Photo: flickrIt's no secret that pain is synonymous with fashion. (Anyone who has ever spent an hour in stilettos can attest to this.) But when did it actually become fashion?
In 2005, Melanie Pullen rocked the fashion world with her book "High Fashion Crime Scenes" in which freshly primped models were photographed, among other things, lying in pools of their own [fake] blood. More recently, designers, photographers, and beauty insiders have continued to push the 'pain envelope' with everything from minor cuts and bruises to charred skin and deep slashes. (When Mitra Khayyam created the website 'Blood is the New Black' to showcase emerging talent in fashion and design, she was definitely on to something.)
'Fashion Crisis' photograph essay by Marilyn Minter
'Let Them Eat Kate' promotion by Agent Provocateur
Blood stained handbag by Dunne & Raby
Models from Galliano's fall/winter 2008 menswear collection 
'Fashion Hurts' photograph at Celeb Style
From 'The Blood Show' by Paco Peregrín and Kattaca
Retro Rebels Cleaver Bag at retrorebels.com
Blood Pillow at fromkeetra.com
'Blood Flower' dress by Mark Liu
Bleeding heart shirt by Comme des Garcon
'Blood Is The New Black' shirt by Milano Chow 
6 comments:
Indulging the dark side can be hazardous to one's health and well-being. It's one thing to know about it; quite another to become enslaved by it. As a fashion statement it screams, "I'm a wounded soul." Definitely not a market that needs to be - or should be - exploited.
I love the artistry of these images. To my eyed, it has a brittle fragility to it. I really don't believe that we'll be seeing this as a trend on the average shopper or that it needs to be taken with such a serious tone
The gruesomeness of it all is intriguing, the way you can't stop looking at a train wreck. I think this is taking the phrase "beauty is painful" to an extreme, though I can relate to have bruised and blistered feet and still wearing heels...bad me!
This is intense.
If we can be motivated to become better stewards of the earth, perhaps we can also be motivated to develop sensibilities for the betterment of the people who inhabit the planet.
Heavy duty. It's an interesting commentary.
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