Arrrgh! Monsters in Fashion

Arrrgh!  Monsters in Fashion exhibition at the Benaki Museum on Pireos Street.

In Greek, the word monster can also mean: the unusual, or object that causes surprise.

We had to pull two black curtains open, walk through a dark corridor and then enter through a hole in the plasterwork to get to the exhibition.

Mareunrol's Private detective collection, 2008

Wire fencing surrounds us all around, and there are rolls of wire on the floor

There is a wire cage with two manequins trapped inside (note the multiple lips, as well as the lip imprints on the floor)

Charlie Le Mindu, Kiss Freak, 2011

The whoke spectacle is totally overwhelming and great fun. We wandered around the manequins for hours, pointing, exclaiming, admiring. There were lots of people around, the look on children's faces was a real pleasure to see.

This is how the organisers of the exhibition introduce it:

"In contemporary fashion the human body is constantly mutated and transformed into an unknown, bizarre and many times monstrous figure. Designers and artists experiment, give shapes to textiles, forms and volumes and dress the human body by creating hybrid creatures with supernatural shapes, vibrant colours and surprising abstract elements. These experimental creations become parallel worlds proposing and bringing to surface different realities".

"In globalised society, the meaning of 'natural' beauty is questioned. What is attractive and desirable in one culture can be repulsive in another. If we go back to human history, in different cultures, as well as in the subcultures of today's society, we realise how impressively the human body is reinvented again and again in totally different ways; ways that have a strange, unnatural, outrageous and constantly unpredictable innovation. Here, fashion is not much about 'who I am' (the impression I make with what I wear) but 'what I experience' (the effects that this body and appearance have on my brain)".

Ne-Net/Kazuaki Takashima, Hero Nostalgia collection, 2009-2010


"What lies hidden behind a person or an identity? And what constitutes identity in a globalised, secularised society in which we see ourselves both as a citizen of the world and as a member of a local community? Besides our real lives we now also lead virtual, digital lives on the internet. And who do we become when we look within ourselves and give our fears and fantasies free rein? These are the issues and uncertainties addressed by designers and artists in the exhibition. Here, as viewers our imaginations are stimulated and doorways to imaginary worlds, full of fears and colouful fantasies are opened wide".

Andrea Cammarosano, Serenada por Neanderthal collection, 2007, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Andrea Ayala Closa Denominate a Space collection, 2007, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Andrea Ayala Closa, Denominate a Space collection, 2007, Royal Academy of Arts, Antwerp

Bronwen Marshall, Give me Back my Name, graduate collection, 2009 Royal College of Art, London

Rozalb De Mura, The Remains collection, 2010

Pierre-Antoine Vettorello, Bonnie Magnum vs Samantha Beretta collection, 2009, Royal Academy of Arts, Antwerp

Pierre-Antoine  Vettorello, Bonnie Magnum vs Samantha Beretta collection, 2009, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Mareunrol's, Nightmare collection, 2006

Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara, 'Monkey' , 2001

Issey Miyake, ' Flying Saucer', 1994 

Ara Jo, Whitemare, graduate collection, Central Saint Martins, London

Shin Murayama, Amadeus, 2010

and a different view

Luis Lopez-Smith, graduate collection, 2009, Royal College of Art, London, and Charlie Le Mindu

Bernhard Willhelm, Ghosts, 2003, Collection ModeMuseum, Antwerp, Belgium

Dr Noki's NHS, Dr's Noki Purple Reign, 2011

Hideki Seo, Swimming in the Garment, graduate collection, 2005, Royal Academy of Arts, Antwerp

Walter Van Beirendonck, Sexclown collection, 2008

 Walter Van Beirendonck, Stop Terrorising our World collection, 2006-07

Isabel Mastache-Martinez, The Soldiers collection, 2010

Ara Jo, Whitemare, 2009, graduate collection, Central Saint Martins, London



and a side view

Charlie Le Mindu, Girls of Paradise, 2010

   

Christophe Coppens, 'Hug', Cape, 2006

Isabel Mastache Martinez, Tin Soldiers collection, 2010

and a closer look, just in case you missed it!

Pyuupiru, Mercury/PLANETARIA, 2001

Unfortunately I did not record the name of the designer for this one,

but here is a closer look

Bernhard Willhelm, Ghosts, 2003, Collection ModeMuseum, Antwerp, Belgium

Kazuaki Takashima, Moyamoya collection, 2008-09

Maison Martin Margiela, 2009

Charlie Le Mandu.

We had such great fun!