Image 1. Martin Margiela's Spring/Summer 1990 collection in Paris | Photo: Jean-Claude Couta1usse
It is a photo that taken by Jean-Claude Coutausse in Martin Margiela's Spring/Summer 1990 Show. It is a legendary show. It's the first time that Margiela reverses the direction of the fashion system criteria (restricted, exclusivist, self-referential) towards a new research aesthetics of beauty and expression. (Wait Fashion, 2020)
The main subject for this photo is a model walking with her eyes on the road and some kids and people sitting on the floor and chairs. The color of the picture is black and white. I believe it is because the photographer wanted to create this feeling of chaos in an order. If the picture was taken in a more colored way, it would be too chaos for audience to catch the main subject: the model.
The location is on a derelict playground in the outskirts of Paris. Prior to him, Paris Fashion Week shows were held in tents, specially constructed for the event, in front of the beloved Parisian symbol of exclusivity, the Musée du Louvre. In contrast, Martin Margiela chose to set his catwalks in unlikely locations: suburbs, countrysides, and underground spaces where he could expose the audience to a more raw and genuine side of life. (Wait Fashion, 2020) The composition is the audience, and the kids are surrounded the model and the way she was walking.
The camara angle is high, so we could get a bird side view of the show space and the reaction of the audience. Also the high camera angle separate the picture in three sections. The first section is mainly the kids, providing this feeling of chaos. The second section is the model walking on a usual "stage" with special garments to emphasis it is a runway show. The third section is the crowd with mainly adult audience, there is a photographer in the middle of that section, they are comparatively silence to the kids in the first section. I believe the purpose from the photographer for choosing this camera angle is to emphasis the different reaction from different group of people I would say that the lighting is high key. The photographer was trying to capture this sense of passion from the audience. There is apparently no language on this picture.
The denotation of this picture is a picture from a chaotic fashion show with screaming kids, model walking on an unusual "stage", a group of audience, and a photographer.
The connotation of this picture goes to something rebellious. We could see that there are no celebrities, professional photographers, spotlights, and anything that related to typical runways. He, Martin Margiela, is trying to create a new runway style which are more approachable for normal people. We could see that there were kids screaming and shouting. people are just sitting on the floor or poor chairs. I mean why a fashion runway should be spotlighted and glamorous.
Image reference List
Image 1. Martin Margiela's Spring/Summer 1990 collection in Paris | Photo: Jean-Claude Couta1usse. Available from Remembered: The Game-Changing Martin Margiela Show of 1989 | BoF (businessoffashion.com) [Accessed 21 October 2022]
Reference List
Wait Fashion. Martin Margiela’s legendary SS90 fashion show. 19 October 2020. Available from Martin Margiela's legendary SS90 fashion show (waitfashion.com). [Accessed 21 October 2022]
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