Throughout the centuries, high fashion has suffered mightily from what can only be described as acute cases of silliness, disfunction and waste. Take the ginormous, neck-straining wigs so popular with the French royal woman in the late 1700s--twas not so much work by the time the guillotine got its way. Or the layers and layers of petticoats worn under ball gowns in the Victorian era--each set enough to clothe a small village and all its draft horses, too.
Now, the existence of these and many other atrocious examples does not mean that what we drape over our naked, vulnerable selves should simply be functional and boring, conveying a level of visual appeal about as hot as a potato sack, but isn't there some way we can make high fashion more relevant and less wasteful? Huh? Isn't there?
Funny you/me/we should ask because Milwaukee's art incubator RedLine has just put out the word that it's looking for fashion designers, artists and students to apply for its 3rd Annual RePurposed Runway Design Competition. You read that right, kids--each outfit must be made from stuff that's lived a previous life but now yearns to "find itself" in the exciting world of Fashion with a capital F!
Here's what you need to submit:
• Name, Address, Home Phone, Cell Phone and Email Address.
• 2-3 .jpg images--either on CD or free floating within the email ether--of recent samples of garments you've made, created from recycled materials or not. FYI, if you send a CD you ain't gonna get it back, so don't burn a copy of your encrypted fashion manifesto on it and cheerily delete it from your computing device, 'kay?
• Designer/Artist statement describing your work. Keep it under 500 words 'cause nobody needs to hear your "inspiration" story about when you saw Kirstie Alley in a muumuu and you knew it in your bones that you could find a way to squeeze her into a plus size, bullet cup corset with fabulous results.
• Idea for your garment for this year's competition.
The theme is Environment And Water, so ya know you'll be able to come up with something that just screams, "I'm sustainable and transparent!"
Check out full details here. Deadline is Friday, March 1, 2013.
(Thanks, Lynn!)
Related:
Fashion Crosses The RedLine
Fashion, Schmashion--Let's Wear Some Art!
Comments