The Muse: Inspiration Behind the Design

Designers find inspiration for their collections from a number of different things. A beautiful landscape, a color that grabs their attention or a strong emotion can all ignite spurs of creativity. Most commonly, however, designers are inspired by the people surrounding them, often a specific person, sometimes referred to as a muse. According to Suzy Menkes, highly acclaimed fashion writer and editor, a muse is “one of the [fashion] industry’s least understood, most controversial but seemingly essential roles.” Designers have long been inspired by certain stylish friends of high class stature, but the air of aristocracy surrounding the role of the muse makes one wonder if this role will fade away with an increasingly modern and more practical world.

Today the term muse is used too broadly; so many people are not exactly sure what the term implies. According to Lady Amanda Harlech (seen below with designer Karl Lagerfield), a former editor who married into aristocracy and is probably the most well known muse in the fashion world, “There is a need of some figure in the highly sophisticated image-making houses: something romantic and ephemeral, a link with the old way of creating that is rapidly disappearing.” In this sense of the word, this woman must come from tremendous wealth or often royalty in order to afford couture clothes that emit the level of elegance and romance that is required of a muse. Often confused with fashion icons, there is a significant distinction. A fashion icon develops when there is a public obsession with stylish woman such as Jackie Onasses, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana, while a fashion muse works directly with a designer, ideally serving as a constant source of influence. Since many designers are men they often design their clothing with one particular woman in mind, to use as a form of reference for the shape of their clothing and to receive feedback from. Male designers, who are most likely gay, may have great vision, but they need to make sure that their ideas are something that a real girl can relate to and wear.

Originally referring to Greek goddesses, like the one featured to the right, in classical mythology, the role of the muse seems to be shifting from that of a passive idol to a more active participant. Today’s muse has a much higher level of interaction with the designers and can contribute to a designer’s vision in various ways. Sometimes they suggest ideas, or shop for intriguing pieces; sometimes it is as simple as portraying themselves in captivating ways. Amanda Harlech, former muse to John Galliano, would change clothes as many as six times a day to constantly evoke new ideas and new inventions. Muses today often work along side the designer, and act as a stylist or creative advisor. The designer-muse relationship is mysterious and complicated, which often makes it controversial. Although the designers are usually gay, according to Alexander McQueen’s former muse, Isabella Blow, “the deep friendship can often get quite sexual; it does have a romance.” The graphics below demonstrate how Isabella's style influenced McQueen's designs. Because they are working so close together a designer often becomes infatuated with their muse, worshiping everything she does, so needless to say a break-up between the two is almost like a divorce. The position of a muse used to be more of an unspoken relationship, yet now the job often receives a high level of recognition and even a salary in some cases.

Like the Greek goddesses that preceded them, today’s muse have a certain untouchable quality, which makes them both intriguing yet difficult to relate to. A designer not only wants their creations to be beautiful, but also sellable and wearable. Simon Doonan, creative director at Barney’s New York, has a more practical opinion about what a muse should emulate. He feels that a “democratization of the muse” is needed, or in other words that designers could create styles for a wider range of people if they based their designs off figures that the public could better identify with. The figure must still be a public spectacle, however, perhaps not so aristocratic. Celebrities, in Doonan’s opinion, are easier for the public to relate to because they are a constant media spectable. There is no doubt that the muse serves an important element in the world of fashion design, for inspiration is the key element to any successful collection, however the role she plays is in a transitional state and it is difficult to determine what the muse of the future will be like.

Los Angeles Fashion Week: One of a Kind Style

Los Angeles is the only place where UGG boots, paired with a mini skirt, was once considered a fashion statement. Although L.A. often gets a bad reputation for its casual, anything-goes style, it is that exact approach to fashion that designers are starting to be inspired by. Los Angeles Fashion Week, a relatively new event, started in 2002, and faces the challenges of the city’s sprawling, de-centralized layout and heavy traffic problems. Currently the runway shows are being held at the Smashbox Studios in Culver City, which many say is too far away from the heart of Los Angeles. Project Runway winner, designer Jeffery Sebelia, believes the shows should be moved downtown because, "People want to see fashion as art, and there's no glamour in sitting underneath a tent. Downtown, you have wonderful architecture around you." Critics also blame the party image and limited range of designers for the shortcomings of this Fashion Week. Although New York is still the ultimate destination for designers to launch their collections, Los Angeles is gaining credibility because of the media coverage the local celebrities bring, and is proving itself to be an up and coming fashion force.

