Great Scot: Tilda Swinton in Viktor & Rolf

“If I ever get a chance to meet Joyce DeWitt … I will thank her, for while she may have looked like a Liza Minnelli doll that was damaged in a fire, at least she didn’t look like everyone else.” – Tina Fey, Bossypants

What Fey was referring to was that when she was growing up in the 1970s, the standard of beauty was largely Nordic-influenced, and was best represented in pop culture by Farrah Fawcett. In the same vein, the standard of beauty has been widened and defined so broadly these days that it has room for the entire gender spectrum, including that great androgynous thespian beauty, Tilda Swinton.

Those who may think she looks “too weird”, or “too much like an alien”, or just define beauty by whether or not you would “tap that” should not be reading my column. Off you go, now, while I spend more time preaching to the converted.

They say that great art cannot come into being without the presence of a muse, a being who inspires one to creative apotheosis. The fashion designers Viktor & Rolf clearly understood this and took as inspiration for their fall 2003 / spring 2004 collection Swinton’s androgynous beauty. With her high cheekbones, shock of red hair, alabaster skin, regal composure, stature and rich voice, it was no surprise that they would consider her such a striking figure, a face that could launch a thousand outfits if not ships. They devoted the look of their fall/winter runway show to Swinton’s aesthetic, and made up all of the models to look like her. There is no greater flattery than imitation done out of admiration. At the very least, she didn’t – and still doesn’t – look like anyone else. You would never mistake her for more conventional notions of beauty embodied by one of the Kardashians or Sienna Miller. She is unmistakably Tilda Swinton, and that is her greatest gift to fashion.

Clearly, neither Viktor & Rolf nor I am in the minority on this. The lovely Heather and Jessica at Go Fug Yourself affectionately mock and admire her aesthetic, particularly her strange sartorial choices (they refer to her simply as “SWINTON” and every time she appears on a red carpet, they get Tweeted with simply her name in block capitals and a lot of exclamation marks as a shout of approval). At Lainey Gossip, the consensus is that Swinton could wear a garbage bag unmistakably designed just for her, and make it look interesting and fashionable, even if it’s not conventionally “pretty”. “Pretty” does not do Swinton justice, and to call her so would reduce her to ordinary levels of beauty when she is anything but. And there’s the remarkable blog called F-Yeah Tilda Swinton!, dedicated solely to the portraits she has done for magazine photo shoots, publicity shots, fashion spreads and other artistic endeavours. It is not wonder that Sally Potter chose her to star in Orlando, for only she in the world could convincingly portray an Elizabeth lord who transitions into a contemporary woman, relying on her body language and voice to make the change subtle but believable. Plus, she looks remarkable in all the impossibly elaborate attire on display.

I’ve attached the preview to Viktor & Rolf fashion show below, and am also including the link to a detailed article on the show with complete video here. If you can’t get enough of her, keep in mind that you can see her role in the challenging drama We Need to Talk About Kevin, for which she was not nominated for an Academy Award (boo), in limited release now and in wider release on February 3.

Modern Film Classics: “Prêt-à-Porter”

Original American poster

 The great filmmaker Robert Altman was never concerned about the fashion industry. However, in the winter of 1984, he found himself in Paris during Fashion Week, was brought into a darkened tent to view a fashion show, and claims that he was absolutely dumbfounded by the power of the show. This was the circus, he thought to himself, and he resolved to make a film about the fashion industry.

Given that Altman’s career was in the doldrums at the time, following the stinging failure of his misbegotten Popeye motion picture in 1980, he didn’t have much creative freedom or financiers to realize his vision. However, the one-two punch of 1992’s The Player and 1993’s Short Cuts returned him to the forefront of American film directors, capped off by back-to-back Best Director Oscar nominations. The then-new generation of stars, along with his former 70s acting stable, clamored to work with him. It was in this atmosphere that he made 1994’s Prêt-à-Porter.

Models

In the winter of 1994, Altman was granted permission to make a multi-narrative comedy about the fashion industry. Accordingly, he was given unprecedented access to a number of fashion shows to give verisimilitude to his film: Sonia Rykiel, Issey Miyake, Jean-Paul Gaultier and many others. He was therefore also able to film a number of international models at work, including Helen Christensen, Tatjana Patitz, Carla Bruni and “the triumvirate” of Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington. Even Icelandic singer Björk makes a cameo on the runway in the Gaultier show. The inclusion of actual designers and their shows into the film lends it greater credibility, and a much better sense of time and place.

