Putting selfies on the shelfies

Whaaatcha!

"Oh, oopsy, did I just face-plant myself into your selfie and totes ruin your ego-tastic moment of self-publicity that actually no one cares about?"




Claws away, let's get serious and talk about the underlying vanity-cum-insecurity that is wiping away the self-respect and propriety of a whole generation of otherwise beautiful, clever and dynamic young people.

When Joey Bloggs from nowheresville wants to feel noticed, all he need do is take out his iPhone, shoot a pout-laden snap and upload to Facebook or Twitter to make himself count - or at least, feel like he counts. Because that's what it's all about isn't it? Fulfilling our desperate need to be someone, to be loved, adored and admired. And, if celebs like the Kardashian clan, Taylor Swift et al are doing it, we should be too.

But when normos, heck, even teenagers start producing made-up, sexualised photographs of themselves and posting them online aren't we getting into dangerous territory? Selfies perpetuate the worn-out myth that good looks equal popularity.

Selfies also hint at something else though. That actually people need to start believing they are as beautiful as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian to accept themselves. Let alone have anyone else accept them.

In my mind, loving ourselves means not needing to display our bodies, however toned, and faces however made-up or botoxed for public consumption. Or am I completely wrong? Are people just so confident in themselves that becoming our own paparazzi and parading our pouts online is normal?

Whatever the reasons behind the phenomenon of selfies, one thing's for sure, they're going to be around for a long, long time yet. While all this ego-snapping's going on, I'll be on the shelf(y), hiding my eyes.

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When fashion offends religion

American Apparel, the Californian clothing brand well-known for its provocative marketing campaigns has yet again turned heads - for all the wrong reasons - with its latest publicity stunt.

Why? Another half-naked model cavorting on a bed legs akimbo? Yawn, seen it, and no. This time, the attention-seeking brand has this time gone one better and featured not only a topless woman but one emblazoned with the words "Made in Bangladesh".

The problem? The fact that the model in question, called Maks, was bought up as a Muslim. And while the advert is an attempt to showcase American Apparel's altruistic side, drawing attention to its fair working policies, the image of naked Maks and allusion to her previous life in Bangladesh - she moved to the US at the age of four and practised Islam until her teenage years -  hasn't been particularly well received by the world media.  And? Islam doesn't take too kindly to brash, public displays of nudity. Most faiths are generally adverse to nudity + faith + materialism, but Islam's traditions surrounding women wearing the niqab or burka is well documented. 

With more nudity in its collective marketing campaigns than clothing on sale American Apparel is now famous for its highly-sexualised advertisement images. How can one forget Trudy who last season rolled around on a bed in an AA sweater devoid of underwear (modesty marginally intact), which, unsurprisingly didn't go down well with the Advertising Standards Agency who deemed the images 'gratuitous' and demeaning.

It appears it takes an awful lot to shock the modern-day consumer, and sincere and irrepressible anger only seems to rear its ugly head by very extreme and unexpected (see Tom Ford For Men fragrance). That said, there have dozens of moments over the past 15 or so years when the fashion industry has crossed the line of propriety and respect - and inevitably left just a few members of religious communities across the globe seething.

So all of this seemingly offensive fashion material got me thinking about other notoriously controversial ad campaigns fashion has toyed with, and those designers who have cavorted with religious symbols and practices to the point of blasphemy. So here's a run down of the top ten offenders of sacrilegious fashion.

Perhaps most memorably was British-Cypriot designer Hussein Chalayan's Burka 'In Between' collection from 1996 when a line-up of models wore burkas of varying length: floor-length to just the face being covered, exposing the naked model underneath. Chalayan's avant-garde designs have not always been so fundamentalist, but they are always radical and eye catching - they have included a dress made of bubbles, one that transformed into a table and another colour-changing light dress created with the aid of the same animatronics team that worked on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

John Galliano - ever the flamboyant designer, he has never shied away from making waves. When he isn't offending the entire Jewish people with his drunken, anti-Semitic remarks, he's sending male models down the catwalk in the image of Christ in iridescent, slashed sportswear. Jock-straps and crowns of thorns aplenty.  The former Dior chief designer has also sent models down the catwalk with faces painted shades of turquoise and green dressed in fantastical Hindu deity-inspired ensembles. Some would call that diverse.




Another high-street brand with a penchant for publicity stunts, Benetton have released many an offensive advert. In 1991 the Milanese-born company released an ad featuring a priest in a rather close embrace with a nun and then went on to upset the Catholic church again in 2012 with an advert depicting the Pope Benedict XVI kissing a Muslim leader. The 'Unhate' campaign posters were later revoked after The Vatican took legal action against the Italian fashion house, who also later apologised for upsetting his holiness.