Los Angeles has a few advantages that no other cities have—the most important being the star factor, or the presence and influence of celebrities. Award shows, like the Oscars, which are as much about fashion as they are about awards, bring glamour to the city. By wearing a certain dress, celebrities not only increase the designer’s sales but they can set general style trends across the country. When describing the impact of getting one’s design worn to the Academy Awards, Fashion designer Paula Hian says, “I don’t know how to put it in dollar terms, but it seems to have immeasurable value in the branding of your name.” L.A. Fashion Week has the potential to draw in an audience of regionally located stars, who have the power to make a no name designer into a superstar. It is also astonishingly cheaper to show in Los Angeles versus New York. Showcasing a line at Bryant Park can cost about $46,000 for a tent, whereas a main tent in L.A. can be purchased for only $8,000. The low cost and high media coverage makes Los Angeles an attractive way for a designer to create a lot of buzz around their name.

One of the main weaknesses of L.A. Fashion Week is the lack of big-name designers. Los Angeles Times writer Emile Vesilind explains, “Since L.A. Fashion Week's 2002 inception, its shows have failed to lure big-shot retail buyers or the global fashion media. And in turn, they've failed to anchor the city's talent. More established local designers…have chosen to stage presentations in New York, where the industry's heavy-hitters are seated ringside." Recently, however, increased effort has gone into recruiting notable designers. This year, a public relations consultant was hired full time to do whatever it takes to bring in the best names possible, and IMG Fashion vice president Fern Mallis believes, "[This is] the best lineup in years.” Still, there is no big brand designer names coming out of Los Angeles, and the only way to create name recognition is for the media to focus on the designers and not just the clothes. When Los Angeles starts to be associated with more noted designers, the city will begin to be thought of as a more legitimate fashion destination.


Los Angeles still may not be on par with the ultra-chic New York, but the success of fashion week this year can be attributed to designers finally capturing the local spirit and not trying to be something that it is not. L.A. street style might not be high fashion but it is fun, eclectic and completely unique, and this year designers celebrated this style instead of fighting against it. The Petro Zillia show (seen below), which finished off Fashion Week, was a perfectly fitting finale that embodied the attitude of L.A. Designer Nony Tochterman (pictured right with Paris Hilton) explains her motivation behind the spring collection, saying, "This season is all inspired by the L.A. girl, the fearless girl into fashion.” The show featured a bright collection of spirited gowns, with none other than Paris Hilton, the notorious Los Angeles party girl, walking the runway. Although Tocherman used to believe New York was the only place that could feed her creativity, she now says of L.A., “The mentality, the culture, is all changing. The fashion and culture is so inspiring here." She is not the only designer to thrive off Los Angeles style. Also in line with the Hollywood spirit, JC Obando presented each guest to the show with a “screenplay” describing his inspiration. Jeremy Scott’s collection (see left) was perfectly complemented by the “car culture” of L.A., as his urban designs alluded to construction sites and “waste and back alleys,” or the not-so-glamorous aspects of the city. His models strutted the runway with skid marks and road signs; Scott explains, “I wanted to take all these elements that are brute and dirty and nasty and turn them into something beautiful and elegant.” Scott, who is established enough to show in New York and Paris, hopes that his support of L.A. will help it reach its full fashion potential.

There is something alluring about Los Angeles that designers are starting to notice. The people of the city may not follow the traditional rules of fashion, but that rebellious spirit is what is so appealing about L.A. The city has a lot to offer the fashion world and with things continuing in the direction they are heading, Los Angeles Fashion Week may some day be a force for New York to reckon with.

