A NEW STELLA MCCARTNEY FILM reminds us of Kate's enduring coolness, Stella's inventive coolness, and Mert and Marcus, whose work seems to simply epitomize coolness. Responsible for such arresting, iconic images as Miley's bleach-browed W cover, the Downton Abbey girls' pop-goth Love covers, the nude supermodel series of Love covers, and Lady Gaga's purple-dressed nod to Donatella Versace, among countless others, the pair has also established a portfolio of fashion films, not excluding Madonna's sensational "Girl Gone Wild" video.
Merely mentioning the works conjures images in the mind: of high color and contrast, extreme polish and surreal gloss lending an exaggerated perfection to both set and subject. Known for their heavy Photoshopping of images, Mert and Marcus do not conceal their post-heavy technique, treating photography "like painting" Mert tells The New Yorker in a 2004 interview. “You can paint a scene. The next day, you think, I wish I had a dog. So you draw a dog on it. You can achieve what you want eventually, even if you didn’t do it that way. You seem freer than when ‘what you shot is what you got.’” The Photoshopping may be questionable but Grace Coddington asserts that “It’s very fakey, fakey, fakey, but that’s what it’s supposed to be.”
Back to Kate, and her "Stella!" dreams and screams. Winter 2014 offers prismic clutches, line-drawn prints, draped tassels and zip-line embroidery, as well as more sober picks in black and white dogtooth and bouclé herringbone. The Flora Skirt is a winner with its waved hem featuring six rows of cord embroidery on tonal tulle. It is perhaps the wearable, everyday version of Kate's Harriet Dress in the film, which she wears while leaning casually against a backdrop of crystal rain.
"We are all golden sunflowers inside." Says a digitized voice, preceding 36 seconds of what feels like a fresh, new, hyperpolished version of Wonderwall's 1960s psychedelia. Stuff like this remind us of why we love fashion.
Kate Dreams: Winter 2014 Film Featuring Kate Moss directed by Mert and Marcus. stellamccartney.com
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