“Marianne (brunette)” by Beatrice Brandini
I have already spoken extensively about how art and cinema influence fashion. But I still hadn’t dedicated a post to another very important world that has always contaminated fashion (and not vice versa) with surprising effects. This world is that of music.
Cher and Gianni Versace
Let’s think what the universe would have been like without having met and admired Elvis, David, Freddy, Elton, Prince….? First of all, it would have been deprived of the masterpieces that these artists were able to give us and that have always accompanied our lives and forever. Then surely it would have been a more boring world, also for their way of dressing, and therefore for fashion.
David Bowie and Jean Paul Gaultier
David Bowie and Givenchy
Much of our way of dressing was influenced by music, had it not been for the great pop stars, the more intimate songwriters. rappers, surely we would have dressed differently, and, above all, we would not have known certain styles, certain eccentricities, which have entered the collective imagination by right and which, often, have been welcomed in offices, schools, on the streets of the whole world.
Elton John and Gucci
Elton John and Gucci
Think of the visible lingerie that a certain Madonna cleared through customs in the early nineties, the leather jacket worn daily as Lou Reed did, the dark glasses of Bob Dylan, the flared trousers with embroidered jackets and a little cowboy by Elvis …, in short, clothes that we loved and wore, according to the epochs of belonging, and that have certainly changed the way we approach others and life.
Jimy Hendrix and Gucci
Mick Jagger and Miu Miu
If we look further back, it was the music, or mainly it, that uninhibited the tailoring, that elegance even a little too classic, characterized by jackets and suits, grisaille or tweed suits, school uniforms … does it look more like this? Who was the architect of all this? Benefactor or guilty, depending on your point of view, it was MUSIC.
Prince – Prada and Christian Siriano
Prince and Alexandre Vauthier
Michael Jackson a bit punk and a bit baroque, the Sex Pistols, with deviant attitudes and dirty clothes, the Wham! they celebrate the hedonism of the eighties, in which men were no longer ashamed to use self-tanners, to oxygenate their hair. Jimmy Hendrix with his Navajo jewels and psychedelic paisley scarves. And again Nirvana, who invented the grunge style; the rappers, among all, chronologically, Tupac, with their heavy and flashy gold necklaces, designer clothes as evidence of social redemption.
Madonna and Jean Paul Gaultier
Kurt Cobain – Junya Watanabe and Comme des Garçon
Therefore, just like fashion, musicians who stop dressing as students at the high school prom, adopting sharp and individual styles, are noticed and carry a message, even before they start singing / playing.
Aries and Tupac – Balenciaga
Nelly, Eminem and Nas – Walter Van Beirendonck
After all, music makes you dream, fall in love, but it is also a hymn of protest, sometimes the bearer of very powerful social or cultural messages. John Lennon started with the Beatles, eventually becoming Lennon. Carnaby street suits gave way to military uniforms (pacifism and opposition to the Vietnam War) or even nudity, as a universal protest.
And I wonder, if the Mäneskin, however very talented, didn’t show off those looks, would they still be on the covers of half the world? Perhaps once again the dress does not make the monk … but it helps!
Good life to everyone!
Beatrice