Think of some exaggerated, think of something extravagant, think of something theatrical. You got it? If so, you are thinking about the “Camp“ aesthetic, the neologism that is currently fashionable and that marks a trend toward maximalism.

What is the Camp? It is not an easy concept to approach at a theoretical level, perhaps aesthetically it is understood much better. Nor is it a new term, but a succession of ideas that draw it. Its conception comes from an essay by the writer Susan Sontag of 1964 entitled ‘Notes on Camp’ , a publication that deals with this artistic expression that reveals itself as a complex aesthetic that embraces multiple disciplines . The camp is defined as an ironic, humorous, artificial, theatrical, exaggerated movement … which is positioned between the highest art and popular culture. Between the divine and the earthly. The beautiful and the ugly that is exuberant but stylized. Sontag’s writings argue that camp is “love for the unnatural: artifice and exaggeration. Style at the expense of content. “

“Camp goes beyond kitsch: suggests combining art and pop culture”

For example, Sontag found this aesthetic phenomenon, for example, in the films of Busby Berkeley and actor Victor Mature, in the Maw West and General de Gaulle films, in Swan Lake, in the Flash Gordon comics, in the tenebrist paintings of Caravaggio, in the chinoiserie style and in the entire Art Nouveau movement. The writer and essayist breaks down in 58 points all the possible acceptances of the term with clear allusions to the cinema, literature, painting or architecture. Regarding the field of fashion, Sontag also notes explicit references: “Camp is a woman walking with a dress made with three million feathers.”

Precisely this week opens in The Metropolitan Museum of Art the exhibition that shapes this whole phenomenon through more than 250 objects that date from the 17th century to the present. An exhibition that explores the origins of this exuberant aesthetics and has a sponsorship luxury that is leading precisely one of the firms most aligned with this movement: Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele represents n now a new inspiration from Camp in the XXI century.

Where does the Camp come from?

Susan Sontag It situates its origins in the seventeenth century in the French court under the reign of Louis XIV. The same Sun King built Versailles, a powerful fortress and a dazzling showcase for the nobility to be gathered for enjoyment and enjoyment of the monarch. They went to the ostentatious rooms of Versailles where a protocol and demands for clothing for the king and his court were elaborated, which forced to squander large sums of money to keep up appearances. Literally.

At the death of Louis XIV flourished the Rococo style in fashion, characterized by excess, volumes, architectural and mammoth silhouettes that served mainly for the ornament, accompanied by accessories, ties, embroidery, wigs … that enhanced this artificiality. The opulence reached its peak around 1770. After some anecdotal incursions in the 19th century, the word gained popularity at the beginning of the 20th century among homosexuals of the time, where they found in the Camp all a language full of meanings. An accessory in particular, a fabric in a shoe, a tight-fitting clothing, a certain color. Later, Andy Warhol was also inspired by the term to make it his own within pop culture. Designers like Elsa Schiaparelli , Jean- Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Erdem, Cristobal Balenciaga and Thom Browne enter the Camp, as well as the new generation as Molly Goddard , Richard Quinn, Matty Bovan or Palomo Spain, to name a few. In the exhibition “Camp: Notes on Fashion “is also cited other emblematic and legendary designers such as Paul Poiret, Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld through various dresses and looks that make up the exhibition.

Lo Camp at the MET Gala

As an aperitif to the exhibition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York received the most stylish celebrities and philanthropists on the planet in the traditional festival Anna Wintour organizes each year: the MET Gala that is celebrated every first Monday of May in this emblematic New York location. A solidary party that is equated with the Oscars at the media level. Thus, with a cloud of flashes on the pink carpet and the hashtag # MetCamp on social networks, the invited media exhibited their extravagant outfits inspired, as it could not be otherwise, in the theme of the exhibition, Camp: Notes on Fashion. In fact, it was the British Andrew Bolton, chief curator of the Institute of Clothing, responsible for choosing the theme.

