LARA

fashion, film, and art curated by @lar.uhhh on instagram instagram: onthed0wnl0ww substack: https://onthedownlow.substack.com

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Invitations to Martin Margiela Shows.

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To love or be loved, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, Jean-Luc Godard, 1967.

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Alexander McQueen, Spring 2001. 

A mirrored cube illuminated as a slew of mentally ill girls moved around the inside as the audience watched them. Due to the mirrors in the box, the models were unable to see outside of the cube, and therefore their confused movements were authentically enhanced. 

White caps over the models heads that was reminiscent of hospital bandages. The clothing was overly chic, featuring mussel-shelled tops  and skirts. In addition, to models arms compromised in a way that was reminscent of a strait-jacket. 

The most shocking of all was when another cube in the middle of the psych-ward runway opened to reveal a partially nude masked women, who would later be identified as British fetish writer, Michelle Olley, connected to various wires while dead bugs were strewn over her legs. 

In an never-before-seen interview with SHOWStudio, McQueen spoke to the Asylum show, saying it was pivotal in the concept of shows interacting with audiences. 

Early in his career, the Asylum show was integral in establishing McQueen as a theatrical force that combined the beautiful and grotesque in a once-in a lifetime way. 

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Gucci, S/S 2023 by Alessandro Michele.

One of Michele's last shows at the helm of Gucci, the show featured sets of 68 twins. It was an exploration into identity and otherness. Michele found himself intrigued by the intimacy that can only be shared between two twins. An intimacy that no one will understand.

It cannot be seen in the photos, but the show was so intriguing due to the fact that Michele separated the audiences via partition. The audience on either side were unaware that the other side was witnessing an identitcal show until the photo wall was lifted. In the finale, the twins emerged holding hands and the audience was gagged, if you will.

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Givenchy, Spring 1997 by Alexander McQueen.

Givenchy Spring Couture '97 was McQueen's debut collection at the mega-label. He took the job after Galliano announced exited from the brand after just 2 years. McQueen was a controversial choice for a pleothra of reasons. One of them being that he was quoted to say, he had "no respect for Hubert de Givenchy" and had taken the job only because he "loves fashion." For a storied house, especially one in the traditionalist fashion world, this was largely disrespectful.

Executing this collection in just 3 months, McQueen chose a white and gold color palette, which the Givenchy brand was known for. However, the collection retains McQueen DNA with a slew of femme fatales and an emphasis on tailoring. Tailoring and an emphasis on the strength innate in females are two things McQueen was known for in his design language. When taking the job, McQueen had made it abundantly clear that he was not there to please the women of Givenchy.

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Still from Belle De Jour, 1967.

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Yohji Yamamoto S/S 1999

Yohji Yamamoto Spring Summer 1999. One of the most influential shows in fashion history. Fashion critic and writer Tim Blanks named it as one of the most enchanting shows that he's ever seen.

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In honor of Sean McGirr debuting his McQueen collection yesterday. Lets take a look back at McQueen's S/S 1995 collection entitled 'Birds' named after Alfred Hitchock's famous movie, which McGirr said he had taken inspiration from. The famous look from this collection had a modeled encased in trasparent pallet tape. The collection had classic McQueenism like the infamous bumster pants which at the time were met with a lot of criticism. This collection, of course, in true McQueen fashion fused a theme underscored by violence with beauty.

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Bottega Veneta to New Bottega

Ever since Daniel Lee’s start, he has swept the fashion industry. Declared by many as the new IT person at the moment in the fashion industry, he has taken Bottega in a new direction. Based upon the last three runway shows that Bottega has done, Lee has absolutely killed it. He embraced the intrecciato aka a braided purse except Lee decided to this seamlessly. It isn’t wild that Lee had decided to embrace the braided purse because it has been such a part of the Bottega past, but doing an unlined bag with double-sided leather strips is daring. When first debuted people went wild, not only for the impressive craftsmanship, but also the modern minimalism which is become an increasingly more stylish way to dress in 2020 with monochromatic sets coming into style and Kardashian inspired athleisure wear becoming popularized on Instagram. Lee, again, redesigned Bottega by taking the square shaped sandal which originally popularized the brand and applied them to his boots which adds a refreshing touch on the boot by taking something so simply as the front of the shoe and adding a modernistic twist onto it. Additionally, Lee decided to ditch traditional craftsmanship and actually made the boot out of a 3D digital printer, Bottega’s first and successful attempt at using that technology. Lastly, Lee took the signature braid and applied it to clothing such as a braided vest in a porcelain color. The vest had a bit off puff added to it. Overall, Lee’s Bottega show was one of the more interesting ones to watch as it paid homage to old Bottega designs, but added a subtle twist which catapulted the brand into 2020.