Diesel’s 2013 denim niqab received mixed reviews. Some liked the diversity implied from using a fashion model, contemporary styling and traditional religious article of clothing. One of Diesel's marketing execs suggested the feedback concerning the ad's inappropriate use of Islamic clothing on a white Russian model, who also happened to be showing a lot of skin underneath the niqab, was a good thing; people were asking questions about what culture, religion and clothing mean. For others, using such a symbolic, meaningful headpiece out of context was downright disrespectful. The girl had some pretty bad-ass tattoos though.

French designer Jean Paul Gaultier's designs have regularly been frowned upon from outside the fashion world for their sexualised and iconoclastic nature. JPG has often appropriated religious imagery including halos, nuns habits and the mother Mary, interweaving them with fetishist masks and sadomasochistic costume. His spring/summer 2007 couture collection saw JPG contrive immaculate conceptions of theatrical halos atop dazzling displays of gowns embed with religious iconography including aspirations of the Mother Mary; not to mention a full-face chained mask, that is a little, well, scary amid the innocence and purity of the Madonna. Although, personally I find its his second muse of the same name far more terrifying.


Versace was forced to remove t-shirts printed with "the devil made me do it" from its shelves in 2003 after receiving numerous complaints. The Italian fashion house in 1997, then headed by founder Gianni again took the now omnipresent crucifix aplenty, vamping it up with knee-length stocking boots and leather. Recently, The Archbishop of Canterbury has criticised fashion's exploitation of the cross saying it has "emptied" the symbol of its meaning.

Dolce & Gabbana have constantly borrowed from the Catholic faith for collection using sacred mosaics of religious figures, rosaries and appropriation of the crucifix. Similarly, the mosaics used in full-translational form for the D&G autumn/winter 2014 collection included the depiction of St. Agatha, a saint predominately known for having her breasts cut off before she was martyred. “I personally would feel very odd wearing any body covering that had St. Agatha on it,” Canadian "culture-vulture" at St. Augustine's Seminary, Toronto, Fr. John-Mark Missio said. Hmmm... me too.


Only recently Swedish retail giant H&M has withdrawn a line of men's vests after it received complaints that one of its new spring lines was anti-Semitic. The - admittedly rather ugly - grubby white vest features a skull smack-bang in the middle of what looks suspiciously like Jewish symbol, the Star of David. The anti-Semitic group Community Security Trust admitted designers may not have meant to cause offence but said the design alluded to anti-Semitism or neo-Nazi clobber.


Let's not forget the true fiends of the fashion world, the editors who propagate cultural appropriation on their pages in the name of art. In spring 2010, Purple Fashion Magazine - shot by Terry Richardson - chose to put none other than Lindsay Lohan on the front cover arms spread with a crown of thorns on her head. AnOther magazine painted Michelle Williams' face red and styled her hair in Pocahontas plaits and feathers for their spring/summer 2013 publication. Members of the Native American community were understandably outraged. And in 2012 for its spring 'Fashion Bible' edition, W magazine put Kate Moss as the Virgin Mary - innocent on the cover, holding a crucifix between her legs on the inside pages.

London Fashion Week highlights: J. W. Anderson

The forward-grabbing young Irish designer impresses the fashion set a lot. But this time round, there was something stopping the Louboutin-clad fashion collective from an all-out applause.

Anderson – the designer who put men in dresses last season – furthered his pared-back, form-morphing aesthetic for his a/w 2014 womenswear collection. Femininity was sparse, as was colour. Thick, nomadic-ready fabrics in desert colours were draped and shaped to create volume in sack-like proportions. The finish was primitive and enticing; technical mastery clear.

Soft tailoring cuddled by obi belts, fluted calf-length skirts and funnelled necklines engaged with the figure and had a tribal quality that was interesting. Anderson's mastery of manipulation of fabric further mesmerised with clever hints at modern femininity - bralets and bodices sat over thick wads of woollen dresses - yet the overwhelming feeling was of neutral sexuality.

Womanhood was there, just played down. But there was something refreshing about this. Expressions of womanhood needn't be skin, hips and bosom.

Anderson's organic desert nomad is an interesting alternative.

J.W. Anderson AW14, backstage (Sam Wilson, British Fashion Council)

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London Fashion Week highlights: Meadham Kirchhoff

The Central Saint Martins educated design duo - who, I like to believe, work in a studio shaped like a shoe, surrounded by in Lewis Carroll characters and drink sumptuous cocktails from glasses shaped like zoo animals – again showed off what they do best at LFW. This was over-the-top, gawky and zany. Frankly, right up my street. This time it was in homage seemingly to Victoriana Austin Powers. Autumn/winter at the Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff design house was prototypically eclectic and perfectly odd.

A bunch of young, quirky looking models stomped down the catwalk in rainbow boots; iridescent reptilian macs, bouclé suits, flowing frocks and pastel veils.

