John Galliano S/S 06 Paris

[helena]

^^^^and he hasn't had for a long tim Lena...he has being making a fool of women at the Dior show for years now imo.

 

[Lena]

totally agree Helena.. it always had upsetted me, the hideous 'camp' make up straight out from the Pigalle trans shows..

 

[helena]

yes and the whores-r-us clothes....andthe Dior ad campaigns.....the only good thing I can say about this man is that the Dior haute Couture keeps a lots of skills in paris, which would otherwise die, alive .

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Criticism is certainly valid...but I feel that some of what's being thrown at Galliano...and at Ms. Arbus in particular, who is one of the most insightful and honest photographers ever, is more than slightly undeserved, very emotional, not learned. There are, obviously, various ways to interpret the show and his inspirations, which he didn't steal from all that much, if you're familiar with Arbus' work. To me, it's about a personal comfort, a familiarity with self, an assuredness that is usually absent from fashion, which serves to assimilate, to stifle insecurities through the masquing of luxury and false intellectualism.

The thing about Diane Arbus is that she wasn't honest in her work. She would reveal her subjects in humiliating images when she knew better. She spent time with them and got to know them on a personal level only to exploit that trust, show photos of them looking ridiculous, and then call them freaks. She took photos of mentally challenged people at an institution dressing up in costumes and playing. She made those images as if to suggest that was all those people did. That they are so withdrawn from life, so inhuman that they just drool over themselves and wear funny hats. That is what Diane Arbus was saying with her photos...that all they are are freaks.

This collection really makes me dislike Galliano. If the clothes themselves weren't actually referencing circuses and freak shows then maybe I would cut him some slack. Or maybe if the dwarfs, fat women, and others were used in a more sensible and empowering way then I also might be ok. Or maybe if the clothes were going to actually be produced in those sizes then I would take back what I said. yeah right.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

It's their prescence that makes posters on this forum feel uncomfortable. It's almost as if some don't feel people who look like this should be on a catwalk because their beauty is thought to be...inaccessible (inferior). They don't look like you, they don't look like anything you'd want to look like and so they're inappropriate and should be handled with kid gloves and locked away and not photographed because treating them like you would any model at a fashion show is somehow condescending.

You've got it wrong. They aren't being treated as normal models, they are being treated as freaks not as people. THE SHOW HAS A CIRCUS FREAK THEME for crying out loud and that is the only reason they are in the show. That is what people are bothered by. I would love to see these people on runways with designers acknowldging their differences...but Galliano is only exploiting them and using them to fufill his horrifying themed atrocity. I think you have really missed the mark.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

ok sorry for the ranting but this is a touchy subject for me and one I've spent a lot of time researching and discussing in my studies.

 

[Spike413]

I really don't think it's fair how people on here are saying how insensitive it is of John to have cast the show the way he did, or really any of the things he does for that matter. First off, no one really knows why he did it, so I think it's a little unfair to question his ethics. Out of all designers, John seems one of the least likely to mock and ridicule those less-than-parfect among us, at least in my eyes. Besides, had it been someone like Yohji, or Hedi, or Alber, or Rei.....people would be thrilled that they showed diversity on a catwalk. Someone even mentioned Gaultier, who essentially did the exact same thing as John just to less of an extreme, and yet he was applauded for it. So if Gaultier gets praise for using unique and diversified individuals in his shows, why should Galliano be the one to have his morals questioned?

Yes, seeing plus sized women, older men and little people on a runway is distrubing....but not because of how they look, but because of how it's percieved. Is it really any more fair to handle these people with kid gloves then to exploit them? Either way wouldn't it make them feel like something less than human.

In you really think about it, aren't models freaks too? They're taller then the average woman, skinnier as well, and they're always made up to look absolutely gorgeous. That's certainly not the "norm" in life. So in a small way, fashion was a freak show before, John just had the foresight to realize it.

edit- The show really doesn't have a freak show/carnival theme. Yes, it's referencing an era where it was common, but a cabaret where freaks are admired and a circus where they are ridiculed are two different things.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

I really don't think it's fair how people on here are saying how insensitive it is of John to have cast the show the way he did, or really any of the things he does for that matter. First off, no one really knows why he did it, so I think it's a little unfair to question his ethics. Out of all designers, John seems one of the least likely to mock and ridicule those less-than-parfect among us, at least in my eyes. Besides, had it been someone like Yohji, or Hedi, or Alber, or Rei.....people would be thrilled that they showed diversity on a catwalk. Someone even mentioned Gaultier, who essentially did the exact same thing as John just to less of an extreme, and yet he was applauded for it. So if Gaultier gets praise for using unique and diversified individuals in his shows, why should Galliano be the one to have his morals questioned?

Yes, seeing plus sized women, older men and little people on a runway is distrubing....but not because of how they look, but because of how it's percieved. Is it really any more fair to handle these people with kid gloves then to exploit them? Either way wouldn't it make them feel like something less than human.

In you really think about it, aren't models freaks too? They're taller then the average woman, skinnier as well, and they're always made up to look absolutely gorgeous. That's certainly not the "norm" in life. So in a small way, fashion was a freak show before, John just had the foresight to realize it.

read my above posts.

