The relationship between Hip Hop and fashion: the emergence of the Streetwear style.

Drag culture and its influence on fashion

(Drag queens Violet Chachki and Miss Fame)

Drag culture blends gender roles as men gain new identities when they adapt typical female personas to express themselves through makeup and fashion.

This can be dated back to Shakespearean times in which men would perform female roles. This then developed into vaudeville performances where men would use dance and comedy to impersonate women. Vaudeville star Julian Eltinge is known as the first famous drag queen who was once the highest paid actor in the world. However, drag and gay culture was not fully accepted into society. Drag was an underground club movement in which gay men could freely express themselves as mainstream culture frowned upon homosexuality. However, equality began in 1969 with the Stonewall Riot in which homosexual men and drag queens protested against police raids in gay bars in New York. This led to the Gay Liberation Front which gave drag communities a positive representation in mainstream culture.

In 2009 Rupaul’s Drag Race aired with a diverse audience and has since allowed drag queens to become famous figures in popular culture. As a result, Rupaul Charles became a hugely influential figure in the drag world who many drag queens look up to. Rupaul’s Drag Race has helped to blend drag and fashion worlds with contestants modelling high fashion looks down the runway. ‘Fashion queens’ are especially known for their successful signature styles such as Violet Chachki, Naomi Smalls, Gigi Goode and Yvie Oddly. Since Violet Chachki won the show she was invited to fashion shows by Marc Jacobs and has had photoshoots with Steven Klein for serval fashion magazines including Italian Vogue. The two industries cross over in interests in fashion, makeup, hair and beauty sectors with drag culture and drag queens pushing them to the extremes. In addition, similar to the fashion world, Drag Race has also been known to acknowledge politics in which Rupaul himself has used his platform to celebrate LGBTQ+ rights.
Drag and fashion influence each other as ambiguity and gender fluidity are themes that run through both industries. With drag queens recreating high fashion looks, it is no surprise designers are inspired by their style. It is now more common than ever for the gender bending rules of drag to be evident down fashion’s runways.

Marc Jacobs used people that inspire him and open his mind to ‘new ways of seeing and thinking’ during his SS 2016 campaigns. This included drag star ‘Milk’. Milk competed on season 6 of Rupaul’s Drag Race where he found fame in the drag world.

"One night while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race I recognized one of our men’s sweaters on a tall, handsome contestant. His unique, artistic drag sensibility reminded me so much of the amazing drag characters of my club days” – Marc Jacobs.

This shows how influential drag, and its characters can be on high end fashion designers.

Opening Ceremony collaborated with previous Drag Race contestants to showcase their SS 2019 collection in their ‘The Gift of Showz’ show. Sasha Velour (Drag Race season 9 winner) helped present the show and performed beside drag queens Shea Couleé, Miss Fame, Jiggy Caliente, Farrah Moan and more. The queens performed wearing Opening Ceremony’s collection. The show therefore celebrated drag and queer culture with more than 40 LGBTQ+ models taking part.

Gypsy Sport’s AW 2018 campaign also celebrated the drag community and diversity by confronting gender boundaries. Desmond is Amazing, Nina Bonina Brown and West Dakota are drag queens that all featured in the campaign as ‘muses who don’t conform to any binaries.’

The cross over in industries show that fashion is open-minded and is looking to introduce new ways for people to identify themselves. Genderless fashion is becoming more popular as male and female gender roles are beginning to blur, making drag culture more relevant than ever. 

(Fashion drag queen Gigi Goode)

How Irving Penn ‘changed our perception of what is beautiful’

Irving Penn had worked with most genres of photography including portraits, still life, advertising and fashion. He experimented with transforming his photographs into artwork through platinum printing. It can be considered that Irving Penn ‘changed the way people see the world and our perception of what is beautiful’ (Anna Wintour) with his minimalist photography. He shot 163 timeless covers for Vogue and photographed many famous faces.

Penn would always use a studio where he could fully concentrate on his subject matter, so as he travelled, he would use a studio tent that could be taken to different locations. He believed a ‘neutral environment’ was important to capture an authentic portrait/image as he thought different objects and backgrounds would distract from the subject. Penn therefore had a minimalistic, simple style. He had experimented with both natural, soft lighting and bright, directed lighting. Penn did not exaggerate his subject matter but instead focused on and simplified what is important in the image which resulted in aesthetically simple imagery. I believe he expresses humanity and compassion within his portraits and captures his subjects with integrity, bringing out their own individual beauty. 

“What I really try to do is photograph people at rest, in a state of serenity.” – Irving Penn 

In 1948 Penn created his ‘corner portraits’ where he would place his subject between a ‘V’ shaped wall, resulting in obscured postures and facial expressions. This is example of Penn prompting his subject matter and focusing on their facial expressions and natural reaction to the obscure.

In his early work, Penn undertook a personal project in which he photographed naked women (1949-1950) but they were thought to be too erotic at the time. I believe this series is anything but erotic as he captures woman in an innocent, authentic way. He bleached his prints which exaggerated the women’s bare flesh, making it stand out in the images. It can be thought this brought more vulnerability to the photographs as the women are further exposed.

