Experimental Fashion: Performance Art, Carnival and the Grotesque Body (Dress Cultures)

List of illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Against power dressing: Georgina Godley -- Fashioning the maternal body: Rei Kawakubo -- Performing pregnancy: Leigh Bowery -- Deconstruction and the grotesque: Martin Margiela -- Carnivalised time: Martin Margiela -- Carnival iconography: Bernhard Willhelm -- The proliferation of the grotesque: Lady Gaga -- Interview with Nicola Bowery -- Interview with Georgina Godley -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Filmography -- Index.;Experimental Fashion traces the proliferation of the grotesque and carnivalesque within contemporary fashion and the close relation between fashion and performance art, from Lady Gaga's raw meat dress to Leigh Bowery's performance style. The book examines the designers and performance artists at the turn of the twenty-first century whose work challenges established codes of what represents the fashionable body. These innovative people, the book argues, make their challenges through dynamic strategies of parody, humour and inversion. It explores the experimental work of modern designers such as Georgina Godley, Bernhard Willhelm, Rei Kawakubo and fashion designer, performance artist, and club figure Leigh Bowery. It also discusses the increased centrality of experimental fashion through the pop phenomenon, Lady Gaga. Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Dedication Table of contents List of figures Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Against Power Dressing The maternal and the grotesque Georgina Godley’s background Body-altering garments Corporate coding 2 Fashioning the Maternal Body Kawakubo and Merce Cunningham’s Scenario 1997 Kawakubo, Cunningham and the ‘uncanny maternal’ 3 Performing Pregnancy Leigh Bowery’s background Pregnant looks Birth performances Bowery and 1980s fashion 4 Deconstruction and the Grotesque Journalistic reception Fashion of inversion Playing with scale: giants and dolls Giants: the oversized collections Dolls: the magnified collections Farcical discrepancy 5 Carnivalised Time Margiela’s work and alternative temporalities ‘Theatre Costumes’ collection: spring/summer 1993 ‘Tromp-l’oeil’ collection: spring/summer 1996 Performing garments: Martin Margiela’s Rotterdam exhibition 6 Carnival Iconography Carnival iconography Carnivalesque practices Absurd Humour and horror Debasement 7 The Proliferation of the Grotesque Lady Gaga and experimental fashion Lady Gaga and fat drag Fashion, performance and performativity Fashioning the grotesque Appendix Interview with Nicola Bowery Interview with Georgina Godley Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Against Power Dressing: Georgina Godley Chapter 2 Fashioning the Maternal Body: Rei Kawakubo Chapter 3 Performing Pregnancy: Leigh Bowery Chapter 4 Deconstruction and the Grotesque: Martin Margiela Chapter 5 Carnivalised Time: Martin Margiela Chapter 6 Carnival Iconography: Bernhard Willhelm Chapter 7 The Proliferation of the Grotesque: Lady Gaga Bibliography Books and Articles Filmography Index Shortlisted for the Costume Society of America Millia Davenport Publication Award Experimental Fashion traces the proliferation of the grotesque and carnivalesque within contemporary fashion and the close relation between fashion and performance art, from Lady Gaga's raw meat dress to Leigh Bowery's performance style. Francesca Granata examines the designers and performance artists at the turn of the twenty-first century whose work challenges established codes of what represents the fashionable body. These innovative people, she argues, make their challenges through dynamic strategies of parody, humor, and inversion. Experimental Fashion explores the experimental work of modern designers, such as Georgina Godley, Bernhard Willhelm, Rei Kawakubo, and fashion designer, performance artist, and club figure, Leigh Bowery. It also discusses the increased centrality of experimental fashion through the pop phenomenon, Lady Gaga. Shortlisted for the Millia Davenport Publication Award Experimental Fashion traces the proliferation of the grotesque and carnivalesque within contemporary fashion and the close relation between fashion and performance art, from Lady Gaga's raw meat dress to Leigh Bowery's performance style. The book examines the designers and performance artists at the turn of the twenty-first century whose work challenges established codes of what represents the fashionable body. These innovative people, the book argues, make their challenges through dynamic strategies of parody, humour and inversion. It explores the experimental work of modern designers such as Georgina Godley, Bernhard Willhelm, Rei Kawakubo and fashion designer, performance artist, and club figure Leigh Bowery. It also discusses the increased centrality of experimental fashion through the pop phenomenon, Lady Gaga.