FASHION SHOW AS A PERFORMANCE ART AND TRACE

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 Fashion as performance and trace

The fashion industry is increasingly growing every year. Not so many years ago was the

fashion industry thought to be collapsing. It was called the sunset industry by many critics and

was thought to have no future. Fashion is arguably becoming one of the most loved industry in

the world right now embraced by the top celebrities in the world (GIBSON, 2011, 39). For a very

long time, fashion has been discussed whether it can be said it is art. For many years, fashion and

art have shared a symbiotic relationship. The two disciplines have encouraged and inspired each

other throughout history as they compete. Couturiers and artists have collaborated over the years

to the point where the world of art boundary with fashion has been blurred. The late 1990’s was

a significant turning point for the development of fashion and art phenomenon where the fashion

shows communicated through performance of art. Most contemporary artists currently look for

fashion to get inspired in their works.

Recently, fashion as art has shifted to be a performance in its way too. The recent

renewed performance art in fashion has helped pushed fashion as performance and this has

impacted heavily on the fashion world and the designers. The models in the fashion shows have

also had to change the way they model. On the other hand, designers have had to change from

designers to the role as designers-as-artist. Fashion and performance have increasingly merged

and moved into a new specific context where focus is extended around experimental approaches.

The division between the clothes that were previously designed as costume for performance and

those designed as conceptual fashion has become less clear. Most fashion shows around the

world have held their shows in such a way that it presents itself as a performance. The media is

the main aspect that has helped the fashion industry to grow as a performance too.
 Fashion shows are held among the top cities in the world. Different countries hold

fashion shows either internationally or locally for the designs of their countries. The major

fashion shows around the world are based on the most spectacle cities in the world and the

largest. In the world of fashion, the most notable fashion shows are held during the fashion week.

Fashion week is an event in the fashion industry, which lasts for about a week. The fashion week

allows designers, fashion houses and brands to display their latest trends in the runway shows.

The events let the fashion world know what the new trend in the fashion industry is and what is

out. The most known fashion weeks are held in the four-fashion capital. The four fashion capitals

are London, Milan, New York and Paris (KENNEDY, CALDERIN & STOEHRER 2013, 89).

The four cities are the main fashion centers in the world though other cities also hold notable

fashion week events for example Beijing and Rio the capital city of Brazil. All these fashion

events in the world have adopted fashion as art and performance in the runway shows and the

designs of the clothes. The shows use the body as a catalyst and space as a performance tool.

Paris fashion show is one of the fashion capitals in the world. It is a fashion show in

France that is held semi annually in Paris. The events are held during autumn/winter and

spring/summer where the designs for the autumn and winter are held from April while the

designs from spring/summer are held from September to November (KENNEDY, CALDERIN

& STOEHRER 2013, 89). Paris fashion week is the last event in the calendar of the fashion

week with the first being New York fashion show followed by London and then Milan. Major

fashion houses in the world are present in this fashion week with the 2014 Paris fashion week

attracting houses such as Christian Dior, Guy Laroche, Dries Van Noten, Sonia Rykiel,

Balenciaga and many other fashion stable houses. All these fashion houses hit the runway with

their models modeling the latest brands of clothes in the fashion industry. The run way help the
brands in showing the fashion industry what they will be releasing soon to the market. It also

helps to increase the sales of the fashion houses brands.

Live performance has existed in the world for a very long time. The most notable

performance was by the Greeks and later the Romans who used gladiators to entertain the

people. Performance art may can either be scripted or unscripted and it is presented to an

audience. There are many types of performance art, which includes theatre, dance, mime, music,

spoken word, opera and lately the inclusion of fashion as performance. The uniqueness about

performance art is that it can never be reproduced any other time. Once it is over, it is that way

the only material that people will have is the recording. Live performance makes a person

experience many things. A person may experience exhilaration, feel, sadness or sorrow, be

happy or jump in jubilation, anger or pleasure among many other feelings. All these are only

possible through live performance.