The cast itself boasts a “who’s-who” of international film stars and acclaimed character actors. These include (and this list is by no means exhaustive): Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Lauren Bacall, Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Rupert Everett, Anouk Aimee, Richard E. Grant, Forrest Whittaker, Ute Lemper, Lili Taylor, Kim Basinger, Rosy de Palma, Tracey Ullmann, Teri Garr, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Sam Robards, Chiara Mastroianni, Jean Rochefort, Michel Blanc and Sally Kellerman. A number of other celebrities and designers make appearances as well, including Cher, Harry Belafonte, Thierry Mugler, Paolo Bulgari and Elsa Klensch.

Crowd scene: Bacall, Kellerman, Hunt, Basinger, Grant

The film follows a fashion designer whose son has been bankrupting her business and who cheats on his wife; two gay fashion designers whose aesthetics clash but who carry on a secret affair; an incompetent American fashion reporter whose sincerity is no match for the outrageous answers designers give to her inane questions; a husband-and-wife from Marshall’s who appear to be on a covert mission; a “bad boy” fashion photographer who is courted simultaneously by the (fictional) editors-in-chief of Vogue, Elle and Women’s Wear Daily; two American reporters who hate each other but end up in bed together all week long; and two old lovers meeting again for the first time, after many years. (That last one stars, for those who love Italian film, Loren and Mastronianni, who re-enact the iconic seduction from Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow one more time.)

Sound Advice: Yoko Ono’s “Open Your Box”

Yoko Ono gets a bad rep. I think it has something to do with her involvement with the Beatles or something.

Few forget that she was a groundbreaking, madly genius (or genuinely mad?) musical artist who introduced free-associating performance art to pop music. Composed of deconstructive beats and graced by her one-of-a-kind vocal stylistics, the art of yodeling and shrieking was elevated to shocking and sometimes hilarious effect. Although ridiculed and vilified for the greater part of her musical career, she had influential admirers who adopted her style and brought its elements forward. In particular, the Icelandic chanteuse Björk has been most remembered in recent years as the primary advocate of using the primal scream in pop music. Much of her performance art and musical recordings were focused on channeling baser mortal desire and suffering through song. It doesn’t have to be verbalized, she argued, it just has to be communicated.

Perhaps no one single piece of music has so summarily captured the art of Ono’s music as her 1971 single, “Open Your Box”.

Babywoman: Naomi Campbell’s Recording Career

Album cover: "Babywoman"

Part of the fun in writing about pop art and high culture is acting as a cultural anthropologist. There are countless one-hit wonders in terms of music, books, films, and other media that at one point or another captured the public’s attention and may have been lost, forgotten, or just dimly remembered. What may have seemed like a gimmick or a high-concept lark may, in hindsight, prove to be highly-executed but misunderstood art, or just a bit of cheeky fun, as the Brits say.

Into the category of one-hit wonders falls supermodel Naomi Campbell’s 1994 album. Christened Babywoman, after one of her nicknames, Campbell’s album was an attempt to cash in on the British R&B-inflected dance music that was in vogue at the time. Artists popular at the time and to whom Campbell’s producers worked with and whose sound they emulated included M People, Eternal, Gabrielle and Soul II Soul.

The "Big Five", Vogue, January 1990

To understand the need of a supermodel to release an album, one had to recall the status in what became known as the era of the supermodel. From 1990 to about 1995, a small collection of the world’s top models gave rise to the term "supermodel". In particular, five were instantly immortalized in Herb Ritts’s iconic January 1990 cover of Vogue magazine. These women were the world’s top models, instantly recognizable and who were known by only their first names. They included Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Tatjana Patitz. Known as “the Big Five”, they were joined by Kate Moss and became collectively known as “the Big Six”. Their presence immediately elevated the tone and marketability of any product, and they were in-demand by every conceivable designer on the planet. Their status, visibility and near-ubiquity had the residual effect of helping to make fashion one of the most high-profile and serious global industries. Campbell, Evangelista and Turlington in particular were such close friends and so sought-after that they became another subset of the “Big Six”: they were known as “The Trinity”.

It was in this cultural environment that the idea of the multi-hyphenate entertainer first appeared. Although it was not uncommon for actors to also direct and write films, plays, and TV at the time, it was unusual for models to attempt a career in the arts and in business at the same time that they modeled. It was with much media attention, tempered with a good deal of curiosity, that Campbell released her debut single “Love and Tears”.