Haute Couture: Preserving the Art in Fashion Design

In today’s marketplace, where designers are creating mass produced lines accessible for the average consumer, haute couture is the one place where high fashion exists in its truest sense. Although beaded gowns are no longer the expected evening attire for high-class women, and a casual dress style is now more popular than ever, couture lines still remain in runway shows across the globe. Haute couture, originating in Paris, literally translates to mean “high fashion” and can refer to both the garments themselves and to the fashion houses that create them. Couture is the most expensive and most intricate clothing on the planet, as you can see from the detail in the gown on the left; the garments are custom-made and hand sewn with the utmost level of detail and care, requiring one hundred to four hundred hours for their assembly. The price of these custom fit gowns can range from $25 thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the most expensive couture gown (see below), worn by Samantha Mumba to the Spiderman II premiere, is a diamond-encrusted dress worth $9 million. Such outrageous prices and over-the-top designs make it no surprise that only 3,000 women in the world can afford to buy these clothes and only about 1,000 regularly purchase couture. With the high cost of production and low number of sales, it is understandable that haute couture is not a money-making business—profits account for less than 10% of a designers revenue and often come out as a net loss—so why does it continue? Lavish designs are an integral part of historic and modern fashion, and although these extraordinary fashion shows may not sell clothes they sell the dream of the unobtainable.

Major design houses rely on couture lines to add to the exclusiveness of their brands. Despite the cost and the difficult process of obtaining one of these elite designs, it is precisely this exclusivity that makes them so appealing. For fashinistas who can afford couture, it is a way of demonstrating they are serious about fashion, and owning one of these gowns makes a person an immediate trendsetter. Joan DeJean, author of The Essence of Style, a book about how the French invented high fashion, believes “It's a thrill to own a dress that will spawn a thousand copies.” The difficulty of purchasing couture, however, extends even further than the monetary limits. Even though the fashion houses need the business, purchasing couture is an invite-only process. Cason Thrash, an avid collector of couture, explains, “couture is almost like a private club…its not easy at first to get your invitations or to get to know the directresses of the houses.” Versace Atelier no longer even shows the haute couture line during fashion week; they now unveil these designs by invitation and appointment only. The process of purchasing one of these gowns, reserved for the most privileged of customers, can be seen in this video link on the Forbes website.

Although couture may not earn revenue directly, having one of these lines adds value to a designer’s name. The exclusiveness of the haute couture label carries over into other more affordable products, which consumers desire because of the elite brand name attached. For most design houses, 75% of profits come from cosmetics and perfumes, and ready-to wear lines, which refer to clothes that are still expensive but cheaper and more wearable than couture, account for most of the other 25%. Thus a consumer might not buy a dress that is more expensive than most cars, but they might purchase the brand’s other products because they see it as a high-end, luxury label.

Haute couture is not about practicality or selling a garment, it is about showcasing a designer’s most creative, most inspiring work. It is about innovation and designing something that has never been seen before; there are no rules when it comes to creating couture. Thrash explains what is so fascinating about this high level of fashion; she says, she loves couture because it is “the pinnacle of fashion. You see the collective, creative juices in their finest moment going down the runway.” It is an exciting sight for anyone who loves fashion and wants to witness creativity in the highest degree. Couture may not be practical, and it may not fit in with today’s "street-style"—it may not really fit anywhere, but design is a form of art, and with art, there does not need to be a higher purpose than to intrigue the senses. As seen in the images to the left in the Christian Lacroix fall 2007 line, couture is largely about fantasy. Alex Monsanto, who owns his own design studio in Los Angeles, fell in love with couture at the age of fifteen and explains why it is here to stay. He says, “ It is art, the essence and the key of creativity. Haute Couture will probably not bring about any great change in the life of most women, but it has something to offer society in general. If you take away the spirit of creativity just because it doesn’t fit the times, then nothing can be created.” Couture often defines a designer’s essence and displays the extremes of his style. It is what happens when boundaries and restrictions are removed and a designer has absolute free reign over his creation.

