History & Practice Session VIII: Fashion Editorial Storytelling

​Esquire

I decided to choose an article from Men's fashion magazine Esquire featuring the members of the South Korean boy-band BTS titled The Boundless Optimism of BTS. The narrative of the article conveys their global success in the music industry as well as the many traditional views they are challenging along their journey.

While the group's main audience is that of a young demographic, the majority of which is female, this article exposes their story to a more mainstream demographic of primarily men. The piece focuses on challenging traditional masculinity, a crucial message to the male audience of the magazine as many reading may be able to relate and learn a lot from it. It also highlights the return of vintage fashion through the outfit choices.

Some of the outfits included in the shoot feature clothing styled in what would be considered traditionally feminine. BTS are notorious for breaking gender norms with their fashion choices, making them an ideal choice for this article to help forward the movement. With the increasing representation fighting against the toxic masculinity in the media, it helps dispel the stigma of men wanting to express themselves in a less traditionally masculine way to a point where in future it could become the norm.

The photoshoot images taken for the article show the members of the band with the majority of them wearing clothing from different popular fashion brands, showcasing the recent movement of 70's style fashion making a return. The photos taken show the fluidity of the models, capturing movement in the images. The choice of making the photographs black and white creates a sense of sophistication and historical importance. In addition, this decision further emphasizes the return to more vintage trends due to black and white photographs being mainly associated to the times before colour film was invented. The individual shots of the models are collaged together, further emphasizing the movement within and reflecting the global movement they are creating. 

There are two locations used when it come to this photoshoot, a clear alleyway and an empty studio. The simplicity of the locations focuses the viewers' attention on the models in the image rather than their surroundings. The bare walls of inside the building further emphasise the vintage theme and rustic tone.

Vogue

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many large events have had to have either be cancelled or rearranged in order to meet safety guidelines. The article I chose from Vogue titled Go Behind the Scenes at the Jacquemus Spring 2021 Show, showcasing the slow return of fashion shows that have been like no other. Rather than being confined to one dark room with a simple runway, fashion labels have had to be creative with how they were going to present their new clothing lines. Since they couldn't have large groups of people in one room, Simon Porte Jacquemus decided to move his show even further off-grid to Us, a charming Val-d’Oise village outside of Paris where photographer duo Écoute Chérie were able to document the event. 

The choice to move the Spring show out to a village known for its fertile soil for farming allowed incredibly picturesque shots to be taken, bringing life and nature to the runway. The endless fields of wheat add a rural feel to the clothing, as though they belong there in that environment. By bringing the fashion out to open land, it evokes ideas of freedom and discovery reminiscent of times pre-covid giving hope that this is the beginning of its return.

The models selected show diversity, something that is not particularly well represented in the fashion industry and helps the brand feel more inclusive to its viewers. The simple white rectangle helps frame the models as though they were in a painting, encapsulating them into their own world. 

​Rather than the yellow clothing getting lost in the similar toned field, it further emphases those bright tones of the fabric.  The dark blue of the sky adds to the contrast of the soft yellows, bringing them to the forefront of the image.