Cinematically Inclined: Bill Cunningham New York

There’s a merciless line in the fifth season of Absolutely Fabulous. The manic but keenly observant assistant Bubble, in a moment of cutting clarity, mocked the occupation of celebrity stylist:

“Oh, I’m too rich and important to ask for free clothes for myself. Will you do it for me? Will you be my ‘stylist’?”

The tireless New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham would agree with her. In fact, in his acceptance speech of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Minister of Culture, awarded in recognition of his photographic chronicle of New York high fashion, he stated that his love of photography was never motivated by celebrities. He often didn’t know who he photographed, and he in fact didn’t care to know most of the time. He has no patience with celebrities who are "styled" by others. He only cared about what people were wearing and how they were able to carry it off. It’s all about the clothing and a sense of style. What’s unsaid is that his fascination was in how the look, captured in the moment, is the key to understanding his subject’s personality.

Bill Cunningham is what one calls a real character, and the documentary Bill Cunningham New York makes no attempt to explain why. A former hat designer active in the fashion industry, Cunningham picked up a camera sometime in the 50s to photograph who he believed to be the most fascinatingly dressed people in New York, and never stopped. Unlike so many other industry photographers, he does not arrive at fashion shoots with armies of assistants: in fact, he doesn’t even do photo shoots. The street is his canvas and his camera is his brush. His ability to capture the truly fashionable of New York from all walks of life, while simply being out and about on the street, is his gift. It is in those moments, which are not choreographed within an inch of their lives by a team of make-up artists, wardrobe handlers, lighting specialists and the aforementioned stylists, that he felt he could truly capture the way a person wore his or her clothes. 

PURSEuasion: A Vancouver Opera Society Fundraiser

Any day that begins with a Jane Austen reference is a great day.

The Blogger was pleasantly surprised to find out recently about a forthcoming fund-raiser for the Vancouver Opera Society, named not-so-incidentally after a Jane Austen novel. Fresh off its triumphant production of Verdi’s La Traviata, the VOS has planned a number of exciting new productions for the 2011/2012 season, and opens with West Side Story in October. In the meantime, they’re staging their third annual purse party fund-raising party on June 2, PURSEuasion.

What is a purse party?

Some readers may recall the 2003 episode of Sex & the City where the ladies attend a party staged by a friend to support her new career as a purse designer, and to show off her designs. The VOS have been staging a similar event for the past three years, but in a twist, their event is not a party but a fun lunchtime auction.

Some designers whose works have gone on auction included one-of-a-kind and rare designs by Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Salvatore Ferragamo, Boboli and Ports 1961. Past auctions have also featured the works of designers such as Tina Wilson, Haida Princess Totes, and of course John Fluevog.

This is an event sure to bring out Vancouver fashionistas (particularly if you haven’t been able to get to the Anthropologie opening). The inaugural auction in 2008 raised an impressive $47,000.00 and this year they intend to raise more than ever. The event has been held in the past at Yaletown’s Goldfish Pacific Kitchen in 2009, and last year at the recently-shuttered Bistro Moderne. This year’s function is downtown at The Vancouver Club, to ensure that busy professionals don’t have to travel far from the office to get to the event. Since champagne is included at the buffet luncheon served at the event, it will help that fashionistas can simply walk to PURSEuasion from their offices in the downtown core.

Anthropologie Opens In Vancouver

This Friday, May 13, the sound of silence in offices will be deafening. That’s because every fashionista in your Metro Vancouver office will be charging to the long-awaited opening of the city’s first-ever Anthropologie.

Owned by and a sibling corporation to Urban Outfitters Inc., Anthropologie is a chain of upscale women’s wear dedicated to providing high-quality apparel to befit the customer’s lifestyle. The brand’s ideal customer is the professional urban woman with a creative, artistic bent. Therefore, the designs are based on classic forms that easily transition from day into evening wear. The collections are vivid in terms of colour and prints, and recall 70s glamour with a romantic finish. Think Bianca Jagger heading to meet Anna Wintour for lunch rather than going to Studio 54 and you’ll have an idea of the collection. Understanding that their customer wants to look chic without breaking the bank, Anthropologie’s collections are priced lower than their couture counterparts.

