It’s finally there, a second edition of ‘Featured Blogger’! Last time I asked FAIIINT’s Stephanie to share her favourite artists with you, and today I present you the favourite artists of Dutch fashion blogger Anita from Hyper Stylized, previously Ange Déformé.
I’ve known Anita for years now, thinking back I think we must have met through mutual friends on LiveJournal. Yes, LiveJournal, we were blogging before it was cool ;) Although the LiveJournal days have long since passed we always stayed in touch, and through the year became fashion-exhibit-buddies. We’ve seen many beautiful clothes together, like last year at the Jean Paul Gaultier expo or the ‘Fetishism in Fashion’ exhibit at the Fashion Biennale last year.
What I like most about Anita’s blog Hyper Stylized is her consistent sense of style in all her posts. She shows her readers gorgeous high-end beauty products, the best outfits from the runway and of course a look at her own wardrobe through her lookbook entries. I love Anita’s style, she always knows how to spice up an all black outfit (hurray for all black all day!) with precious designer pieces. Before I let Anita do the talking I’d love to share some of my favourite lookbook photos from Anita’s site, just so you can get to know her a bit if you haven’t seen her website before.
Don’t you just love her outfits? :) I asked Anita to share her six favourite artists with you, and tell a bit about her fascination with that particular outfit. I love the list she made, we definitely share a taste in art, and hope you’ll love them too. Enjoy!
Alexander McQueen
Why did you pick this artist, what do you like about his work?
Alexander McQueen is my absolute favorite fashion designer, has been ever since I discovered his work years ago. The originality, theatricality and emotional power of his collections are simply unprecedented. His runway shows were innovative and controversial, often on the grittier side, but definitely always groundbreaking. He was called the hooligan of English fashion, wasn’t afraid to kick against society’s norms, but at the same time he was a master of haute couture tailoring. His work walked a fine line between being offensive and beautiful, but I think he got the balance just right and that’s what made him a genius and a visionary.
How did you discover him? Or what was the first piece you’ve seen by him?
I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember what sparked my interest in fashion, but I just can’t recall. What I do remember, is that somehow I stumbled upon a collection by John Galliano for Dior back in 2006, that immediately resonated with me. The collection was inspired by the French Revolution and there were blood spatters and crucifixes and models wearing ghostly makeup. Up until that point I always thought fashion was boring and elitist and I didn’t pay any attention to it, but this collection triggered me to click through pages and pages of runway pictures on Style.com, trying to find more interesting designers. I think Galliano, McQueen and Mugler were my first fashion discoveries.
– The mentioned John Galliano for Dior collection, 2006 [source: style.com]
What’s your favourite piece by the artist?
It’s hard to pick just one favorite, but I’ll have to choose the antler dress from the 2006 Fall collection, Widows of Culloden. This dress is a great example of that balance I was talking about. The dress is made of a delicate cream silk tulle and lace, which then got “destroyed” by poking a pair of antlers right through. No-one in their right mind would even think about damaging such an expensive material, but he did and created an iconic look by doing it.
I have to mention his 2010 Spring collection as well, Plato’s Atlantis. His reptilian sea creatures just blew my mind. According to Style.com, McQueen was casting an apocalyptic forecast of the future ecological meltdown of the world. McQueen envisioned that we as a species would evolve back underwater, after the ice cap had melted. The prints, the alien hair and makeup, the Giger-esque shoes: absolutely amazing.
– Alexander McQueen [source: style.com]
Gareth Pugh
Why did you pick this artist, what do you like about his work?
Gareth Pugh is the second fashion designer in my favorites top 3. Pugh’s work is very modern, futuristic at times, sharp and sculptural and otherworldly. He describes his own work as the struggle between lightness and darkness, and that’s exactly what it is. His color palette is mostly black and white, darkness versus purity, and I love this contrast.
How did you discover him? Or what was the first piece you’ve seen by him?
Gareth Pugh was another Style.com discovery, I wish I had a better story. The first collection I saw was his 2008 Fall collection, and it’s been a love affair ever since. I remember being awestruck with this image of a model in a grey outerspace samurai warrior type dress and blue makeup, and I just couldn’t wait to see more.
– The outerspace samurai warriors [source: style.com]
What’s your favourite piece by the artist?
Pretty much his 2011 Fall collection as a whole. That collection was just perfection to me. Sharp and clean lines, black leather, chunky boots. The collection had a very tough and dystopian feel to it. It was like entering The Matrix, but better.
– Gareth Pugh Fall 2011 [source: style.com]
Riccardo Tisci
Why did you pick this artist, what do you like about his work?
Riccardo Tisci has been the creative director for Givenchy since 2005, and is my third favorite fashion designer (and the last one in this article, promise!). Tisci fascinates me, because he effortlessly floats from one end of the fashion spectrum to the other. One moment he can do romantic flowy lace dresses, and then the next collection is all about space age minimalism and hard lines. There’s always a dark touch to his work, but at the same time it’s elegant and refined.