In addition to the famous editor of the ubiquitous Vogue USA, the party counted as hosts with Alessandro Michele leading Gucci, pop queen Lady Gaga, singer Harry Styles and tennis player Serena Williams.

Between this popular parade of vanities there were successes and mistakes, the theme is not easy precisely. Many were the looks that surprised us and we will cite some that inspired us as, for example, the performance that Lady Gaga did with her stunning fuchsia dress by Brandon Maxwell that was removed little by little, with two other changes to stay at the end with a lingerie set, some fishnet stockings and platform boots. Or the light that Katy Perry brought dressed in a candelabra, a work by Moschino. De Gucci were many celebrities, although Jared Leto stood out, posing with a replica of his head as the models of the Italian firm did in their fall-winter 2018 fashion show. The Cara Delevinge top appeared with an amazing Dior multicolored couture inspired by bow -iris. The actor Billy Porter, known for the Pose series, gave the audience a golden moment by presenting himself as an authentic Egyptian deity. The actress and singer Zendaya became a modern Cinderella by grace of Tommy Hilfiger or the always risky Janelle Monae was visited as a work of art thanks to the designer Christian Siriano.

Many were the proposals in one of the most unforgettable nights of the year where creativity was given free rein. Indeed, feathers were not missing either. From Gratacós we have also been inspired by the fabrics that suggest this Camp aesthetic under the motto: L or artificial as a trend.

Barcelona launches at the Museum of History of Catalonia the exhibition Moda i modistes, a show that extols the craft of fashion designers and their contribution to fashion throughout the 20th century. This traditional and craft occupation was carried out by women who represented at the time a platform for female emancipation in the workplace, with regard to both business and creativity. It was an activity, connected with fashion, that helped develop the textile and commerce industry of the time. Their intensive work has always required knowledge, skill and dedication, and sometimes all this know-how has remained in the shade, apart from the big names of design and brands. For this reason Moda i modistes represents a broad look at the work and career of many women who have remained anonymous apart from in the spoken memories of their immediate family or traditional clientele.

The exhibition is divided into several sections, where the profession develops through the history of clothing, social changes with the emancipation of women and the evolution and know-how of the trade during the past century to this day. Below, we will give you a brief summary of what can be seen in this sample.

Needle workers

Women managed to claim their own space in the art of making dresses at the end of the 19th century. Before it was a trade reserved for tailors, and women hardly had access to clothing if it was not via their family or as collaborators. It was at this time and in the first decade of the twentieth century, when the work of dressmaker became one of the main forms of employment of women in the workplace, apart from factory work and among certain other professions such as teaching

Dressmaking spread because to learn the trade one did not necessarily have to go to any school, but it was sufficient to learn in a workshop or even self-taught from manuals of dressmaking , and also because this learning offered the possibility of working independently once the technique was mastered.

This time also coincided with the beginning of feminism and the birth of several initiatives aimed at protecting workers in the sector.

Dressmaker by profession, an expanding trade

Dressmakers represented a very varied group that were often outside the guilds and workers’ organizations: they could work in a small workshop of their own, in that of an established dressmaker, in a haute couture house or go to sew in private homes. In the trade there were many categories, depending on the skill, good taste, and, above all, the clientele they had.

Until prêt-à-porter expanded globally many dressmakers needed to make clothing for the different social classes. The capitals of province and county and large cities brought together a large number of dressmakers, but also each small town and each town had its dressmakers, with a very loyal clientele. In the scale of the trade there were many categories, from the caretaker who also worked as dressmaker, because she had enough time at work, to renowned dressmakers, alternatively those with a humble clientele, those who worked for others, whether at home or in the different workshops, those that did their sewing at home, those that had a certain reputation, though not a label, either out of discretion or to save money, or those that, with the pride of a job well done, put their name on each piece.

And what were their sources of inspiration? As a general rule dressmakers were more followers than non-creators and interpreted in their own way the fashion trends of each decade and, in turn, adapted it to the tastes, size and different economic means of each client. The magazines, the parades where the trends of each season were made known, the cinema, with the irruption of iconic stars and the street were constant sources of inspiration.

