By the appearance of a person, it is often not difficult to guess what he is in principle. In our time, when many trends in clothing, architecture, music, and even speech have mixed into one big mess, this, of course, is difficult to do, but ways of self-expression are not a problem for many. Women especially like to stand out from the general “gray” mass with the help of very extraordinary and eccentric outfits. It is for such ladies that avant-garde clothing exists.
What is avant-garde style
Distorted symmetry, bold use of geometric shapes, imitation of various materials, combinations of incongruous fabrics, colors and styles, eye-catching accessories, unusual hairstyles and, of course, strange shoes, at the sight of which a person of very refined tastes will wince and throw himself away away. Bright make-up or no face at all on the models, bold nudity or too strict and closed sheath dress, and in the literal sense of the word, as well as the painted face and headdresses of the mostunusual shapes. You can talk for a long time about what was on the world catwalks and what many fashion designers did in pursuit of fame, or you can just remember the famous singer Lady Gaga in the years when she was at the peak of her popularity and did not hesitate to go out in public in an outfit made of balloons, and it will immediately become clear what constitutes an avant-garde style of clothing.
Outfits in this style have absolutely no rules, except for one: be extraordinary enough to attract attention. But this does not mean at all that the shapeless and terrible patterns of mediocre fashion designers can become masterpieces in this genre! On the contrary, avant-garde style clothes sometimes require much more time and effort to create than the same classic style dresses. After all, in order to bring a drawn fad to life, you need to come up with a whole design so that it holds the desired shape and looks exactly the way the fashion designer intended it.
Despite the fact that the "avant-garde" style in clothes seems outrageous and too expressive, in everyday life you can meet its manifestations: a thing made in a certain style from materials unusual for it already claims to be avant-garde. In the fashion world, to release a model without makeup on the catwalk is also a kind of “avant-garde”, as connoisseurs like to joke.
History of occurrence
In order to understand how the avant-garde style came about, you need to plunge into history and remember everything we know about Japan. So: the 20s of the XX century. Japan, which has beenisolated from the outside world, became a liberal country due to the change of the emperor, and the Japanese people, who had never seen European attire before, laughed at this manner of dressing. Japanese fashion designers, in turn, began to make outfits of very unusual shapes, wanting to "parody" these strange people and capture them in their memory. Naturally, they made patterns based on their own ideas, since they simply did not have knowledge of how exactly Europeans sew their own clothes. They tried to distort clothes by any means, but instead of hatred, restrained and cultured Europeans appreciated such a sense of humor and later even adopted the idea of breaking all the stereotypes of wearing this or that thing.
On the pages of European fashion, the avant-garde style of clothing appeared a little later - in the 60s, when the idea of this genre was finally formed, and Pierre Cardin released the first collection in this style. And he did it in honor of the launch of the first artificial satellite of the Earth. Cardin's models were dressed in bizarre, glittery "cosmic" outfits, symbolizing aliens.
Joke with fashion and break all stereotypes, challenging traditional ideas about patterns, styles and color combinations, many other designers adopted the style, creating unusual outfits.
Style symbols
The word "avant-garde" itself, although from a military theme, but quite accurately describes the main task of this style: to break all stereotypes, "break through" the enemy's defenses, in this case, conservatism, and formpeople have new views on wearing clothes in general. Avant-garde - style, accessories, shoes and hairstyles that can be even stranger than the clothes themselves. This is a style created to embody the most daring fantasies. This is innovation, eccentricity, an open challenge.
Main distinguishing features of the avant-garde
So, here are a few criteria that make avant-garde clothing immediately catch your eye:
- using any material to make clothes;
- creating unusual styles and patterns;
- bold color combination;
- use of geometric shapes;
- complete asymmetry in clothes;
- imitation of various natural materials;
- contrast;
- big, catchy, bright accessories;
- fancy hats;
- complex textures.
Often, on the catwalks under the name of world-famous brands, models dressed in outfits sewn not from fabric at all, but, for example, from paper, plastic, metal or foil … All this is an avant-garde clothing style, the features of which are sometimes accepted very difficult, and for people who are far from fashion, the desire of designers to stand out with the help of such outfits is sometimes completely incomprehensible. However, the avant-garde style nevertheless became very famous and widespread, and over time it even developed its own directions.
Conceptualism, or avant-garde classics
Stunning, mesmerizing and guiding fashion history intothe channel of madness, conceptualism in the avant-garde is found only in two places: either on the podium, or on celebrities who are shocking from birth. A borderless style that gives freedom of expression to many designers.
Famous clothing brands in this direction are clothes from Pierre Cardin, the founder of this style, as well as Vivienne Westwood, Gareth Pugh, Kenzo and others.
Deconstructivism as a new look at clothes
Even the craziest designers can't outdo the Japanese in terms of creating something unusual and truly mind-blowing. Lay out the clothes into elements, pull the seams out, stick the fasteners where it would seem that they do not belong at all, create a swimsuit in the form of a jacket or a dress that is actually classic pants - easily! Deconstructivism, the essence of which is to create clothes from its own components, allows you to experiment with the very concept of “being dressed”. Japanese designers prefer to destroy all foundations regarding the combination of shapes, types of fabrics, cut and even the way of sewing clothes. Perhaps even Cardin with his ingenious ability to create perfect geometry in clothes can envy such a flight of fancy.
The brightest representatives of this trend are Yoji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyaki and others.
Avant-garde minimalism in everyday life
If the first two directions give the impression that avant-garde clothing is categorically not suitable for everyday wear, then the third directionmaybe change your mind.
Minimalism itself is expressed in the restraint of lines, uniformity, in a simple cut of the fabric, but at the same time, such clothes catch the eye because of their shape alone. Now slanted jackets, dresses with geometric cutouts or skirts that combine two completely different types of fabric are in fashion, but this is also a kind of avant-garde that is pleasant and fun to wear.
And now, already looking through some collections of Gareth Pugh, Kenzo, Yves Saint Laurent and even the late works of Pierre Cardin, even not the most avid fashionistas catch themselves thinking that it is quite possible to wear it, and it looks chic.
Hairstyles, accessories and shoes
The second most outrageous avant-garde style is shoes. The outfit itself can be discreet, but high heels in the form of a column, a block of ice, a simple metal bar can make this look completely crazy.
The same goes for accessories: rings, bracelets and beads can imitate anything, the main thing is not to stand out from the image as a whole. Hairstyles are determined by the same criteria: the more unusual the shape, the better. At the same time, you can often paint something on your face or paint your eyebrows and eyelashes in an unusual color.
But pilot glasses or round-shaped glasses are popular in all directions, since such glasses fit almost all styles of clothing - from avant-garde to classic, which designers love. However, although the shape of the glasses remains the same, nothing prevents you from experimenting with the frame.
Shine
Having learned about this direction in clothes, many put a bold cross on it and swear never to wear something of this kind. Nevertheless, in the closet of each of us there are things that, thanks to the color, unusual cut or type of fabric, are the embodiment of this "terrible" phrase - avant-garde style. The art of being noticed is not only based on outrageousness, it can also be expressed in the modest use of straight lines. So you can reconsider your views on this direction and look through the collections of the brands Comme des Garcons, Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, who are trying to make this style understandable for all people who find the courage to stand out.