 

[tott]

I think the real difference between how JPG and Galliano uses "unusual" models is that JPG lets them model the actual clothes while Galliano uses them as props... Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the impression I get...

 

[Spike413]

^ I did, and my main point is you don't know why Galliano did this any more then I do or anyone else does. Unless he came out and said he wanted to show a circus side show with beautiful models walking next to midgets and fat women to portray them as freaks I don't think anyone has grounds to say that that's what he was doing.

Edit- do you know that for a fact? That Gaultier wasn't in fact using them as a show tactic?

 

[birdofparadise]

In presenting her subjects the way she does, Arbus turns the camera on herself, on society in general. She presents her subjects through the veil of our discrimination, whether it's the mentally handicapped or the wealthy, or p*rn or interracial couplings, all things that she touches on in her work. She adopts the language, she says, 'this is a freak' and you look at it and disagree because its so confrontational. But she peels back those cowardly affirmations and gets to the fear that's behind people wanting to marginalize anything that is considered to be 'different'. I certainly understand concerns about using such work as inspiration but it goes far, far deeper than just putting the handicapped and their vulnerabilities up for grabs. Galliano is not the first to use Arbus, didn't Dirk Van Saene (excuse the spelling) do something to that effect as well? (Belgian Fashion Design edited by Luc Derycke, Sandra Van De Veire)

 

[brian]

I think the real difference between how JPG and Galliano uses "unusual" models is that JPG lets them model the actual clothes while Galliano uses them as props... Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the impression I get...

...exactly how are the things shown in this collection NOT "actual clothes" ?! there are some absolutely gorgeous pieces!! biased anyone?

 

[Deleted member 7575]

^ I did, and my main point is you don't know why Galliano did this any more then I do or anyone else does. Unless he came out and said he wanted to show a circus side show with beautiful models walking next to midgets and fat women to portray them as freaks I don't think anyone has grounds to say that that's what he was doing.

Edit- do you know that for a fact? That Gaultier wasn't in fact using them as a show tactic?

I don't know for sure but the clothes, the styling, make up, and set allude to circus freak shows. You don't have to look very hard to see that. In fact if it were say...the same clothes and presentation from Gucci's SS 06 collection but with Galliano's models I wouldn't have made the freak show connection.

I can't comment about the Gaultier collection since I havn't seen it.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

In presenting her subjects the way she does, Arbus turns the camera on herself, on society in general. She presents her subjects through the veil of our discrimination, whether it's the mentally handicapped or the wealthy, or p*rn or interracial couplings, all things that she touches on in her work. She adopts the language, she says, 'this is a freak' and you look at it and disagree because its so confrontational. But she peels back those cowardly affirmations and gets to the fear that's behind people wanting to marginalize anything that is considered to be 'different'. I certainly understand concerns about using such work as inspiration but it goes far, far deeper than just putting the handicapped and their vulnerabilities up for grabs. Galliano is not the first to use Arbus, didn't Dirk Van Saene (excuse the spelling) do something to that effect as well? (Belgian Fashion Design edited by Luc Derycke, Sandra Van De Veire)

I see what you are saying I think it could be true. I personally don't see that in Arbus' work and certainly not in Galliano's. If Galliano attemped anything like that IMO he failed. But I do think there are more levels to Arbus' work but for me it ultimately ends in her exploiting these people for their differences and failing to take responsibility in making them nothing more than freaks...for removing their humanity..even if it is for the sake of her art to get that reaction.

I'd say you have a very solid argument with Arbus and I must admit I have my own bias against her. But if what you say about Arbus is true then Galliano REALLY missed it then. That's all I'll say about that before I get the mods really annoyed. If anyone would like to continue this discussion please message me. in fact....

 

[Spotlight]

This show is fantastic! I'm lovin' it.

eugeniaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa??????????, juliaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa????????????, tiiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu????????? where are you????????????

You see them all the time. Whats one show without them gonna hurt?

I'm really not a fan of the presentation either. It's like he's mocking them instead of embracing them...

I dont agree with that. I think people want to say that they're being made fun of because their in the lime light. What? In order to repsect someone, you should shield them away? I see that he used every kind of person his show. And yeah it is part fantasy. But it works. Besides its quite hypocritical that this is seen as disrespectful but the 2nd person to post in here makes a grossed out face because of the heavier woman.
That kind of behaivor is more disgusting to me than John's.

 

[Ghost]

those who think that using this is rude are the people who are dreaming and being carried into the current of perfectionism portrayed by models and fashion companies.

these people will be hit hard when they realise the truth

 

[tiffany]

Out of all designers, John seems one of the least likely to mock and ridicule those less-than-parfect among us, at least in my eyes.
...
edit- The show really doesn't have a freak show/carnival theme. Yes, it's referencing an era where it was common, but a cabaret where freaks are admired and a circus where they are ridiculed are two different things.

I completely agree

 

[Vogue_Boy]

What a freak show!But its kind of fun and different so why not.

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

Wow. it's all I can say, he surprises me all the time.. that man lol

Gemma looks great I don't know how he makes money out of his clothes..I really dont....someone explain

 

[peacelover142002]

i like it, but i wonder how many people actually focused on the clothes?