Fashion is about self-expression, and people
often love to speculate about what the future of this industry will look like.
Simon Huck teamed up with other creatives he has met through his work as a PR
executive to create his vision of this future. A. Human is a new take on
fashion where body modifications are used to enhance the body instead of
clothes. These body modifications are not the ones of typical cosmetic
surgeries but instead have more of a whimsical spin. The team purposely does
not work upon insecurities that already exist and already have remedies in
cosmetic surgery. This intersection between art and fashion is a celebration of
freedom and being able to present yourself to the world in any way one may
choose without the restrictions of the past.
Produced by Society of Spectacle, a live
entertainment storytelling brand founded by Simon Huck, the A. Human exhibit
displays these fashion pieces with the help of theatrical director Michael
Countes, makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench, and creative director Nicola
Formichetti. Simon Huck is very excited to be looking toward a more futuristic
world with his co-creators since he credits the diversity of the pieces to each
of his collaborators’ various artistic backgrounds. Isamaya Ffrench drew on her
history as a dental nurse and wore modified teeth to the exhibit’s opening.
Each core member of the team has been involved in fashion for art for at least
5 years, so their respective contact lists are filled with other creative
peers. These 4 creators and their networks of people exemplify Milgram’s idea
of small world clusters. The success on this exhibit was dependent on the input
from several different industries; namely fashion, social media, PR, and art.
Huck and his team were able reach out to different hordes to ensure every
aspect of the exhibit would go off without a hitch, from the brainstorming
stage to the final invite list for the exhibit’s opening night. The
collaborators managed to “productively organize the distribution of creative
material in an art world as well as promote the ability and desire of artists
to take risks collaboratively on creating something new,” which Brian Uzzi and
Jarrett Spiro define as the concept of small worlds in their journal article Collaboration
Creativity: The Small World Problem. All of the creatives endeavor the blur
the line between reality and fantasy while also giving other creatives the
tools to create their own products and photos.
The team’s motivation for this project was to
allow a more optimistic or at least neutral view of the world’s future. Their
remedy for the current state of the world: a new way of self-expression to look
forward to. Fashion has long been more than just clothes you wear. It has
involved into the way one shows and covers their body in addition to how one
presents themselves. This immersive exhibit is more about the experience than
anything else. The creatives want to pose this new take on fashion in such a
way that the conversation about self-expression continues even after you leave
the exhibit.
This is so interesting! I had heard about this project, but learning more about their backgrounds and the intention behind the pieces was really cool. I love the idea of having a modification or piece that doesn't try to cover up an insecurity, but adds something unique, like the shells on their ankles!
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing Kim K's post on social media about her necklace I had no idea who was behind the creation or what it was about. I find it so interesting that Huck and his team found a new way for jewelry to complement and modify the human body. The pieces seem almost futuristic and I appreciate how they are meant to enhance body parts rather than hide them.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting that this group of creatives used things they had collected from totally unrelated professions, like Ismaya French did, and took them into a completely unrelated field. Reminds me very much of the band Tool, whose songwriter collected information in his vigorous schooling and applied it to his music in a very creative way, much like this team does with fashion
ReplyDeleteWe've had the techniques and technology to do these kinds of temporary body modifications for years, though they've almost solely been used for movie makeup and costumes meant to present the otherworldly and monstrous. I love that this group of creatives is working to make these kinds of, frankly, really cool and fun forms of self-expression make their way into the mainstream, really blazing their way into the field of commercial temporary body modification, a field that barely exists. In your post, you discuss various celebrities that are getting the concept out there and how the team is even making it a point to show how such modifications can worn while going through daily life, as they showed with their human mannequins. I had no idea this sort of thing existed before I read your post, but I will be sure to be on the lookout for more now.
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