Press‘S T A R T’ when you are ready...
by Alissa Stytsenko

'Perhaps the sun is going down on the catwalk as a medium for showing clothes? With modern technology and the internet conquering consumerism and communication alike, the catwalk may become an artifact of 20th Century Fashion.’

Jamie Huckbody

How far we’ve come …

We can’t tell for sure when exactly a catwalk transformed from the boring white runway with models stepping one by one on to it into an entertaining theatrical performance. Perhaps, Roy Halston Frowick (70s’)was the first to realize that fashion shows should not only be aimed for buyers and retail stores. He saw ‘ …the potential of the catwalk show …as a performance event in its own right, with music and lighting to match. Today's catwalk shows are a cross between high-amp concert, modern dance event and light show -- an art form by nature so ephemeral and rarefied …’ ( Dana De Zoysa, February 2002, As Good As People He Dressed, http://www.januarymagazine.com/
artcult/halston.html, retrieved 14 July 2003 )

For haute couture making catwalk a part of ‘story’ supporting the whole conceptual meaning of a collection has been a usual phenomenon. Take, for example, high fashion shows by John Galliano, when the atmosphere and inhabitants of the runway are performing together with the models to convey the audience to a special time and place where the inspiration for the collection was drawn from.

Today the difference between haute couture and commercial fashion is becoming more and more subtle. Everyday fashion gains more artistic freedom and conceptualism, so does the catwalk. Remember, the 1994 movie called ‘Pr êt-a-porter’ (‘Ready-to-wear’) by Hollywood genius Robert Altman? Although it definitely suffers from a lack of a decent storyline and any kind of point to the whole thing, it nevertheless vividly pictures the backstage world of the fashion industry. The movie swarms with stars including famous designers and models, as well as observes the latest (for 1994) fashion shows. There was a particularly interesting performance by Jean Paul Gaultier. He introduced his autumn-winter collection by replacing a runway with real electric tram. The whole show including models and audience was placed inside the tram - a piece of usual urban environment, living a usual social life.

Designers of the 21 st century are going to be even more advanced by incorporating new computer technologies and machinery into the fashion shows.

Alexander McQueen’s Gatliff Road Warehouse spring/summer 1999

‘Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement and the way in which man relates to machine as we approach the end of this century. Hand crafted wooden skirts, raffia suiting and prosthetic body pieces highlight an emphasis on organic texture. A romantic mood evolves depicted by lace ruffled dresses worn over circle cut trousers, chiffon waterfall dresses worn over slack hipsters and fluid jersey drape pieces... The show climaxed with two robotic arms spray painting a white multi- layered dress on Shalom Harlow as she spun on a wooden turntable’.
http://www.alexandermcqueen.net retrieved 15 July 2003

In April this year Seattle ’s Bellevue Art Museum launched an exhibition called ‘The Fashion: The Greatest Show on Earth’, which looked at how designers have created a new form of performance art in runway shows. One of the leading New Zealand fashion designers Karen Walker had the honor of being featured in the exhibition for the ‘ …groundbreaking runway show she put on at the Australian Fashion Week 2000. Showing a collection titled ‘Etiquette’, which focused on rule-breaking and freedom of choice, Walker presented spectators with the chance to select their own music – or silence – by using personal CD players. ’ ( Thread 2003, Karen Walker, fashion artist, http://www.thread.co.nz/article/484, retrieved 19 July 2003 )

Hussein Chalayan – Turkish Cypriot fashion designer was born in Nicosia in 1970. He gained his degree from Central St. Martin ’s School of Art in 1993. His versatile interests include not only fashion, but also philosophy, architecture, physics, sculpture, graphics, etc, the influence of which is clearly visible in his works. Chalayan’s ‘ …designs, which can be based on experiments and even abstractions of existing items … are often minimal and elegant.’ ( Turkish-Cypriot Online Museum of Fine Arts http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/
culture/mofa/design/chalayan
/index.html, retrieved 10 July 2003 ). His shows are provoking and intense.

He is not just using new constructive and technological ideas to ‘frame’ or present his work, in fact the garments themselves are pieces of machinery.

LEFT:
TABLE-SKIRT BY HUSSEIN CHALAYAN Photos by Alaistair Grant

ABOVE:
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MACHINE AND MAN
SPRAY PAINTED DRESS AT 1999 ALEXANDER McQUEEN’S SHOW

FAR LEFT:
IMAGES FROM DRIES VAN NOTEN PRESSSITE HTTP://WWW.DRIESVANNOTEN.BE

I See it First on FTV …

Look up and tell me what you see? A night sky with stars and thousands of satellites cruising in the atmosphere, transferring tones of various information from one part of the world to another. So let’s go interactive …

Macromedia Flash animation is a clever and appealing way of presentation and is widely used in contemporary web-sites. It allows putting graphic images, text, photos and sounds together in one fluid motion; as well as incorporating Java and HTML Scripts to make a movie navigational. Basically, the whole web-site can be done in one animation. Like SPLASHISSEY - Issey Miyaki’s personal homepage http://www.isseymiyake.com, as well as PleatsPlease http://www.pleatsplease.com, and Maria Chen Pascual http://www.mariachenpascual.co.uk, Alexander McQueen http://www.alexandermcqueen.net, Stella McCartney http://www.stellamccartney.com … etc.

highest quality fashion coverage possible to the world’s largest fashion audiences. FTV’s unique mix of fashion and music gives viewers a front row seat at the best shows in the world ( Company’s brochure from http://www.ftv.com/company
/company_presentation
/presentation.pdf ). If you are unlucky and live in the country where FTV is not broadcasted by the national television, you can always go to the FTV web-site and enjoy the shows live on-line (although high-speed internet connection would be helpful)

Maybe, an overwhelming power and inexhaustible potential of the internet might seem a bit scary and in a way fatal for the theatrical catwalk. But if you look at it from the other angle, perhaps, those new advanced technologies can become a “ runway ” leading us from POSTmodernism into a brand new design era... how about TECHmodernism.

cord with a battery; distribute them around the catwalk and make a remote control operated ‘choreography’ for them during the show. And the next morning some fashion columnist will nickname your “dancing ” fans an outstanding technological invention, which settled an Alaska inspired autumn-winter collection in an appropriate atmosphere of northern winds.

Therefore the biggest constantly progressive invention of all times is a human mind with its ability to fantasize and generate genius ideas.

And so close your eyes … and place yourself inside a big room with plain white sound isolating walls and glass ceiling. Take a sit in a soft designers’ armchair in front of the whole wall of flat screen monitors. Open a right arm-rest of the chair and press neon blue to start the computer and activate the monitors. Unfold the microphone and answer the greeting of the computer to check your voice controlled system. Follow the pop-up menus to choose designer, country, style, season or fashion show of your interest. Distribute chosen shows among 6 monitors by calling the monitor number. Press green button on your arm-rest to order a drink.

Press ‘start’ when you are ready and enjoy the show …

040 PRODESiGN