Value of performance

Paris fashion show has its own thrills and disappointment as a live performance. The

value of the performance is the most important factor in live performance. Paris fashion week

attracts big names in the fashion industry and lasts for approximately seven days (ENGLISH,

2013, 176). The people that attend the Paris fashion week rank from politicians, athletes,

musicians, actors and the top models in the world. The presences of these varieties of people

enhance the value of the fashion week. It is rarely that all such people can be at the same place at

the same time. The Paris fashion week is what has made this possible for all the higher echelon

of people to find each other at the same place. Without all the popular people in the Paris fashion

week, the fashion show would just be the same like the other fashion shows in the world. The
people make the fashion show one of a kind and this is has increased the value of the

performance in Paris fashion week.

The top models in the world grace the runway in Paris fashion show. The models are the

best in the world are the most sought after, the presences of all these models enhance also the

value of the performance of the fashion show in Paris fashion week. The shear thought of having

to meet all these models drives the exhilaration level of a performance to another level. It is not

in every place that all these models can be found on the same stage. The models also model the

clothes of most famous fashion stable hose (ENGLISH, 2013, 176). The presence of the fashion

stables such as Christian Dior, shoes from the most famous shoe makers such as Christian

Louboutin, Armani and other fashion houses increase the value of the performance and the

feeling from the people that are attending. All these combination of the most prominent people in

the world makes Paris fashion show very memorable and the value of the performance a little

notch higher. The presence of the most popular designers and the latest trends of the clothes is

another addition to the popularity of Paris fashion week, which makes it very memorable.

Body as site

The parade of all the moving bodies is an essential feature in the fashion show industry.

The parade of the moving bodies has given rise to modeling as a profession. The ranges of the

poses and movements are a result of the new crop of choreographers only specialized in the

catwalk show. The movement of these models is occasionally accompanied by rhythmic music

plying at a slow tempo and at times at high tempo. Paris fashion show mostly encompasses

female models though male models have been increasing of late and modeling for men has got

attention. Although the fashion for men has been held for a long time as far as 1929, they are
outnumbered by the women by far. The use of body as site for fashion and performance has

existed for as long as fashion has existed.

The presentation of fashion to the audience is first associated with the body and space.

The space is where the fashion show is being held. The second aspect is balancing the two

essential concerns. Most of the models should have a certain feature or meet certain criteria.

Models should be tall and very slim to be able to model some of the clothes of the leading

fashion houses (MEARS, 2011, 6). The tone of the skin, high cheekbones, weight of the model

and other feature are mostly checked and a model should meet these criteria. The body is used to

ensure that the performance in the catwalk runway show is up to standards. Models such as Halle

berry have been modeling for decades but they still have the same body frame meaning the body

shape does not change but has been the same for many years. All models should to have these

features to model for any modeling agency.

Performance of the clothed body in recent years has emerged as an essential part in the

catwalk presentation. Catwalk presentation has become sophisticated with the mechanics of

performance employing huge expensive productions (SCHWEITZER, 2009, 180). The Paris

fashion show has always involved huge amount of money in organizing for the event. The

platform where the catwalk is held to the backstage where the models prepare themselves is

hugely expensive. All these are made to ensure that the model perform according to standard and

are comfortable. Comfortable models mean that the performance from the models will up to

standards. Special directors experienced in the fashion industry direct the setting. The designers

also ensure that the designs they make focus on the character modeling the outfit. The fashion

show depends much on the body of the models and how to model it for the success of the show

and popularity of the outfit being modeled.

 Body art

Performance of arts depends on many different form of creativity to ensure that it is

successful. Live performance employs different modification on the body to make the

performance interesting and worth watching. Paris fashion attracts many celebrities, athletes and

other notable persons from the whole world. The people come dressed differently and every

person is unique in their own way. The most common body art among many people in the world

is tattoo. Many popular people have one or more tattoos in different parts of the body. Tattoo is a

form of body art where writings or drawings are written or drawn on the body (HANCOCKS, S.,

2003, 357). Different ink is used in tattooing a person depending on the person. Fashion shows

promote such body arts depicting it as the latest trends in the fashion industry. Tattoo has grown

very popular among the younger generation and at Paris fashion week you could see a rather

large amount of people with tattoos. New forms or technique of tattoo is emerging and someone

could see it in Paris fashion week.

