The Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Germany is a exhibitions venue devoted to art, culture and science. The Bundeskunsthalle also holds a performing arts programme with guest performances and in-house productions. The karl Lagerfeld exhibition titled “Modemethode” will look back at Lagerfeld's six-decade career in fashion which includes designing for powerhouses Chanel, Fendi and Chloé. The name ‘Modemethode’ represents Karl Lagerfeld’s ‘fashion method’ (www.bundeskunsthalle.de) from initial sketches to fashion shows to window displays. The exhibition took place on March 28 until September 13, 2015 before Lagerfeld passed.
From 1955 when Lagerfeld's career began his creations have consistently demonstrated his extraordinary feel for the ‘now' (www.bundeskunsthalle.de). Right from the start of his career, the designer has worked for luxury houses such as Balmain, Patou, Fendi, Chloé, Karl Lagerfeld and he was creative director and chief designer of Chanel since 1983.
The exhibition set successfully celebrates Karl Lagerfeld and allows viewers to feel closer to the designer creating a unique experience. This is created by the lightbox drawing desk that has been transported from Paris. Re-created as though Lagerfeld had just stood up from a sketching session. Pastels and papers flood the table where the exhibition begins emphasising and brining Lagerfeld's 'fashion method' to life. It represents the start of a collection which creates a journey through the exhibition - initial sketches to seeing the finished garments throughout the exhibition.
The Haut Couture pieces are displayed in a 'fairy tale' esc set ; paper garlands hanging from the ceiling down to the flow creates a mystical arch way complimenting the couture pieces. This is successful as the paper crafts amorphous lines and biomorphic shapes mimics flowers which link to themes of femininity and like the white rose the of white subjective hue petal like paper craft symbolises emotions of innocence and purity which represents couture originating from 1858 which represents how women wear favoured modest and feminine dressing. However, in my opinion the garlands do slightly distract from the couture pieces on display. Paper craft is something i could experiment with future in textiles as it allows you to create precise and structured shapes. I could also experiment with creating garments using paper crafts.
The fashion sketches on the wall are successful as they celebrates Lagerfeld's role as a designer. The layering and lack of organisation of the placement of the sketches posits the creativity and pressure behind Lagerfeld's work. The models at the side are particularly eye catching due to the bright, bold blue hues and shimmering yellow gold hue. The extremely back combed pastel wigs decorated with black embellished flowers successfully frames the designs and the toned down shades of pink and blue doesn't distract from the exaggerated garments. The model to the right wears a yellow gold hue top with exaggerated blue and white flowers lining the hem of the top. The bubble hemline of the top is effective as it's embroidered with a range of patterns working together in harmony to form a coherent whole due the use of a minimal colour palette. The developments of patterns using fabric and embroidery is something i can use in my own work looking at using stitching to create mark making in a continuous pattern as well as experimenting with creating three dimensional embellishments like the blue and white flowers.
Overall i feel like this exhibition celebrates Lagerfeld's life long tribute to the fashion industry. The range of couture to work from Lagerfeld's ready to wear collections are presented showing Lagerfeld's design process which links to the whole meaning of the exhibition it's self- celebrating the 'fashion method'.
My Response -
Inspired by the couture set design i experimented creating a paper art outcome. Using wire and paper i created the structured of the sleeve measuring a band for the shoulder, elbow and wrist and then threaded watercolored paper flowers along pieces of wire measured to fit the length of the arm. This outcome is successful however next time i will create more paper flowers to fill the sleeve to create a busier appearance similar to the set in this exhibition.
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