In the 1950’s Penn developed his style to shoot celebrities. Here he would engage with his subject and capture close-ups of their faces, expressing their personality through a single image. He also took portraits of artists and writers

Penn would often travel, resulting in some interesting portrait work where he could capture different ways of life. Between 1948 and 1971 he captured the series ‘Worlds in a Small Room’ where he attempted to bridge gaps of culture, language, geography to ‘connect on a human level’. Therefore, Penn captured beauty of people from different cultures and traditions.

In the 1960s, Penn began his still-life photography where he would take images of flowers. Here, he would capture flowers ‘considerably after they’ve passed the point of perfection’ in which he would photograph them as they began to wilt. He later made the series ‘Cigarettes’ in 1972 where he would magnify photographs of cigarettes. Irving Penn’s still-life photography would often use elements of death, inevitability of mortality and how fragile things can be. This signifies beauty as his photographs would express how delicate his subject matter is.

Irving Penn had a way of breaking down boundaries with different people and subject matters to capture beauty in its most natural form. 

“A good photograph is one that communicate a fact, touches the heart, leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.” – Irving Penn 

How makeup evolved through the 20th century

Makeup styles have evolved through time with the development of cosmetic products. It can be dated all the way back to ancient Egypt where kohl and henna were first used on the eyes. During the 1900s, a pale complexion was desired. This was because poor labourers spent time working in the field where they got a suntan, so pale skin was associated with the wealthy. Since then, makeup styles have come a long way. 

(1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s)

1920s 

During the 1920s, a smooth, rosy complexion was favoured. Red lipstick was used to create a sharp cupid’s bow, making lips the most important aspect of a makeup look. At the time, film stars were highly influential on fashion and beauty, meaning women wanted to copy their styles in their own looks. This resulted in film stars being used to promote products in adverts for cosmetics and the new interest in makeup led to new cosmetic brands and products during the decade, however, colours and quality of products were very limited. 

1930s

Less was more in the 1930s, with makeup looks consisting of thin eyebrows and eyelashes. Henna was used to darken, not thicken, eyelashes and women plucked their eyebrows often to ensure they were always slim in shape. A pencil was often used to draw eyebrows higher than their natural position with a high arch. The overall makeup style was natural as women had less money to spend on cosmetics due to the Great Depression.

1940s

War rationing during the 1940s meant women struggled to buy beauty products. This meant usual cosmetics were swapped for boot polish as mascara and beetroot as lip stain. However, red lipstick was highly associated with the war effort as it was thought it boosted moral. “No lipstick – ours or anyone else’s – will win the war. But it symbolises one of the reasons why are fighting” – Tangee cosmetics. The overall makeup look was therefore natural with subtle, if any, eyeshadow. 

1950s 

The 1950s were full of glamour, meaning women used thick cream foundation with powder and gentle rosy cheeks. Lips were full and bold, but eyes were much more natural and elegant with winged eyeliner used to define them. Also, eyebrows were made much thicker than they had been in previous decades. Cosmetic brands became targeted toward a teenager audience as it was acceptable for a teenage girl to wear makeup for the first time. 

1960s 

In the 1960s, colourful eyes were the focus of makeup for the first time, paired with a natural complexion. Women covered their eyelids with pastel eyeshadow and used the cut crease technique, which has become popular again in recent years. Eyeliner was used to draw a line across the eyelid, create a wing, and to thicken the lower lash line. 

1970s 

With the rise of the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s, beauty was rejected by many women, meaning much more natural looks were favoured. It was also recognised during this decade that the cosmetic industry needed to be much more inclusive for women of colour in their ranges and in 1974 Beverly Johnson was the first African American woman to be on the cover of a popular fashion magazine. 

1980s 

During the 1980s makeup looks were very full on. It all started with a heavy base of foundation, followed by even heavier pink blush. Eye looks were bolder than they had ever been before with blue, purple and pink eyeshadow being popular. This was topped with thick eyeliner and coloured mascara. Bold lipsticks and lipliners were also used to create colourful lips. 

1990s 

The 1990s saw new trends of shimmers and glitters come into play with shiny lip gloss being a popular makeup product. Thin eyebrows from the 20s came back into fashion and blue eyeshadow saw its way through from the 80s. Deep nude lips were popular in this decade and became the 90s most recognised statement.

Makeup and cosmetics trends come and go through the decades, much like different fashion trends. However, makeup in the 21st century is very different since it first became popular in the 1920s. 

Fashion can be used in many different ways to make political statements, opinions and change. Women have used fashion to create a new future for themselves by rebelling against society’s typical gendered norms. Fashion is used to create new identities and women have used it to liberate themselves and make themselves independent. Therefore, fashion has a history of being used as a tool of feminism in which it has been used to challenge patriarchal society. 

In the 1920s, flappers began to go against the traditional ways a woman should dress as they wanted to enjoy themselves and go against conventional behaviour. At this time, the single-minded woman emerged. Flappers did not just rebel in their behaviour but in the way they dressed as they wore shorter slim dresses that had lower necklines.

