Comments on: When Lace Becomes Skin: The Serge Lutens Mystique

By: Vivacious G

Vivacious G — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 06:22:54 +0000

Welcome, Kambriel! Perfect first post. Graceful flutter, lean fluid lines, shiny metal, sharp objects, high contrast color. Perfect.

We all have a faux pas from time to time, not to worry.

By: Nadya

Nadya — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:09:21 +0000

WHOOPS! You guys are right:

http://frockwriter.blogspot.com/2008/12/are-you-being-serged-patrizio-di-renzos.html

RESEARCH FAIL on my end! There was another one that almost made it into this post before I realized it was an homage, “Lutens’ Punks” by GLWOOD:

More here: http://www.twistedlamb.com/2010/01/new-in-black-book.html

By: Nadya

Nadya — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:04:22 +0000

Hey Sophie, Kambriel! I added the image, and I’m actually 90% sure that it’s Lutens. Will do some research…

By: Kambriel

Kambriel — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:14:44 +0000

Sorry everyone! Some of these photos were added to the blog after I submitted my piece, and somehow one slipped in that is obviously not the work of Serge Lutens (I agree, you can immediately see the difference as the “homage” piece comes across as being more ~flat~). I’ll be contacting Coilhouse to make sure this is remedied ASAP.

By: Sophie HMS

Sophie HMS — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:44:17 +0000

@Tequila Agreed. But in the article they are credited as Lutens’s, which irks me a bit. They lack his sublte touch and in the same time don’t look artificial enough.

By: Mollie

Mollie — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:40:36 +0000

Ooo, it's like New Romantic meets Bauhaus! I wonder if his work inspired the aesthetic of the movie Liquid Sky?

By: Tequila

Tequila — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:51:37 +0000

The design aesthetic is great even today. It doesn’t have the dated qualities of much from the era and it’s not hard to see the influence his work still holds. Well beyond just fashion & photography.

It took me quite a while to appreciate his work though. Fashion photography like this (no matter how great) and its close connection to advertising makes an impact at first but then starts to gel together into a blur. The art of it eventually gets buried under in its commercial needs.

It’s less the case now thanks to all the books, sites, and endless tumblr accounts that highlight the creativity of such work. It really allows one to see this without the weight of a brand or designer crushing it.

Yet sometimes visionaries like this still get lost in the noise. It’s a shame that the best collection of his work is out of print. Hope Taschen puts something together one day.

@Sophie …It’s an “homage” therefore not plagiarism. That makes it ok right? Hehe. Of the little I read about those images one gets the impression those responsible did it on purpose to mimic the style not actually pass it off as original. I could be way off of course…either way I kinda dig what they did. It’s like a really good karaoke singer covering your favorite song.

By: Sophie HMS

Sophie HMS — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:52:46 +0000

Um, the third photo after the cut, containing multiple pictures, is not Luten’s work! It’s from a plagiarist…