Most controversial designer

[city girl]

I guess Marc Jacobs was considered controversial in the 90s with his grunge collection for Perry Ellis (was it?). But today i wouldn't consider him controversial at all I think Alexander McQueen was considered controversial back then

Today i'd say John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Miuccia Prada

 

[SomethingElse]

Maybe we need to talk about the question first. Controversial... does that mean revolutionary? Here is the definition page for controversial.

What about the students in places like the Royal Academy Antwerp? I think the deconstructionists must be seen as being controversial. The current fad of vapor and translucency is kind of controversial. Clothes are supposed to protect people from the elements, protect a person's modesty, show status or trade, and in many cases, show allegience to a certain group. It will be the daring individual to wear the vapor designs. Controversial, to me, means an individual against the masses, I guess.

Who is wearing controversial clothes? Are controversial clothes against mainstream fashion? VW's certainly mainstream so I guess my first answer can't be accurate. Oh dear, this is just making me ask more and more questions. I hope what I've written makes sense...

 

[ilaughead]

He is...I can attest to that.
I think Frida Giannini is creating some controversy for her mediocre work against a luxury house. Also, maybe Riccardo Tisci a bit ago as he was not so much a favorite with editors.

You may be right with the Tisci bit. A lot of important people didn't like him doing 'dark belgian' in couture. It seems they've warmed up to him now.

 

[gius]

I think that's a perfect question It really depends on the society
I mean, there was a lecture (or protest?) Vivienne Westwood had a few months ago, about art or culture I think, and there were visitors in the beginning but most of them left quickly... They didn't want to listen. She was anyway not making any sense to them, as I heard it

I agree about the transparency
and also perhaps the 'new' volume and shapes
Causing a lot of talk
I feel controversy usually implies talk that's negative

 

[libby_bee]

I realize that he's not nearly as famous as most of the designers mentioned here, but the lookbook for Bernhard Willhelms S/S 2008 Men's colletion seems to either disgust and annoy people quite a bit, or make them say "Brilliant!"

He is definitely of today, and does his own thing!

 

[bedtimestorynyc]

miuccia - but her so-called controversy is more subtle!

cdg - come on, the name of the house ALREADY suggests controversy

westwood, gauthier, pugh

 

[gius]

i think CDG is one of those that actually maybe tries to challenge current ideas about feminism, beauty, etc. It's really part of her design process. So it's natural there's some talk around her

 

[SomethingElse]

*feeling dumb* CDG means??

 

[gius]

Comme des Garçons

 

[SomethingElse]

Gius!

 

[Ghost]

i didn't see anything controversial about cdg....just call me shallow.....i'm sick of cdg trying hard to be artistic and in the end, everything is the same old moody collections...

 

[CharlottefromCA]

Nicky Hilton and every other B-list celeb with their own "fashion" line.

 

[tarekhamzi]

i think Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford are sort of...

 

[Jacque Marcel]

He's not as controversial today, but Gaultier and his Hasidic Jewish collection ruffled some feathers back in the day.

 

[LostInNJ]

Controvery comes in many forms...for those that say Marc Jacobs isn't, I have to beg to differ. Just look at his thread on here, it has 25 pages. His late start times, Suzy Menkes' opinion on his show...does that count for nothing? It may not be the kind of controversy in terms of design every single season, it certainly has in the past, but this counts for something.

If I remember correctly his Fall 2005 collection sparked a lot of controversy because it was heavy, and ugly, so that can be from a design standpoint.

 

[Dkammern]

I'd say Marc Jacobs, but he's really not controversial in the way that you hear about in fashion history. It's more like 'He's ADD and copies too much' versus 'He's a genius and always has his finger on the pulse'.

So do I, but I think I'm Karl's #1 fan.

...or #2, Borjacapella might be even crazier about Karl than I am!

YES I AM! B) (although i guess it's ok to share #1 with you ilaughead!!)

karl is not controversial, he is just bored with a world that's not able to evolve jsut as fast as he has...

(controversial are MJ and Galliano maybe, but i agree with the member who said they are jsut controversial in terms of fan reaction, not controversial as in "revolution" for the fashion world, as Christian Dior was, or Poiret, or Chanel...)

 

[verkeerd]

i don't think there are any controversial designers left?

i really don't see what's so controversial about marc jacobs.. maybe he is according to american standards but not to mine.. we've seen it all before.
and when was the last time vivienne westwood managed to shock us?

i think you can only be controversial if you do something new and nobody really does anything new anymore................

 

[seanutbutter]

Kind of hard to say, I don't know that there is anyone working today who is consistently controversial in the true sense of the word. Maybe it's because we've seen it all?

This is exactly true, and I'm glad someone brought it up. With hundreds of collections showing twice per year, along with two Haute Couture seasons, one Resort and, as of lately, select designers showing a pre-fall collection, there's not much we haven't seen.

As a result, it's hard to ignite controversy without presenting bizarre or even political outfits, mainly because we haven't seen similar pieces in the past and are shocked at how different it is. This is probably why John Galliano and Marc Jacobs are some of the most frequently mentioned names in this thread.

 

[Ghost]

Marc Jacobs threads lengthen because of the disscussions on how bad his collections were and yet he still owns a fashion crown
and that is controversial

 

[dior_couture1245]

Tisci! Of course! I'd definitely say he's controversial. He's totally transformed the identity of Givenchy. I like the direction he's taken it, though!