Preliminary Ideas...

When I was first given this project, I was instantly drawn to the tribal theme. I have always been fascinated by different tribal cultures and how they identify and express their groups and status’ differently through costume, colour and natural materials such as feathers, clay and shells. Essences of tribal fashions and culture have and continue to inspire art, fashion and architecture, as well as makeup, jewellery and hair styles. Examples of tribal culture affecting art and design include Picasso’s African period in 1906-09, in which African masks influenced his art, Alexander McQueen’s F/W 2000/01 show called Eshu, which took inspiration from the Yoruba people of West Africa and his A/W 1997-98 It’s a Jungle Out There, which saw McQueen create masterpieces influenced by the gazelle- an animal at the bottom of the food chain in Africa.

Alexander McQueen Eshu

 McQueen’s designs for Eshu incorporated metals, horsehair, beads, ripped leather and furs along with traditional looking African tribal masks.

“What I do is look at ancient African tribes and the way they dress. The rituals of how they dress... there’s a lot of tribalism in the collections”.

Purple Fashion, Issue 7, Summer 2007

Alexander McQueen It's a Jungle Out There

McQueen’s designs for It’s a Jungle Out There concentrated on the animals of Africa, particularly the gazelle. He created fashion pieces using pony skin, impala horns, brown leathers and crocodile heads.

The whole show feeling was about the Thomson’s gazelle. It’s a poor little critter- the markings are lovely, it’s got these dark eyes, the white and black with tan markings on the side, the horns- but it’s the food chain of Africa. As soon as it’s born it’s dead. I mean, you’re lucky if it lasts a few months, and that’s how I see human life, in the same way. You know, we can all be disregarded quite easily. You’re there, you’re gone, it’s a jungle out there!”

McQueen quoted in Fashion as the Edge: Spectacle, Modernity and Deathliness (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002)

Other designers who have been inspired by and incorporated tribal aspects into their fashion designs include Yves Saint Laurent (2002) Dries Van Noten (2010) and John Galliano for Dior (2007)

Yves Saint Laurent 

Dries Von Noten 

John Galliano for Dior

When comparing the different designers takes on expressing tribalism in their fashions, it is clear to see that come designers featured a lot more natural and raw materials to represent their ideas, such as Alexander McQueen, whereas the designs by Dries Von Noten integrate tribal colours and prints in everyday western attire. Favoured colours in the different tribal inspired collections include yellow, oranges and earthy brows, while beads and furs/ hairs and feathers are used. I would like to incorporate raw materials and traditional colours into my makeup and mask design.

References

Alexander McQueen Eshu

Image 1- Blog.metmuseum.org, (2015). [online] Available at: http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/images/McQ.1042a%E2%80%93e_mcq.1042.AV1.JPG [Accessed 8 Apr. 2015].

Image 2- Theredlist.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://theredlist.com/media/database/fashion2/history/1990/alexander_mcqueen/40-alexander_mcqueen_theredlist.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Image 3- Savagebeauty.alexandermcqueen.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://savagebeauty.alexandermcqueen.com/img/cabinet/03-chrismoore.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Alexander McQueen It's a Jungle Out There

Image 1- Theredlist.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://theredlist.com/media/database/fashion2/history/1990/alexander_mcqueen/56-alexander_mcqueen_theredlist.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Image 2- Theredlist.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://theredlist.com/media/database/fashion2/history/1990/alexander_mcqueen/9-alexander_mcqueen_theredlist.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Image 3- Blog.metmuseum.org, (2015). [online] Available at: http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/images/McQ.525a%E2%80%93c.L.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Yves Saint Laurent- Splendidhabitat.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.splendidhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/YSL-African-beaded-dresses.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Dries Von Noton- Humanhuman.net, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.humanhuman.net/wp-content/uploads/image/2010/10/Dries-Van-Noten.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Dior- Styleite.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.styleite.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/90gthumb.jpg [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].