Lumps, Bumps, & Fashion Fist-Pumps

I love the illustrations in The Wall Street Journal, especially their Weekend edition.

I’d like to do some work for The Journal, so I audition.

How? By illustrating WSJ articles that did not feature illustrations. Here’s the latest.

The article was titled “Fashion’s Reigning Extremist.” Author: Christina Binkley.

The subject: fashion designer Rei Kawakubo. A major retrospective of Ms. Kawakubo’s work is currently on display at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Some excerpts from the article:

Since bringing her label Comme des Garçons (“Like Boys”) to Paris in 1981, (she)
has worked relentlessly to introduce the public to the possibility of arraying the human body in new shapes. To do so, she often goes to extremes.

In her 1997 collection, entitled “Body Meets Dress – Dress Meets Body,” she placed feather-filled appendages where no woman would want to be bulbous: on the neck or shoulders or asymmetrically on the hips. Soon, fashion-industry wags were calling the collection, “Lumps and Bumps.”

Ms. Kawakubo was born in 1942, and would have been 13 in 1955. That was the year Billy Wilder‘s “The Seven Year Itch” was released.

The film contains the famous scene of Marilyn Monroe‘s dress flying up when she stands over a subway grate. I found myself wondering if it might have been an influence.
Ms. Kawakubo’s designs clearly make an impression.

Her shows in Paris lately have seemed to cross the line from fashion to performance art, with giant dysmorphic shapes that evoke pregnancy for some observers; others claim to detect subliminal messages about womanhood. 

But who knows? The designer routinely declines to discuss her work. Her reticence only increases her mystique. Attending a Comme show in Paris is akin to entering a cathedral in Italy; there is hush and awe.

Andrew Bolton is the head curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is Mr. Bolton’s favorite among Kawakubo collections? The lumpy, bumpy 1997 “Body Meets Dress.” He says, “It’s one of the best collections I’ve ever seen.”

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Thoughts? I’d appreciate your feedback.

You might also enjoy this post about busts, likewise inspired by a WSJ article.

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About Mark: I’m an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, social media, and content marketing. I create images that get content seen and shared.

You can view my portfolio, and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Questions? Send me an email.

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