In fact, from the work done by the dressmakers, you can review the fashion of almost the entire 20th century until prêt-à-porter became consolidated. The haute couture houses of Paris, Milan or Barcelona dictated the trends, they invented models and had a reduced and elitist production. Dressmakers, who were then counted in thousands, were the main customers of the textile industry because they bought or recommended buying fabrics and materials fabrics for their clientele. This in turn favoured commerce, generated income in the big fashion-houses by buying patterns and glasilla, encouraged workshops specializing in embroidery and pleats, generated jobs in a process of development of the craft down to the present day.

The legacy stays alive

Times have changed and today this profession is the strength of yesteryear. Even so, the legacy of dressmakers is still alive, it has simply been transformed. The new dressmakers continue to make clothing adjustments for stores and individuals, they also work for clothing factories and carry out pattern making and prototypes for large companies that are then manufactured outside. In parallel, there has also emerged a new generation of young designers offering a limited handicraft product which is a counter to industrial production on a large scale and of dubious quality. The work of these dressmakers is to revalue hand-made fashion, personalization and exclusive garments for a customer who values ​​the art and effort that goes into hand-made garments.

The exhibition Moda i Modistes opens today at the Museum of History of Catalonia and can be visited until 13th October 2019. It is a good opportunity to discover the legacy and evolution of this craftsmanship centennial.

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London pays tribute to Mary Quant (England 1930), living legend of fashion and guilty of stirring a whole era: the 60s with a garment of the most irreverent, the miniskirt. Although the authorship of such garment is disputed with the French couturier André Courrèges, “the mother of the miniskirt” knew how to popularize it and bring it closer to the whole world. “The goal of fashion is to make clothing available to everyone,” he used to remember. Now the Victoria & Albert museum praises this designer who revolutionized the fashion scene in that boiling decade so that the new generations know their great contribution up close. In the words of Jenny Lister, one of the curators of the exhibition, “Mary Quant is known as the architect of the democratization of fashion in the United Kingdom”.

The origin of the miniskirt is connected to the music, dance and urban fashion of the moment. It is said that he was born at the end of the 50s in North America and to dance the new rhythms of swing and rock, the skirts little by little were shortened. Who captured this progressive regression and this change was Quant, who in 1955 opened a small boutique called Bazaar in the street of King’s Road in the Chelsea neighborhood. To give visibility, Quant was among the first to adopt this garment that exposed the legs, knees and some calves, a real scandal in an era where conventions were challenged. Little by little, from her small store in London, the designer caught the attention of young people and the industry she saw in her miniskirts and brightly colored breastplates and brilliant finishes a glimpse of rebellion, transgression and freshness, three concepts that linked with the way of thinking of the new generations.

Mary Quant is the architect of the democratization of fashion in the United Kingdom

Quant had no specialized training in fashion and in fact her creations were the result of a personal apprenticeship that included experimentation with different materials. It was that courage and rebellious attitude that seduced the industry and became a reference for women of the time. Along with the modelTwiggy, Mary Quant made this short garment became the trademark not only of his clothing brand but also for a decade. A symbol was born. So much was his success that, in 1966, Queen Elizabeth II granted him the medal of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to fashion, a distinction he picked up in Buckingham wearing one of his miniskirts.

The exhibition exposes 200 pieces in which the colorful and innovative identity of the British designer is reflected. It includes the famous skirts along with other designs, as well as accessories and cosmetics, in a striking chronological journey that covers from 1955 to 1975. Among accessories and dresses, the museum also collects a selection of clothing and photos of anonymous women wearing the designs of Quant which shows the importance of the miniskirt for a decade’s fashion. The exhibition will be open to the public until February 16, 2020.

Sorry, this entry is only available in European Spanish.

Sorry, this entry is only available in European Spanish.

