Hero Worship

Part 15: TLC





Good fashion. Feel good moments. Three girls in metallic latex jumpsuits. Front-laced waistcoats. Suede fringe mini skirts. In cropped gym tops and wide cargo trousers. Highlights and belly buttons.
/HORST

Blow Job

1. Mikael Jansson Lara Stone for Interview Magazine May 2011
2. Jeff Koons Caterpillar & Acrobat, 2003

The quote of a quote. When woman ride inflatable dinosaurs. When lobsters do a handstand. When pop becomes post-pop. And everything is done in a consciously obvious manner.
/HORST

Obituary

Clothes Christopher Nemeth

Through the fulminant pages of POP, I stumbled upon the work of Christopher Nemeth. Situated somewhere between folklore and workwear, each piece is one of a kind. Ignoring the self-restraining principle of bi-annual collections and pursuing a patchwork philosophy instead.
/HORST

Image credits POP & Tokyo Fashion

Hey Mama!

Photos Pandemonia, Jak & Jil

My beautiful dolls! One week left for your contest submissions. Don't be a drag, just be a queen. Bring out your heels and toss that wig. I expect nothing less than Pandemonia.
/HORST

A Short History Of Twins In Popular Culture III

1. Hellen van Meene
2. Unknown
3. Unknown
4. Teenage Wasteland by Ben Weller for Dansk
5. DSquared Spring/Summer 2011 by Mert & Marcus

Scary schoolgirls, sexy schoolboys, plastic raincoats and an apple. When twins are metaphorically attached to sin. When brothers become lovers. The sweet becomes viscous. And our voyeurism is satisfied.
/HORST

See also Part I & Part II.

Fox Tales

Jeremy Scott Fall/Winter 2011 vs. Prada Spring/Summer 2011

When the idea of pop is completely understood. When references are sucked in, chewed up and spit out again. When copying is allowed. Then, we don't have another scandal, we just witness a postmodern quote.
/HORST

And Then

The Prodigy - Firestarter 1996

Back to the original. The self-repetitive hardcore of techno grunge. A video that concurrently conveyed subculture into pop culture. Bringing back the faded memory of a pierced and hedonistic MTV generation. Formerly including myself.
/HORST

Recall

Top Christina Aguilera
Bottom Girls Aloud

As I've still not seen any result of perpetuating the topic I'll explain it one more time: This is Barbie Fashion. And it got lost. Sometimes it still appears in Cheryl Cole videos. But we need it in an everyday context.
/HORST

B-Sexual

Top Britney Spears by Todd Cole
Bottom Brigitte Bardot

Britney is the epitome of pop. A symbol for the hyperglycaemia of our society. A bitter sweet candy stick. A post-romantic icon of consumerism and self-dramatization. Wrapped-up in white tulle. Remixing an image of the original power of Dirndl-escapism: The über-icon and strawberry blonde Brigitte Bardot.
/HORST

Medusa: Second Prequel

1. Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2010 by Satoshi Saikusa
2. Li, H.R. Giger 1974

Facing the condemned and seemingly unaesthetic. The ugly and hated. To finally establish a version of beauty and fascination that is constituted of one's very own fears and preconceptions.
/HORST

Everything But The Girl

Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2011

Boxy jackets with stylised peacock feathers and silk dresses with white swan prints. It is Miu Miu. It is complex and willing to take risks. It is crazy in a good way. Miuccia Prada is the best womenswear designer. Full stop.
/HORST

Image credits Catwalking

A Short History Of Twins In Popular Culture

1. Karim Sadli, A Magazine curated by Riccardo Tisci, 2008
2. Lanvin, Spring/Summer 2007 Ad Campaign
3. Comme des Garçons, Spring/Summer 2011
4. Marilyn Minter, Twins, 2006
5. Yves Saint Laurent, Spring/Summer 1996 Ad Campaign
6. The Stoltzfus Twins, Bruce Weber, 1982
7. Olsen Twins
8. Stanley Kubrick, The Shining, 1980

As an aesthetic fetish of the fashion industry and grotesque vision in photography and music television the twin unites both: disgust and fascination. A multi-faceted phenomenon, engrained with celebrity and gossip culture as well as the pornographic context. Which iconic imagery must be appended to this catalogue?
/HORST

A Short History Of The Plastic Raincoat In Popular Culture

1. Kylie Minogue - Better The Devil You Know, 1990
2. Therese - Feelin' Me, 2007
3. Prada campaign, Fall/Winter 2002
4. Blade Runner, 1982

Thanks to gym television I've been confronted with the use of plastic raincoats in music videos. An interesting topic worth contemplating on. And of course several cross-references came to my mind. So my dear, what do you have to add to this discourse?
/HORST