Louis Vuitton 2012 Spring/Summer Collection

On October 5th 2011, in the fashion capital of the world; Paris, Louis Vuitton decided to use the carousel as a source of inspiration for the release of their 2012 Spring/Summer collection deisgned by Mark Jacobs. Below is the full length event which shows the unveiling of a white carousel and proceeds to the performance of models getting off the carousel in an orderly fashion, to walk around and parade their wares. 

The visual imagery of the white carousel turning around and around is stunning. Completely stirpped of colour and decoration, the carousel becomes a place of innocent fantasy. "A carousel of 48 horses, one for every model, each of whom looked adorable, in their sugared almond coloured princess dresses and twinkly skirt suits." (Telegraph.co.uk). Adorned with oversized cut out daisy fabrics and buttoned-up blouse collars, the models wore baby blue, soft yellow and mint green outfits creating an innocent-girl look about them.

Even though the models are dressed in 'pretty, innocent, feminine' clothing, there is something eery about the whole performance. As they strutted around with their hair pulled back into a tight bun framed with a tiny tiara, I couldn't help but look at the expressions on their faces. They were more reminiscent of little girls forced to do something that they just did not want to do, rather than the fun filled expressions you would expect to see on children's faces who were surrounded by a carousel. 

The icy white surrounds confirms this as the carousel looks more like an ice sculpture, a place of coldness; without emotion. The horses move up and down, ever so slightly, suggesting a slow and painful escape if one is to try. The models appear to be trapped in an alternative world, a place where they cannot escape. They eventually do escape and at the end of the clip, we see the designer come out in all his white glory, triumphant in his creation.

The music chosen was perfect in creating the eeriness of the show. It is by Islandic musician, Bjork, from her album titled Vespertine, released in 2001. I ended up doing a google search on the album and found it described as "creating a quiet, introverted world." The definition of the word vespertine is; 1. of, relating to, or occurring in the evening <vespertine shadows> 2. active, flowering, or flourishing in the evening. Flourishing at night. Hmm. These models were to look like the perfect image of feminine innocence but the music suggested they would 'flourish' at night creating a perfect contradiction to what the designer had intended with the look of his show. 

 
I came across these photos as I did my research and what I found intriguing was the long list of comments posted by people about the photographs. Below are some that I pulled out; 

Anonymous

October 7, 2011 at 2:55 am

I love the photography and the outfits, but what really makes it is the “it’s a merry go round, but whatever” expressions they show.

Kate
October 6, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Frothy, fantasy, pastels. The models have a little girl lost look about them (emphasized by the fact that most of them have little bruises and blemishes on their legs, possibly enhanced by the colors and lighting). The shoes are killer, though, and seem to act as a reminder that this is not a little girl’s world.

Bobb

October 7, 2011 at 2:20 pm

Wow, those vapid ladychildren on the plastic horses are creepy and gross…

If you do click on the photos link, you will see the bruises on the models mentioned in these comments. I find them an accidental addition that makes this performance all the more interesting.

Irregular Choice

“Recapture your freedom which eloped with your youth’’ Creator and Designer, Dan Sullivan

When I was in New York last month, I came across this shop while walking to dinner with a few friends in the East Village. We stood gazing through the window like stunned mullets for about five minutes as it was the most incredible shoe store any of us had come across. Fun, vibrant, bold and colourful. The image of this store definitely captured our inner child's imagination as we oohed and ahhed at the shoes that were more like kids toys then adults shoes.

The quote under the photo is by creator/designer Dan Sullivan of Irregular Choice. The store was very childlike, almost like a toy store. His quote made me think of how we do associate certain things to childhood, leaving them behind in our adult world whilst creating new associations that would not enter the mind of a child at all. 

The most interesting thing for me about this store was the carousel horse, perched up high on a golden pole in the center of the store, with a base covered in lush red velvet. It seemed to be a cross-over between the two worlds; childhood and adulthood. The universal symbol for childhood being the carousel is perched way up high, out of reach and completely unobtainable, whilst the lush red velvet round seating (where you would sit to try on the shoes) representing adulthood is on ground level and becomes a destination spot once in the store. This red velvet seating placed in the center of the store with a golden pole protruding up from it reminded me of pole dancing and sleazy strip clubs.

No matter how much we want to 'recapture' the youth of childhood, it seems as adults, with the experiences we have that is generally protected from childhood, this is not possible. A child would walk into this store and see it as a wonderland, wanting to grow up just to be able to fit into the shoes and walk around in them feeling the way they imagine they would as children. But as adults, we walk into this store, feeling nostalgia for our childhoods, but then are placed under a golden pole on lush red velvet, instigating our desire to be attractive to the opposite sex. Afterall, isn't that what adulthood is mostly about; attracting a mate?

This post comes quite timely as this morning I fiddled around with my hair, pulling out an old crimper from the eighties my friend had recently given me. The child within me just wanted to wear crimped hair today. Simple. Full and fun is the way my hair looks right now. Maybe ridiculous to some and really uncool to others. I had a moment of thinking I look like a complete mad woman and not sexy AT ALL. Can I actually leave the house looking like this right now? Will I be an eye sore to potential mates? Then the child in me said "Who cares?!?! This is FUN!" So here I am about to head out the door wearing crimped hair, crazy eye make up and an eighties dress. Yes I look silly, but I feel great and my inner child is happy too.

It is ironic that this shoe store, in the middle of the world's fashion capital, is telling us to 'recapture' our freedom which left us as children. As adults, this ideal becomes a life long struggle for some; to live without self-consciousness, to live with reckless abandonment and to be untouched by what others think...just like a child.