The Colour Community has just presented the new report of colours and materials that will influence the Autumn-Winter season 2020-2021 in the world of design and fashion. The initiative, led by three colour professionals , was presented, as usual, in the Old Estrella Damm Factory in Barcelona  before the watchful eye of a hundred enthusiasts from the sector. We remind you that the founding team is made up of the architect Pere Ortega , the designer specialized in Colour & Trim , Eva Muñoz ; and Rosa Pujol , Textile & Colour Stylist from Gratacós . In each issue new partners are added to this “mother team”who bring their vision and help shape the new range of colours and materials that will inspire the new season. It is an initiative that is repeated twice a year and that has our support. ” Gratacós always has the doors open to our fashion- area, for every lover of fabric, texture and colour,” declares Juan Gratacós at the beginning of the presentation of the report .

Juan Gratacós : ” Our fashion-area is always open to lovers of fabric, textures and colour”

On this occasion the season is based on the concept of ‘ Multiple ‘ and consists of a reflection in a positive key about the future society where the line between the real and the virtual will be more diffuse than ever . ” Currently  this virtual reality exists on social networks or in videogames  but little by little it will become as tangible as what we now call reality,” explains Pere Ortega in presenting the report. The ‘ Multiple ‘ proposal , in turn, is articulated through four colour ranges and materials which are named On , Inside , Balanced and Metronome .

Pere Ortega: “Currently this virtual reality exists on social networks or in videogames but little by little, it will become as tangible as what we now call reality”

1.- On

The first inspiration appeals to dynamism, to the creation of a dialogue with new realities that are virtual. It is a dynamic and versatile range that creates products connected to the human being in a digital environment. The shades chosen to conceptualize it are the cold ones in their most attractive version: metallic greys, iridescents, smoky blues, bright blacks and touches of yellow that play in contrast. The range of industrial and futuristic themes plays with plastic, oily materials, straight and curved architectural lines and artificial shapes. Fantasy under control.

2. Inside

The second range is more dense and theatrical than the first. It works with the realities that look back at the past, in a kind of retrospective. The shades that are used to give it shape are the browns, purples, deep blues and the metallic range that always appears in each of the four inspirations as a common link.  Floral prints, organic shapes, sinuous lines, elements of nature, upholstery … all these elements influence this intimate range that takes as its model the baroque of Versailles in its most contemporary version.

3. Balanced

The third inspiration is based on the concept of balance and chromatic harmonies. It is a modest range that is inspired by the shapes and textures of nature and works with craftsmanship in a very folky way. The predominant colours refer to autumn: the beiges, earth-coloured , whites, metallics and forest greens mixed with vibrant blues.  Rough surfaces,skins, the most basic geometric elements and tribal influence are also treated in this folk range.

4. Metronome

Finally, the fourth inspiration is based on the metronome’s rhythm, with elements in movement that follow its beat: it is a work of colours that come and go and in turn play on the contrasts. This range belongs to the world of the city: it is urban, cosmopolitan and youthful. It is inspired by all the multiplicity of people, tribes and individuals that coexist within the same community. There are plenty of grey shades, silver and metallic details on smooth surfaces that contrast with graphic elements and arty patterns. Denim and overlays of garments, understood as a show of expression, configure the different identities that make up the same city.

Are you ready to play? To play the game in its broadest sense. The game as fun, where there is space for experimentation mixed with hints of entertainment and large doses of curiosity. In this new season that we are premiering we pay homage to leisure, to recreation, to freedom in a collection that is inspired, as could not be otherwise, by the concept of ‘ Play ‘. It is a presentation which is both sophisticated and casual, which focuses on colour, movement with light fabrics and craftsmanship for the warmer months of the year. This Spring-Summer 2019 collection has a large dose of creativity and ingenuity on the part of our design team, who make Gratacós a luxury fabric company with a defined style and personality. So let’s enjoy the latest creation we have prepared with the intention once again to surprise and excite. Let’s play together: Let’s play!