Yet blink a few times, re-focus and MK actually put on a dazzling display of ultra femininity – heightened to the nth degree, sure, but a few pick-out pieces that if worn as an entity, wouldn’t so much make your eyes bleed but rather transport you to an alternative world of translucence and romance.

The peace rarely lasts long in fashion and true to form Meadham and Kirchoff shoots the watcher back to planet crazy with rocket-metallic, leather super-hero dress complete with fluted sleeves and Mary-Janes. Only for the most ostentatious, self-believers… but hey, they’re people too.

And if you’re not one prone to kookiness, Meadham Kirchhoff sure knows how to draw it out and make the fashion pack smile. And heck, we should all be grateful for that.

Meadham Kirchhoff AW14 (Daniel Sims, British Fashion Council)

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London Fashion Week highlights: Simone Rocha

Refined, elegant with just a little flounce, Simone Rocha’s outing for LFW was just plain wonderful. Neat cocktail dresses and soft tailoring were sweetened with dalliances of fabric in perfect ruffles. 

There was a sense of regalia to proceedings; gowns befitting a lady of Henry VIII's court, only far more expressive and independent than a typical young patriarchy-controlled Tudor princess. 

Flounces there may have been but Rocha’s autumn/winter collection wasn’t saccharine. It was polished, preened just-so and for the most part, totally wearable. The daughter of stalwart expressive fashion designer John Rocha, Simone kept things seamlessly chic in darkest black satin, grown-up snakeskin and tartan. 

Mature it may have been but this collection wasn’t without an element of fun. A sea-weed looking green leopard-print dress was crowned with a tiara and pastel-pink geometric meshing played with monarchical perspectives of propriety. 

Ecclesiastical embroidery and sheer dresses in nude and blood red retained a sense of youth and modernity in their boxy shapes and loose-cut. A princess she may be, but Simone Rocha's girl knows that daddy king is in charge so that she can party.

Simone Rocha AW14 (Daniel Sims, British Fashion Council)

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Sweden's young fashion stars: Lina Michal

The Swedish sky is shining bright with up-and-coming fashion stars as Stockholm's elite design college graduates have increasingly been scooping up awards as well as prized post-graduate places at prestigious international fashion colleges. YLC sought out one of these future trailblazers, Lina Michal to find out how her fashion career has suddenly rocketed.

“I’m feeling a lot of gratitude,” Michal told YLC’s Victoria Hussey of winning the esteemed Vogue Young Vision award 2013.

The Beckman's School of Design graduate claimed the title after receiving a galactic 90,000 votes in the world-wide fashion authority's annual search for “young talent with a clear design vision” (VOGUE.it).  Michal beat out top-notch design competition from fifty-five countries, including ten finalists from prestigious design colleges in Denmark, Italy, Russia and the UK.

"It's fantastic," said Michal.

Part of the Vogue Young Vision prize is the chance to design and sell an eponymous fashion collection with top online fashion retailer MUUSE. Michal has been designing and redesigning her MUUSE collection since winning the title back in October.

“It's based on the collection I entered into the competition which was supposed to be for fall/winter but we looked at it and thought it would work so much better as a spring/summer collection."

Apt, as Michal's winning collection was actually her final graduation project shown at Beckmans right at the start of summer 2013, in May.

"We’re working to interpret the collection into ready-to-wear and to distill the core of it into something that can be more easily worn.”

With the title Heathen Hearts, Michal's last catwalk presentation before graduating from the Stockholm design school - one of raw, organic romance - was tinged with the kind of mood only a nation that spends its winters cloaked primarily in darkness and bitter cold would understand.

“I wanted to make something with a Scandinavian point of view but that was also about something other than functional minimalism,” Michal explained to YLC.

“I wanted to convey the feeling of something joyful and organic with just a notion of something dark and raw.”

At times, the collection was so in tune with sweetness and romance it would have been easy to get swept away with feeling and forget to appreciate the exquisite craftsmanship and design skill on display.

After digging into her Swedish heritage and exploring important traditional festivities such as Midsummer, bound in nature, Michal created something outdoorsy and Scandinavian in a far more organic sense than the click-and-fit Ikea practicality synonymous with Swedish design and favoured by so many Swedish fashion designers.

Lina Michal Heathen Hearts collection / Beckmans

Michal used clusters of beads resembling fruits of the forest to adorn voluminous gowns while swathes of fabric in overgrown shapes and mounds of petals were testament to a Swedish designer not afraid of spending time, crafting ideas and labouring for an industry she is clearly excited to now be a part of.

"I'm currently interning with Opening Ceremony in New York; I’ll be there until April," Michal explains.

"Leaving school definitely means a new chapter and I’m taking it a little bit as it comes. I'm eager to explore different aspects of the industry - and I’m having fun.”

Lina Michal's Heathen Hearts inspired collection will be available to purchase on MUUSE.com in 2015.

Victoria Hussey

Master's degree work 2012

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