Goth-Themed Images in Italian Vogue
Vogue Italia October 2007
Photo: Richard Burbidge
Model: Alana Zimmer
See the rest on: foto_decadent
I used to get furious when I saw gothic-inspired shoots in magazines like Vogue. In my mind, the designers were capitalizing on a scene that was not theirs to own, tauntingly improving on certain fronts with their $70-a-yard fabric while raking in the cash for their soulless, safe interpretations while the real designers starved. Of course you had your occasional unique voice such as Vivienne Westwood, but for the most part what I saw looked like pure thievery. These days, I can enjoy an image like this without such malice. In today’s high-visibility networking culture, the most talented alt designers are fully capable of producing such high-fashion images on their own and getting published; just check out these impressive press pages from alt designers Atsuko Kudo and Cyberoptix.
And the ripoff factor? Well, there are a lot of anecdotes about how Jean-Paul Gaultier used to frequent London’s fetish clubs and stalk around Camden Market to subsequently fill the runway with directly-inspired, uncredited designs in the 90s. But when he turns around and comes up with something like this or this, is all not forgiven? A whole new generation of alt designers now finds inspiration in Gaultier’s work, completing the cycle. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that’s healthier today then it’s ever been.
Previously:
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:56 am
http://signevilstrup.dk is the photographer of those first images. Really nice photos on that page, sweet tones.
I doubt there are easily accessible places where fashion noticably starts, not anymore. Camden was great early 90s, but now where to go to see what the young and stunningly cool are wearing? They’re all on the www looking at stuff such as your photos, hard to tell who leads who. It’s possible that it’s easier to find the target audience but equally true that it’s much harder to know what to sell them. Of course, that matters little with a market that has grown by about One China since them Camden cool-hunter days.