“Play is a sophisticated and casual presentation which at the same time goes for colour, movement and craftsmanship”

General concept

‘Play’ is a sympathetic collection that seeks at first glance to combine apparent simplicity with products that are attractive and appealing. It is an aesthetic presentation based on timeless articles far away from extravagance and artificiality, but these have to provide a distinctive feature, a certain personality. We are not seeking the versatile and basic, which is somewhat insipid, but rather to give it a creative turn. In parallel we are bringing back the characteristic features of folk culture and opting for craftsmanship to present traditional fabrics with rustic aspects and manual details.

“We are seeking to combine apparent simplicity with attractive and seductive products at first glance”

Fabrics

The objective of this collection is to revitalize the luxury of textures and materials. To achieve the new basics we use impeccable fabrics with clean and serene appearances. We also go for colourful Jacquards with tactile reliefs, fluid fabrics of silk or polyester of delicate appearance, gauzes with transparencies, dense satins, iridescent materials that captive the light or floral prints of watercolors. At the same time, within the folk trend, we are bringing back granular textures, fibrous and light aspects that show the relief through the thread-work, the hand-made reliefs and the embroidery with motifs inspired by nature.

“We are revitalizing the luxury of textures and materials”

Colours

The range of colours evolves from the natural to the artificial. Thus pastel shades and soft,sweet shades give way to the most vivid colours in a smooth transition and in a key feminine way . The most vibrant tones are used for details. ‘Play’ is also a collection dedicated to light, that’s why it also opts for the iridescent, transparent and nacreous with a nod and a wink to things nautical.

Discover some inspirations in our new lookbook Spring – Summer 2019! click here.

Sorry, this entry is only available in European Spanish.

Pink is no longer just a colour traditionally attributed to femininity, charm or politeness. The shade that comes from the name of a flower has been stripped of its delicate attributes to present brand new symbolisms that evoke courage, strength or bravery. Pink Power has arrived in the fashion industry. We are not talking about just any pink. This shade of pink refers to a shocking pink, the strong and bright pink that has something of violet and that the colour experts call “magenta “.

Did you know…

Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli , who brought the ideas of surrealist painters to fashion, launched a new colour in 1931: shocking pink , a mixture of magenta and a hint of white (similar to fuchsia),a colour that the designer used in fashion to provoke and challenge the established norms. In parallel he also created a perfume with the same name and it was sold in a box of that colour, inside which was a bottle with the shape of a female bust. This launch literally left the audience in shock because nobody had believed that pink could be so aggressive. This pink does not have any of the traditional feminine qualities.

The pink revolution

Pink is and still is in vogue. Apart from the shade linked to a generation, millennial pink, the fashion industry has taken advantage of the pull of popularity of this controversial colour to increase the presence of the shade in clothes, complements and accessories with its brightness and a certain rebelliousness. Pink shows charisma. It was not for nothing that it was one of the favourite colours displayed on the red carpet of the 2019 Oscars. And it is well-known that on the most powerful and influential red carpet in the world there is nothing left to chance.

The actress Julia Roberts wore pink when she presented the award for best film ‘Green Book’ clad in a dress by Elie Saab, a design with asymmetrical cut, gathered at the waist and low with ruffles of different length that put the finishing touch to the gala. Also in vibrant pink was the much- commented styling of Linda Cardellini signed by Schiaparelli made in tulle with V-neckline, asymmetric length and a delicate tail that extended along the floor. Or the stunning design by Valentino with a raised neck worn by British actress and model Gemma Chan.

Pink was also the favourite color for Sarah Paulson, the actress of ‘American Horror Story ‘ who succumbed to its power with an expansive dress with a cut- out opening by Brandon Maxwell. For her part the British actress Helen Mirren wore a flowing dress by Schiaparelli, a creation with V-shaped neckline and ruching at the waist that played with different intensities of pink. Angela Basset, one of the actresses in the film ‘Black Panther ‘ also opted for the brightest and most metallic version of this colour in a ReemAcra model with asymmetric neckline.

There is no doubt that pink will give us much to talk about in 2019.