Other body parts found in fashion shows include piercing on the body. Piercing of the ear

is the most common type of body piercing. From a very long time through history, women have

been piercing their ears. It is evident in many regions of the world across different cultures. It is

seen as beauty in the part of women. Recently, men have started piercing their ears evident in

many fashions loving people some athletes and most celebrities. Paris 2014 saw a very large

number of men with pierced ears than any other year. Though piercing of the ear is still

controversial in many countries, the work is slowly embracing it. Piercing of the belly button

among women is increasingly gaining popularity in the fashion industry. In Paris fashion week,

you could see a number of models who had pierced belly button. Rings for belly button are found
in many shops showing how popular it has become. Fashion shows like Paris fashion week

encourage such use of body art as a fashion statement.

Fashion as a community

Paris fashion show is attended by many people who make up the audience. However, it

might be misleading by saying those people who attend a fashion show an audience, but the

change in fashion to performance art as made the people an audience. In the age where fashion

show is shown in most media houses, the people present might as well be called the cast or seen

as part of it. The audience of Paris fashion week are carefully chosen or selected by a group of

people and at times selected by computer programs. The computer programs help the PR

agencies and designers devise plan on who is to be admitted or where they should sit. According

to Arnold Hauser (1982, 490), there is no form of art where a reception takes place without a

place where it serves that reception. The audiences are made up of those who applaud the

collection or those who reject it. The audience in a fashion show is because of the designer

whose collection enables the members present to comment on it.

The collection of the designers is as a making of the public who comment on it and the

designer makes the changes. The Paris fashion show thus defines the fashion industry as a

community where a person is free to critic the work of another person. The audience present at

the moment are the ones who will make the designer change some of the outfit or single out one

outstanding outfit. The fashion industry is a community in terms of producing the fashion trends

(fashion students and fashion world personnel), reproduction (reporting and media photography,

distribution (buyers) and the people who consume the products. The only shortcoming comes

from the number of people who will be able to get the products. People who are less endowed
will lack not be able to access these products but at least they will have been part of it in

commenting on the fashion sense of the products.

Dynamism of fashion as a performance art

The landscape of fashion has changed a lot in the modern world. Every year the Paris

fashion show comes up with different ideas only borrowing some element from the traditional

features. The first change is site of the fashion show. Live performance from the fashion show is

really awesome and great, but lately there has been a change in site. The work of designers and

media houses depended on the word of mouth but recently the works is communicated through

other Medias. The Medias within which fashion is being communicated include fashion film, art

gallery and virtual space. Performative ideas are the ones most welcomed in the fashion industry

where films are appropriately utilized. Earlier, models were required o just stand and pose to

different angles of the camera. However, fashion industry being dynamic, many components

have been incorporated and models can be seen walking as they hold different objects at times.

The different fashion products every year in Paris fashion week is another statement of

dynamism in the fashion show. Every year has a different theme and a different design for the

different products. From perfume, shoes, nail polish, handbags, arts to clothes, they all are

designed differently every year. A design cannot be repeated in any fashion show or in any other

fashion show in another fashion week. The designs also express the change in society or in the

culture of the people. A change in behavior of the society ensures that the fashion sense of a

person is not fixed and changes quickly. Considering too those human needs are recurrent and

are insatiable, a person will get bored with a certain product after some time. Fashion materials

being easy to change is subject to the dynamism of the society.