How did you discover him? Or what was the first piece you’ve seen by him?
I discovered Riccardo Tisci by chance. When I found out that Alexander McQueen was creative director for Givenchy for quite some time, I started looking into the brand. I didn’t know when McQueen left Givenchy, so I was simply browsing all the collections I could find online. Later on, I found out that some of my favorite collections were in fact designed by Riccardo Tisci and not McQueen.
What’s your favourite piece by the artist?
That would have to be the white and red dress from the 2009 Fall couture collection. It’s this white floor length dress, which looks like it’s dipped in blood as the red fades into the white. The runway model was wearing these elaborate arm decorations which almost looked like bandages.
I also love quite a few pieces from his 2011 Spring collection. Especially the all black and all white looks, with their zippers, straps and sheer floating chiffon. A combination of hard and soft, minimalistic and romantic.
– Riccardo Tisci [source: style.com]
Shaun Leane
Why did you pick this artist, what do you like about his work?
Shaun Leane is far from your average jewelry designer, his creations reflect both love and pain, good and bad. His work includes the most beautiful jewelry, but there’s often a macabre twist to it. I love his armor and tribal inspired pieces and I especially love his runway work, which is absolutely unique and twisted.
How did you discover him? Or what was the first piece you’ve seen by him?
Shaun Leane had a working partnership with Alexander McQueen since 1991, and produced a large number of pieces for his runway shows. I think my first encounter with his work was the McQueen 1998 Spring runway show. The metal jaw and ribcage pieces in particular struck a chord with me.
What’s your favourite piece by the artist?
The tribal pieces he did for the Alexander McQueen 2000 Fall runway show, Eshu, are my absolutely favorites. I thought they were so bizarre yet striking. The elaborate neck rings, which are reminiscent of the collars worn by women in some Asian countries to lengthen their necks. And then the mouth pieces which looked like they were piercing right through the skin of the models, and gave them a very savage look.
I also really love the Red Belle A Lier he did for a Swarovski runway show. The model was wrapped in silver thorns around her torso, infused with these beautiful red flowers. It was both romantic and twisted.
– Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen [source: Ange Déformé]
Karolina Anderson (Karincoma)
Why did you pick this artist, what do you like about her work?
Karolina Anderson, or Karincoma, is a graphic artist I’ve been following for a very long time. What I love about her work, is her character design and storytelling, especially the dystopian / cyberpunk referenced material.
– Karolina Anderson [source: DeviantArt]
How did you discover her? Or what was the first piece you’ve seen by her?
Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I had a deviantART account. I had a habit of spending hours upon hours browsing the community looking for great artists, and that’s how I found Karolina. The first piece I saw was called Royal Attitude, and it featured these three regal looking women wearing black Victorian dresses and crowns on their heads.
What’s your favourite piece by the artist?
Karolina has been working on a GFX novel ever since I first discovered her, called Synthrone Beta. It’s still not finished, but I love everything about it. She’s created a very bleak dystopian future world, filled with beautiful sci-fi characters, all done in a very unique style. I really hope she will finish this novel, because I’ve been dying to read it for years.
– Karolina Anderson [source: DeviantArt]
Bethalynne Bajema
Why did you pick this artist, what do you like about her work?
Bethalynne Bajema is a digital artist I’ve been deeply impressed with from the first moment I saw her work. It’s hard to describe, but her work is a combination of photography and illustration. It’s romantic, dreamy, industrial, steampunk inspired, ghostly, classic, it’s so many things. She mentions George Orwell and Victorian era writers as her influences, which are both heavily represented on my book shelves. Her work is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
– By Bethalynne Bajema [source]
How did you discover her? Or what was the first piece you’ve seen by her?
I got acquainted with her work through my best friend. He had formed an online friendship with Bethalynne in the late nineties and showed me her work. I think the first piece I ever saw of her, was her website design at the time. That blew me away, before I even got to any of the artwork in her portfolio.
What’s your favourite piece by the artist?
I’m having a hard time picking just a single piece for any of the artists I have chosen! It’s a draw between an image from The Black Cat & Poisoned Tea Society, and her Sepia Stains collection. The Black Cat & Poisoned Tea Society is a collection of photographs of women, that were digitally airbrushed and have hand painted elements in the background. The images look antiqued, regal, and a little bit spooky.
The Sepia Stains is a mixed medium collection (traditional ink work and digital airbrushing), and was designed for a deck of tarot cards that’s featured in Bajema’s graphic novel The Black Ibis. The cards are sepia toned and look stained, and include elements such as (mostly) female characters, Victorian scrolls, insects and antique scissors. The collection was initially only meant as a design for the book, but was later turned into an actual deck of cards.
– Two images from the Sepia Stain collection. [source]
That’s all, thanks for reading! A big thanks goes out to Anita: thanks for taking time to write a piece on your favourite artists for Bleaq! It’s much appreciated :) If you like Anita’s style be sure to check out her blog, I’m sure you’ll love it. For now I wish you all a lovely weekend, and I hope to see you on Monday!
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