Anthropologie does not stop at women’s wear, as they also offer home fashions as part of their “complete lifestyle” approach to retail. The new location, like most of their other shops across the world, will also carry accents to any home such as bedding, curtains, wallpaper, pillows and lighting. To complete the styling of any home, they also offer their own line of kitchenware, dinnerware and glassware. It is designed to be a one-stop shopping experience. Anthropologie achieves this by creating themed spaces within their shops to harmonize their product lines into a complete lifestyle, and not as a disparate diaspora of merchandise. Anyone who has been to an Anthropologie shop understands that each location is a feast for the senses.

The Artful Blogger Goes Shopping: TSUM, Moscow

Special to Retail-Details

Last week’s article on GUM in Moscow generated some unexpected intrigue. At least where the Blogger lives, there is a lack of awareness of luxury shopping in the Russian capital and readers have commented that thanks to the post, they have found their “new happy place”.

Although GUM is a luxury shopping mall, readers did ask about the leading luxury department store in Moscow, comparable to a Saks, Bloomingdales, Barneys or Harvey Nichols. Behold, TSUM.

Located in central Moscow not far from its chief rival GUM, TSUM (rhymes with “gloom” but far from gloomy) affords luxury shoppers an intimate and personalized shopping experience. Housed in a formerly drab state department store, it is now one of the ultimate shopping destinations not only in Russia, but in all of Europe.

Verber, with Naomi Campbell

One cannot understand TSUM without knowing something of the powerful woman behind it. TSUM’s fashion director is the mercurial Alla Verber, known as a long-time fashion power broker for Russia. In this interview for ABC News, no less than George Stephanopoulos compared Verber to the formidable Anna Wintour in terms of her clout. Trained in fashion and business in the West during the Soviet era, Verber returned to Moscow after the fall of Communism with a big idea: to bring the same luxury brands she loves into her beloved Russia. In an era when more democratically priced brands such as Levi’s and Calvin Klein were the most coveted designer clothes, Verber’s idea was unheard of, even at the end of the Soviet era. She spearheaded the revitalization of TSUM and shepherded it into its current form, which stands as a lasting testament to Verber’s love of couture and intense commercial ferocity. TSUM was spotlighted on the English-language site Moscow Out (via Russia Today) earlier this year, and includes an interview with Verber herself (the interview begins at 4:58).

The Artful Blogger Goes Shopping: GUM, Moscow

Special article for Retail Detail.

GUM corporate logo

This year, Forbes magazine reported that 79 of the year’s billionaires live in Moscow, more than in any other city in the world: that’s billionaire, not millionaire. This statistic means that there is plenty of wealth going around than ever before and a sign that, 25 years after Perestroika, Communism has indeed gone the way of the floppy disk.

With such an abundance of luxury, it’s no wonder that some of the world’s most luxurious shopping is now done in Moscow, with the largest shopping centre being GUM Trading House. GUM (pronounced like “doom” with a “g”, but far more pleasant) is located in Red Square and close to St. Basil’s Cathedral, situating it in perhaps the single most prominent and immediately recognizable area in all of Russia. The acronym “GUM” is derived from the Cyrillic “ГУМ”, meaning “State Department Store”, and was originally built as a shopping mall with an astonishing 1,200 stores housed within its walls. During Stalin’s reign, it was initially converted into an office and it even displayed his wife’s body following her suicide in 1932. Grim. Eventually, GUM was converted back into a department store and became one of the few well-stocked shops in the nation, given its centrality and its location next to the Kremlin. (Yes, Lenin is likely turning over in his grave next door.) Of the many state department stores, the one in Red Square stands alone today and remains the most iconic.

GUM, in all its glory. Note original architecture preserved.

Once the Soviet Union collapsed, plans were eventually in place to at first partially, and then fully privatize GUM. It is now owned and operated by the Russian luxury goods distributor and boutique magnate Bosco di Ciliegi. Concurrent with the collapse of Communism, many Russian capitalists stepped out of the socialist closet and were eager to shop. Designers and shop operators, sensing a nascent new market on the verge of explosion, rushed to fill GUM with luxury goods to an eager public flush with wealth. 

GUM promenade, lit up at night

Fashionistas and even casual luxury brand admirers (such as this writer) are surrounded by a nearly obscene number of designer brands with stand-alone boutiques, such as Armani, Sonia Rykiel, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Dior, Hermes and Frey Willie. Luxury brand names populate their retail spaces with considerable amounts of haute couture, in addition to their second lines and prêt-a-porter collections. The Russian designer Valentin Yudashkin, whose haute couture works are so innovative and coveted that they have been on display both at Paris Fashion Week and at the Louvre, has one of his major shops here.