Gabrielle Coco Chanel also revolutionised the way women thought about fashion as she introduced a sense of ease and modernity during the 1920s. She is well known for the ‘little black dress’ (a colour that was once only associated with mourning) and sophisticated designs. However, the biggest change that came about because of Coco Chanel was trousers for women. Women first began wearing trousers during the first world war when they worked in male jobs. However, Chanel made trousers a popular choice for women as she designed them for herself for practical purposes when engaging in leisure activities. She wore sailor’s trousers for ease, influencing many women’s fashion choices as they were inspired by her style. As a result, Chanel went against traditional gendered fashion rules and conventions. Another way Coco Chanel liberated women and revolutionised women’s fashion was the dismissal of the corset. During the world war she recognised that the corset restricted woman and was uncomfortable, so instead she replaced it with more casual clothing that women could easily move in.
Chanel also used jersey in her outerwear designs, a material that had only previously been used for men’s underwear. This meant women’s clothes had become much more practical and comfortable and again, Coco had broken traditional gender conventions. However, Chanel’s fashion house is mostly known for its iconic women’s suits. The suit was taken as a typical menswear item and made to be a modern women’s wardrobe statement. Chanel’s suits consist of a tweed woollen jacket with fitted sleeves and a slim skirt.

Although Chanel was a pioneer that kickstarted women’s liberation through fashion, women’s trousers were not fully accepted and popularised for some time, meaning society still had a long way to go. Yves Saint Laurent is another designer that revolutionised fashion for women. He believed women should feel empowered in what they wore, so in 1966 he designed a women’s trouser suit in the style of a men’s tuxedo. This was the first time a designer had showcased evening wear trousers, meaning opinions were mixed and women who wore the suit were even refused entry into some restaurants. In 1971 Bianca Jagger wore a white tuxedo style suit for her wedding, creating a shift in attitude toward gendered fashion.

Fashion was a dictator that women had once followed, however it is now used to create a sense of freedom and express individuality.  

How the global pandemic has started to slow fast fashion

Fast fashion describes the process of fashion designs that move from the catwalk to retailers quickly to meet current trends at an affordable price. Therefore, designers work ahead to predict trends and what people will want to wear and produce clothes at a rapid pace. In order to make such clothes affordable and to be produced at such a quick pace, cheaper, low-quality fabrics and materials are utilized. This makes fast fashion harmful to the environment as items have a short life span. Further to this, the cost of labour to make such clothes is extremely low as workers are exploited.

Fast fashion is a popular process with most stores as it prevents customers becoming tired of their merchandise, with the idea that customers will see new items every time they enter the store. The mixture of a desire to be on trend and the industry convincing its customers they are behind on a trend ensures fast fashion continues. This also results in clothes becoming ‘outdated’ quickly and are therefore thrown away, leading to huge amounts of waste, further damaging the environment. Some fast fashion brands include Topshop, Primark, PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo.

However, with consumers staying at home during the global pandemic, slow fashion is starting to come into practice with a more sustainable future. There has been a new focus on buying less for better and a huge demand of loungewear, meaning usual quick-paced trends are no longer being followed and are therefore no longer relevant. This has created a shift in collections on the runway as designers have taken into account the changes in social interaction, swapping big eccentric gowns for elegant, comfy clothes that will actually be worn. The global pandemic has given people the opportunity to take a step back from following trends and develop their own individual style.

The usual quick-paced fashion industry has slowed dramatically with a huge rethink on the way we view fashion. Fashion designers have reduced the number of collections they will release during the year as there is no longer a want for constant changing trends as we are spending all our time at home due to lockdown restrictions. There has also been a realisation among designers that fashion has been taken too far.  Michael Kors and Gucci are some of the latest designers to adjust their fashion calendar to only two seasons a year instead of the usual eight. This new shift to fewer collections a year creates less uncesseasy waste by slowing down production. In addition, consumers will no longer be bombarded with constant new trends and will instead have time to digest trends and choose clothes that are more sustainable for them. As the fashion industry moves further away from following trends, designers can create collections that embrace their brands identity instead.

While it is thought fashion had took a backseat during the global pandemic, people have realised the importance of fashion and how the current climate affects it. There is no longer a need for social conformity by buying and wearing the newest trends to fit in. As there has been a step away from constant changing seasons and trends, there has also been a realisation that better quality, longer lasting fashion items are a bigger investment than short lived fast fashion clothes. The global pandemic has kick-started a much more sustainable future. 

Mixed media collages in response to the brief 'fashioned by nature'.

The first image uses an image from Irving Penn's nudes. I cut out embroidered flowers and placed them strategically on top of the photograph. Here, I took the authenticity of Irving Penn's series and applied it to fashion and nature.
The second image was influenced by Nanushka Resort 2021 ‘Human/Nature’. She explored the relationship between humanity and nature with a nude/neutral collection. I was inspired by her natural colour pallet and emulated it through collaging textured paper in different shades of browns. Here I played with the idea of ‘nudes’ further.
The third image was an experiment using Irving Penn’s still life photography where he captured different flowers. I used his flowers to collage a dress on a model. Evidently, I was inspired by the silhouette I had created.