‘Horror’ in fashion has often taken the form of unsettling make up, costume-style attire and eerie theatrics. Fashion shows that are a horrific spectacle, or that use humanoid or ‘possessed’ models, have been used to counteract fashion shows over concern with aesthetics and order. Shows can offer audiences a disconcerting experience and allow the designer to make a statement that exists beyond the clothes.
Perhaps the most well known perpetrator of ‘horrific’ fashion is Alexander McQueen. His shows are famed for their vulgar beauty, McQueen himself is quoted as saying ‘I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists.’
His AW/98 Joan of Arc collection is just one of his shows that features creepy models and theatrics such as flickering, low hanging, industrial lights and fingernails-on-blackboard, grating music. The models are red-eyed and stare unflinchingly out into the crowd.
The show has a political theme, as Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for her role in a war against the British. Models wear medieval chainmail, but their pale skin, light hair and red eyes as well as blood red garments give an uneasy edge to the show.
For the finale, a model is engulfed in a ring of flames and her face and head are completely shrouded in the lace of her dress. McQueen’s looks have inspired the unconventional styles of stars such as Lady Gaga and Björk.
McQueen’s SS/01 show Voss was a chilling experience for guests present, as McQueen forced them to stare at their own reflection in the mirrored cube they were seated around. The show was deliberately late beginning, eventually lighting up to reveal a reconstructed mental hospital as it’s setting.
The finale of Voss was a moment in fashion McQueen is remembered for. A large box on the stage opened to reveal a naked model lying on a recliner and wearing an oxygen mask. McQueen wished to challenge conventional conceptions of beauty, and leave the bougie fashion audiences uncomfortable. He is quoted in Time Magazine 1997 as saying ‘I don’t want to do a cocktail party. I’d rather people left my shows and vomited. I prefer extreme reactions.’
Less harrowing adaptations of horror themes into fashion shows include the SS/14 Comme Des Garçons collection. Models wore cage-like black structures with nothing underneath and their hair was scraped back into odd shapes with black lipstick smeared across their mouths. Ruffles and clown-like costume outfits were showcased down a simple wooden catwalk.
The designer, Rei Kawakubo, is famed for her distorted yet beautiful carnivalesque clothing, and the use of black. Cartner Morley writes in The Guardian that her ‘aloof detachment now feels antithetical not just to modern fashion, but to popular culture. She does not engage with the mundanity of looking pretty, or the seasonal ephemera of hemlines. She has zero interest in celebrity.’ This analysis is part of what makes designers who make the unorthodox so attractive. Their shows challenge the fashion world’s preoccupation with following the rules.
Thierry Mugler’s SS/97 Haute Couture collection had a theme of metamorphosis. Like a larvae becoming a butterfly models in the show gradually became more outrageous and freakish. They wore bug-like eyepieces and shoulder structures to represent various forms of creepy-crawlies. Some models appeared almost vampire like, carrying weapons.
The music is agitated and jarring in a crescendo until the dark colours become jewel tones and a butterfly suddenly emerges. The music becomes lilting classical. The final model is a butterfly, wearing a fantastic colourful butterfly wing piece.
Mugler can be quoted as saying ‘I want my models to be bigger, bolder and stronger than common mortals…I want supermen and superwomen.’ This grandiose ambition for his work comes through in this particular collection, the models are more than the clothes, and bear down on the audience in an intimidating manner.
Bobby Ableys contribution to MAN’s AW/14 show was inspired by Hannibal Lecter in the way that the models’ mouths were held open with metal hardware to reveal their grimaces. The effect was even creepier when paired with Disney Mickey Mouse ears, and a haunting Disney inspired soundtrack.
Rick Owen’s SS/16 show turned heads when the designer bound models onto other models. The models were upside down or in contorted positions, some looked like they were strapped on as ‘human backpacks’.
Owens used the soundtrack of a song called ‘Land is Mine’ from the film Exodus (1960) which deals with the story of Ramses and Moses. When asked in Dazed Magazine what he meant using this soundtrack, he says ‘It reminded me of the eternal human condition of dealing with conflict.’
The women bound to other women are supposed to represent the strength but also burden of female relationships. Rick Owens’ AW/15 show featured frontal male nudity, aiming to challenge certain taboos while also garnering attention on social media.
More recently, Viktor and Rolfs AW17/18 collection has taken models in costume to a new level. Models were dressed in cartoonish, large headpieces. Ridiculously large ruffles and patchwork garments gave it a playful feel, but no human face can be seen until the end.
Shows which use ‘shock tactics’ or theatrics that grab the attention of a range of audiences have the opportunity to make a wider point about the fashion world and beauty conventions. Using models that are non-conformist and ‘ugly’ or garish clothing can shake up the audience as well as the fashion world.
With the popularity of movies like IT and the series Stranger Things, perhaps people are regaining their appetite for the ridiculous and the outlandish in fashion. Fashion shows that are a spectacle are more likely to get attention on social media. In the midst of the Instagram-filtered world of beauty and fashion influencers, ugly and unaesthetic would certainly make refreshing viewing.
