#fashionnotwar

Rainer Ganahl...

seriously, the best fashion show I have ever been entertained by. Very hilarious, and the models looked like real people....because they were. There were children, matronly ladies, dashing young men, beautiful ladies, and I am surprised there was not a dog or cat.

The purpose of the show was to introduce a pretend fashion line called "Commes de Marxist". The event was a staging of fashion in a manner that expressed a political idea and a series of social alternatives. The production covered sex-work, labor, health, and prison in a 45-minute poetry reading that alternated between spoken word and call and response. While the performance art was secondary, it was primarily the most exciting attribute of the show.

Wool felt is something I have never seen on a runway before. I appreciate the ideas that were being expressed with the wool felt. The pieces were highly innovative, despite the lack of diversity in design. Unfortunately, the construction of the pieces were fundamentally lacking in quality; a lamentable theme in this show. The people the artist hired to create his designs were often not the best at  what they did. While it is important to support your friends, and include them in projects; sometimes it is better to go outside your circle and find people that can do a good job quickly and efficiently.

The artist excelled at designing menswear. The menswear was excellent, it was tailored to perfection as long as the models were not wearing the suitjackets. The performance art that went along with the menswear sections was well-thought out and creative. It is my opinion that the artist should direct his focus on creating menswear. Menswear was definitely the high-point of the evenings fashion designs.

Sex-work is a  hot-button issue that is rarely explored, and the artist captured the spirit of the issue in spectacular fashion. "Marx on Sex-work", was the entertaining title for the swimwear portion of the program. Models were dressed in ingenious designs that required careful assembly. Each piece was diverse and equally impractical for actual swimming. .As far as the artistic integrity of the overall composition was concerned, womenswear made interesting statements about sexualization v. sensualization of culture. I was disappointed by the fact that menswear was not included in the swimwear category.

Overall, the performance was entertaining.  The entertainment value made up for the laxity in production quality and development. The presentation was smooth and the soundtrack of beatnik poetry created an authentic amateur production. When Rainer links up with a collective that can help him produce his ideas at a higher level, he will be unstoppable.