Beyoncé as “Sacha Fierce” in a design by Thierry Mugler
through the brand of the fashion house and vice-versa. Fashion and music are unique bedfellows in this way. In this ever changing music scene, where an artist’s relevance is viewed as social stock, with the ability to fall or rise based on the simplest of changes, the timeless power of fashion collaboration allows the artists as conceptual images to live on forever.
Madonna’s, just as many would pinpoint Beyoncé’s sudden Mugler collaboration as a play to fit into Gaga’s “hyper-pop” model. All of these speak to one another, and speak about each other, and all point out a different trend that goes beyond copycat syndrome. Essentially, what has happened is a complete redefinition of how we view the pop star’s tie to surrounding creative industries and their mutually beneficial collaborations with designers.
The clock ticks faster, and the audience’s patience runs thin; redefinition becomes paramount not because it exercises free creative license, but because it reinvigorates interest. Rihanna’s album-by-album evolution is not just an extension of an eclectic personality or a constant mutation of taste and styles—it’s the notion of expanding an artist’s reach, always maintaining a finger on what it designates as the pulse.
Beyoncé pushes the envelope of her fashion collaborations in 2013 even further with her choice of young, fashion-forward designer Asher Levine for her forthcoming Mrs. Carter tour. The Untitled Magazine was invited to preview the collection in production at Levine’s Tribeca atelier where he works off an exact-replica clay mould of Beyoncé’s body. Each silicone-and-leather piece is handmade uniquely to the form of her exact figure. The 25-yearold Levine — with seven seasons already under his belt – has been hailed as the “next McQueen”. He has previously collaborated on several occasions with Lady Gaga over the past few years, most notably for her “Marry the Night” music video. His resume of music collaborations is nothing less than impressive – including designing for the Black Eyed Peas, Bruno Mars, Scissor Sisters, La Roux and Peaches. This year’s partnership with Beyoncé will certainly take him to the next level of his career.
As music exists now, collaboration benefits everyone and every industry involved. YouTube star-turned-rap-star Azealia Banks filmed a series of video clips for Christopher Kane, which led to a gig performing at Fashion Week, which lead to Alexander Wang declaring Banks as his new muse. So it goes, up a ladder that pushes stars closer to all encompassing media messiahs. No longer satisfied with being labelled singers, they become designers, actors, fragrance aficionados. And then they are pushed, beyond the frontlines, far past our eye-line, into the ether of pop culture, where more and more things are sent in shorter amounts of time. Yet their image maintains. Their silhouettes, their songs, their clothing—it all persists far beyond them. Madonna becomes the cone bra. Beyoncé becomes the bodysuit. And music becomes much more than something we listen to.
For the artist, it helps establish an image that lasts far beyond what may prove to be a mere second in the spotlight. As is the case in post-modern pop culture, the image becomes the dominant contribution to the culture-at-large, more so than any true creation, sonic or otherwise. Now, more than ever, artistic license is given as a way of establishing an immediate and identifiable artistic identity. This is a way of making an artist profitable, but it also establishes a wise symbiotic relationship in which a performer is identified both
Article by Rod Bastanmehr
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