The rise of the celebrity stylist: Does Anyone Dress Themselves Anymore?

Style is an abstract, objective term that is constantly being disputed and redefined. Who determines what is “in fashion” and what is “out?” Celebrities are looked up to for fashion trends; however, their look is often created by someone else. Today, more than ever, the rich and famous rely on a stylist to dress them in a way that portrays a certain image—an image of effortless, individual style that is entirely crafted and not at all their own.

The emersion and increasing prominence of stylists can be attributed to several factors: the most significant being the rise of the red carpet affair. Oscar night used to be about honoring an entertainer’s achievement, but in the mid-1990's, as the media became more interested in fashion, the focal point of award shows seems to have changed. Hadley Freeman, a features writer for The Guardian, discusses the shift of focus from “best actor” to “best dressed” and notes how stylists have taken over the red carpet. Designers have recently recognized the power of the red carpet to act as a nationally televised runway show for their clothes. The glamour of the red carpet added to the allure of all the clothes that came down it, making the items instantly desired by people around the globe. The power of the Oscars can make a no-name designer into a global powerhouse virtually overnight. Just look at the 1995 example of what was, at the time,an obscure little label called Prada; Uma Thurman walked the red carpet in an light blue gown, see right, and helped turn Prada into a world recognized brand. Celebrities equally benefit from TV and magazine exposure they receive for being fabulously dressed. So in this symbiotic relationship between designer and celebrity, the stylists job is to act as a liaison between the two: with the responsibility of making their client look good, and with the power of making a designer's dress seen across the country.

The stylist’s job of dressing celebrities part-time during award season has expanded into a business where stylists are now called upon daily, and are sometimes considered as essential as an agent or publicist. This is partly due to columns such as “Who wore it best,” which compares celebrities wearing the same outfit only to vote on who looked best, and “What were they thinking” which makes a mockery of stars who were photographed in unfortunate outfit. Articles like these tabloid regulars feed the pressure for those in the spotlight to appear perfectly put together at all times.

Having a personal stylist makes maintaining a constantly chic image more obtainable. There are even examples of celebrities who’s entire fame is based off the images their stylists created for them. Rachel Zoe, pictured left, is by far the most famous stylist in Hollywood today, credited with making Nicole Richie famous by turning her into a fashion icon. Of Richie, Zoe says, “Nicole is now what people refer to as the big thing that happened...Nicole was about creating a look. Because of her fashion sense, which was really my fashion sense, she became famous. It was a huge moment: Nicole became a style icon without being a star.” Zoe’s signature style, Seen Left, was replicated on all of her other tabloid-friendly clients such Lindsay Lohan, Micha Barton, Keira Knightley and Kate Beckinsale, and an entire new fashion fad was born.

Stylists are extremely influential in the fashion industry; not only do young women across the States and the UK copy the looks of celebrities, but new collections reflect the trends set by stylists. Designers are even asking for Zoe’s help with their new collections.

What does this say about our perception of style? Are we all just being influenced by a few significant players in the fashion industry? We have always looked up to fashion icons for inspiration and admired their personal style. It is highly agreed upon that one of the most noted style icon’s in film history is Audrey Hepburn, below, and what made her so respected is the fact that she disregarded seasonal trends and remained true to her personal style of elegance and simplicity. This type of unique, individual style no longer exists. When stylists create a look, it becomes a formulaic style that is merely replicated on different celebrities, resulting in everyone looking the same. Fiona McIntosh, columnist for Grazia fashion magazine points out the irony in this, saying, “People look at celebrities who look good and they become fashion icons, whereas they look at models and think they just wear what they are told.” How is a runway model different from a celebrity? Stylists create a look on their clients, just as designers on their models. The fashion icon becomes a facade: celebrities do not even need to have any fashion sense to become one. All they need to know how to do is smile, look good, and hopefully find a way to end up in the tabloids.