 Live art is very dynamic in every aspect that it tries to show the world. A person will not

struggle to go and see the same things that the person saw some time back. Paris being in France

and knowing France as among the nations who love art, changes are bound to happen. A live

performance of art needs to change over time to attract the celebrities of this world. It should not

be predictable but coming with twists. The model on the other hand is responsible for some of

the changes in a live performance coming up with creative ways of modeling. The presence of

traditional features in the Paris fashion week showed that the new products are because of the

older fashion statement. The use of eco-friendly materials in the fashion show showed also the

dynamism of fashion. With the growth of fashion as a performance art, more change is bound to

happen to please the audience present. Live performance as a new trend in the fashion world is

another factor that will just go on to enhance the dynamism of the fashion show in Paris.

Impact of live performance

Live performance impact differently on different individuals. Different people from

different walks of life come to experience the feeling of a fashion show live. There are models

who are modeling for the first time in such a high course of fashion. There are designers who it is

their first time to showcase their designs in such a place and the audience who have never gone

for a fashion event. The experience that people feel from such fashion shows range from the

most surprised and happy individuals to those who are totally disappointed and left in tears.

Many people come with fixed minds about what they will come and experience or what they

expect and most are prone to disappointments when what they expected they do not find.

In Paris fashion week, the designers had prepared themselves for a very long time. It was

a live performance that they nobody wants to be disappointed. After the show, designers look at
what they presented and how the different models presented their designs. Other designers whose

designs totally flopped are left in a depressing moment and a moment of desperation. A feeling

of total waste of time and regret ensues. All these feelings are as a result of the design flopping at

the fashion event. This is how people feel in a live performance. Other designers whose designs

were a success find themselves in a moment of jubilation and a feeling of excitement. These

entire feelings make a live performance art unique among other arts. Such are the moments that

cannot be reproduced in any other place.

Conversely, the audiences are also caught in the moment of the live performance art in

the fashion show. Considering that Paris fashion week is a big event in the fashion show events

and the capital of France, many people expect nothing less than an awesome performance from

the organizers. This expectation makes the event more unpredictable. Feelings of awe,

exhilaration, disappointments are all mixed during the event. As the event ensues, exhilaration

rises with every model walking down the runway. Men especially are the most blessed during the

event with the models having little clads. Most walk with mini dresses that barely cover their

crotch. Others wear just pants with no bras and this is the constant factor that make male

members of the audience attend the fashion apart from the new models of designs present. The

designs that are modeled receive constant attention from the people and the new designs provide

the people with the mixed feelings of happiness and exhilaration at the sheer amount of the

fashion present during the event.

Impact of Paris show on fashion industry

Paris fashion show live performance art is unique in the way it presents its fashion trends.

The number of designers and other upcoming designers is commendable. Paris fashion show
requires new and exquisite models from these designers and this pushes the designers to make

unique designs for the people present. The designs present change the way the fashion world

dress. Celebrities come and see the new trends and adopt the new clothing’s and some other

accessories. Jewellery, perfume and other complimenting fashion accessories are also present

and it changes the wardrobe of many celebrities. The media plays a role in showing the world,

which are the new trends and how the fashion week went down. People change their dressing

from the fashion event and change the old clothes they had and adopt the new fashion trends that

were present at the fashion show.

The prices of many designs in the market also change according to the fashion week.

After the fashion show in Paris, designers price their products. The prices change the other prices

of the fashion designs present at the market. Nobody will be willing to buy an old trend fashion

accessory, which is more priced than the new one. Retailers will have to change their prices

according to the new trends. Other accessories prices will rise and others will drop. The changes

come are as a result of the pricing of the new trends in Paris fashion week. A recent trend has

emerged also, where girls want to have that model body. Many girls are starving themselves to

achieve this figure, which they find a killer figure and very pleasing. Men also search for girls

that have such a body frame. The change arises from the body frame of the model at the fashion

week. Although recently, people have raised questions over the way, the models eat and some

have been found anorexic. Many health experts are discouraging the eating habits of most

models and young girls are discouraged from engaging in such eating habits.

