doesn’t reveal.
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Gareth Pugh is an acknowledged master of cut, but his offering for Political Fashion takes that concept and turns it on its head – or rather, on his model’s head…
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Actual garments with a political agenda are few and far between, but Ben Dunbar-Brunton’s contribution to Political Fashion focuses on Junya Watanabe’s recycled Spring menswear – inevitably making a dual statement about fashion’s own recycling of ideas and ideology, particularly when contrasted with the straight-up ethos of Gallow’s frontman Frank Carter.
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"I don't agree with a word you said," the Voltaire quote goes, "but I defend to the death your right to say it". But you try skim reading the monthly glut of lifestyle magazines in one sitting and tell us how much of it is defensible. Photographer Donald Christie reached for the Fluxus guide in structuring his 'random text machine' in collaboration with designer Jeff Griffin. Have a go at trying to pick out as many of the 300 words as you can and let us know if the syntax and associations created are better than that of the apocryphal band of monkeys with their typewriters.
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When considering Political Fashion the body politic is an inescapable concept, as evidenced today by 'Even', our offering from dance and performance artist Catherine Long created with artist and filmmaker Lucy Cash.
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Lily Cole’s contribution to Political Fashion seems to turn the fashion tables somewhat: her star is photographer Juergen Teller and a host of the glossies whose pages she usually graces.
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Photographer Greg Kadel’s Political Fashion film can interpreted as a statement on our current geo-political climate, or equally the death of hippy ‘flower power’ optimism – in either case utilising the make-up artistry of Kabuki to dramatic effect in ‘Black Balloon’.
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As sexually charged as all of her inimitable creations, erotic jewellery designer Betony Vernon’s ‘L’envol’ explores sex, power and the fine line between pleasure and pain in our latest Political Fashion offering.
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It's only natural that our Political Fashion film from nail supremo Marian Newman would focus on her area of expertise: the hand, in all its communicative, decorative and indeed politic forms and gestures.
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Our first Political Fashion film this week come from the brothers Gideon and Josh Ponte, juxtaposing history, fashion and art in their offering 'Slip It To Me'.
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