24 May 2012

Snow White & Fashion

The fairy-tale part one

Once upon a time there was a girl with skin white as snow, lips red as blood and hair black as the night. Snow White, a story that has quite been on the radar lately. There is the movie Snow White with Julia Roberts, the upcoming film Snow White & The Huntsman and the TV series Once Upon a Time, where Snow White is one of the main characters. We at Second Sight wondered, what is this fairy-tale got to do with the Zeitgeist?

The most famous sentence of the story must be ‘Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the most fairest of them all?’ In this case it is Chanel. The spring collection shows soft whites, blues and pinks in a magical décor. Karl Lagerfield creates a world full of wonder. He is definitely bringing fairy-tales back to live with his undersea shelves. Even though, he is referring to a different fantasy (The little mermaid), the spring collection is indeed white as snow. Possibly a translation of Snow’s purity….

Even Comme des Garçons made an all white summer collection, and named it ‘Drama in White‘. A translation of the four stages in life: birth, marriage, death, and transcendence. These elements occur in almost very fairy-tale, especially in Snow White where these stages are the leitmotiv in the story. Also Chloé showed the softness of her brand, using mostly white clothes. This line represented soft, gorgeous feminine ladies. These are the characteristics which the queen so desperately want, the characteristics of Snow White.

But it does not end here, Chanel’s Fall collection, shows a hole other side of the story. Now it is the queen’s turn. Dark colours, power walks, huge crystals popping out the floor and tense music illustrates a different statement. No maidenhood, but dark confidence women, parading like there is power on their side. Even the crystalized eyebrows are looking quite evil. Is Karl Lagerfield mentioning our inner (evil) witch, with his ‘crystallized‘ fashion show?

Is it just fashion, which took this story to the next level? Our search did not end here, because there is so much more to this fairy-tale. What lies beneath the story of the poisoned apple? Is the philosophy behind the story of Snow White a perfect fit with today’s Zeitgeist?

To be continued….

Chanel Spring 2012