Different art forms present for example body arts, hairstyles and accessories such as cars.

Many celebrities are present at the Paris fashion show. Youthful adult take after the dressing

codes of the celebrities. The celebrities define the way the youths are willing to dress. The media
present scrutinize a hairstyle of a celebrity who is present at the Paris fashion week. If the

hairstyle of the celebrity reaches the media houses, many youths will change the way they cut

theirs too. A good example is the Mohawk hairstyles. Many celebrities adorned it in 2012. In

2013 and 2014, many youths could be seen with the hairstyle and it spread to all parts of the

world. Tattoos and body piercing among the celebrities also affect the way the world views such

accessories. Piercing of the body among men is very uncommon in many cultures. Many cultures

over the world discourage it including many religions. However, fashion show such as Paris

fashion show changes the way the world view such stuff. The celebrities adorn the accessories

and many people follow suit as seen by the increased piercings of the body by the youth adults.

Many people are being tattooed at the moment and the views about it is changing among many

people.

Influence of fashion show on culture

Many cultures around the world are static and they have never changed for a very long

time. There exist different cultures. There is the traditional culture where the society is expected

to do something and there is the modern culture found around many cities. The most debated

aspect of culture in the world is place of women in the society. Female members of the society

are always looked down upon. Male members view themselves as more superior. Influential

people around the world have come forward and called for the abolishment of such practice in

the society. Christian religion is among the front-runners in the campaigning for the abolishment

of such practices. The proponents of this practice argue that the practice has been there for a very

long time and it has been working in ensuring that order is kept in the society (BOSTIC,2008,

42). The people that have tried to eliminate it in the society are deemed as outcast and do not

understand the culture. Interestingly, religion is among those who want the abolishment while
most of its leaders are composed of men and the high-ranking priests are mostly women. Women

argue that the different sexes are equal and nobody is higher than the other.

In the fashion industry, everybody is the same and both male and female counterparts are

equal. In the field of art, people express themselves with their work. This has ensured that the

field of art has remained equal to every person. Fashion is the same and nobody is seen as a little

superior than the other. Women are leading big companies and women designers are outselling

their male counterparts too. Fashion has influenced the society culture in showing them that both

sexes are equal and feminism is a thing that has no place in the modern society. During the Paris

fashion week, someone could see all the different sexes competing against each other. The

women where displaying their designs as well as the men. Both sexes of models were present

with the female modeling female designs and the male modeling the male designs. The

participation of both sexes is not frowned upon in the Paris fashion week showing other

industries that male and female persons are the same. Fashion is a very influential toll in the

society in portraying the act of feminism as backward and advocating for the equal rights of

every person.

Culture limits the way a woman is supposed to dress. In different parts of the world, a

woman is supposed to cover nearly every part of her body. Islam is a good example of how

women have been oppressed in their dressing codes. The society expects the woman to dress

every part of her only leaving the eyes exposed. For some people that is very discomforting and

unhygienic. Fashion has helped the women in showing the world that a woman can choose

whatever she wants to wear without anybody deciding for the person. The dressing codes of the

women present at the Paris fashion week were unique. Every woman had different design and

nobody picked the design for the person. The women were not wearing according to a certain
society but according to their taste and preference. Fashion can be used to show the world that a

person’s choice of clothing cannot be decided by another individual or society. Fashion has

showed the whole world the different designs a person can dress and some of the cultures are

embracing it slowly.

Live performance of the fashion show can be used to bring people from different

cultures. The people present share ideas with each other about their culture. The art of different

cultures are also portrayed in the live performance. Live performance mix the differ cultures in

coming up with one show and this mix is what helps people of different backgrounds to respect

each other. Through fashion, this voce has been minimized and the designs of different fashion

houses can be seen combining designs from different cultures in coming up with one product.

Racism has been a one of the vices disturbing humankind. People hate each other for nothing just

because of the color of the skin. Fashion is a great tool in letting the world knows people from

different races are the same. Paris fashion show gives a platform for different people to showcase

their designs. It lets the world know that every person is the same regardless of his or her

background. Fashion has a great potential in influencing positivity in the society and different

cultures.

Liveness of live performance

A live performance evokes vivid memories about a certain situation. Performance makes

a person feel in touch with diverse experiences that cannot be encountered later on. A person

present during a live performance connects with the performance. A person watching the

recording of a performance cannot have the same feeling like the person who was present.

Connection between the individual and performance make the experience more memorable. A
person watching a recording cannot connect to the performance to such a level. A person in a

live performance is surrounded by people who have come to witness the show. The noise, the

touch and the live act all make it a moment that nobody can experience again. Paris fashion show

is no different. Different people, different setting and different themes make it a moment to

remember. The liveliness of a live performance cannot be recreated anywhere else. The dynamic

nature of people moods and feelings is what makes alive event more memorable and a moment

that can never be recreated.

Trace of a performance

The moment of a live performance can never be captured. Institutions who wish to catch

a live performance can only do so through recording, photography, aural accounts or text.

Performance involves time and space and this unique relationship makes documentation of

performance of art hard. The knowledge that that the performance is not live make the

documentation of live performance difficult. The society has a desire to secure a performance or

what a person can see and touch in one static image for a very long time. The desire is an attempt

to capture those passing moments that can never be experienced again. The capturing of these

moments is possible through a picture though it never presents the real experience but a shadow

of what it was. The moments can never be recaptured in one image or any other medium that is

used to capture those moments. As soon as the moment is captured, they immediately become

removed from the same state.

Time is factor that limits the experience of the captured moments. It dictates that a person

can never go back to that state or understand the event that actually happened. The memory of a

person when attempting to re-live a piece of performance art is hindered by the thought that the
performance had already occurred and is not live. This limits the feeling and experience a person

is supposed to get from the recorded or photographed moment. Only relics such as texts,

photographs and film account for much of these moments, which are supposed to stimulate

imagination of the person who is viewing it. The problem is that the objects or the recorded live

performance is forced into a person mind to revive that experience and feeling. It does not

represent the real or the actual moment of the event rather it is something that is imagined which

could only be experienced by the mind. In this case, live performance is the best thing that can

happen to a person rather than viewing a moment in a media or photographic objects. The

liveliness, experience and feeling that come with a performance art cannot be reproduced in

whatsoever way.

Performance leaves a vivid memory in a person such that the individual can always

remember and evoke certain moments. People who attended Paris fashion show know what t felt

like unlike the people who watched it over the television. The experience of being there and

rubbing shoulders with the celebrities is a moment and a feeling that a person can never forget.

Such are the moments that a person will tell his or her friends and never get tired of talking about

it. A person during a live performance connects with the energy of the crowd or audience

present. The mood of the vent determines the energy that people will show during the event.

Such energy and moods is what is difficult to relive and a person feels most. A fashion show

changes every year and different designs emerge. It is only possible for a person to feel those

moments and that is being in there during the live performance and experiencing all those

feelings, experience and the energy otherwise a person can never reconstruct such memories by

audio vide, photograph, narrative or any other media.

 In conclusion, live performance art leaves an experience and a feeling on a person that is

unrivalled. Although live performance happens for a very short time, the memories live with the

person for a very long time. Paris fashion week happens every year and the moments are

different each year. The show influence people differently and can be used as a tool for positivity

to the society. Live performance can be used to eradicate the vices that are brought about by

culture. Fashion show creates a platform were different art forms can merge and presented to the

people. the most common art form is music and is extensively used during the fashion show

(GIBSON, 2011, 153). More shows like Paris fashion show should be held in different places all

over the world has it has a niche of bringing people together and appreciating the culture of

different people. The society can learn from the trace of a performance art and be used for

organizing future events. Paris fashion show makes the society realize that human beings are

good and can live together while at the same time make people appreciate arts form as a tool in

influencing positivity in the society.

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