But Where Does it All Come From?

Finding myself in a bit of a design rut this morning I took to flicking through some old magazines and came across an interesting article in Oyster that got me thinking about how the designers and artists of the world stay inspired.  It's not always an easy thing to be inspired.  Sometimes it comes naturally and at other times you have search really hard for it, often feeling less inspired than when you began.  So from what do all the magical, inspired and unbelievable fashion shows come?  How do photographers and artists continually find new ways to express themselves when they feel that perhaps there is simply nothing left to express?

The article was titled 'Fashion Freaks Make the World Go Round' (Oyster Australia issue 57) and gave a quick run down of the quirky personalities of some well known fashion profiles who have come to be known in part due to their eccentricity and fearless attitude to fashion. Featuring avant-garde style queens, Anna Piaggi and Isabella Blow, influential fashion faces, Andre Leon Talley and Karl Lagerfeld, as well as Amanda LePore - the muse of artist David LaChapelle - this article featured the weird and the wonderful of the creative worlds.  The idea of the 'muse' in art and fashion has always played a major role in informing creative works and providing impetus for new ideas as well as a source of personal inspiration for the artist or designer.  The muse provides an open source from which designers can freely borrow, share and find inspiration without having to rely solely on their own experiences and emotions.

The relationship of a muse to a designer is an interesting connection of trust, inspiration and influence.  While designers cannot borrow style and ideas from other designers, the muse can help to form these facets of a label or a collection in a sharing of creative direction and intellectual property.  A free flow of information and interests between a designer and their muse results in the clear development of a brand identity.  The result, is that we get consistency.  The direction of a brand feeds from the label's muse and dissipates into who the brand is designed for.  Before Paris, Milan and New York fashion weeks begin we already know which shows we desperately need to see shots from.  We can rely that our favourite label from the last few seasons will still provide a collection for us to swoon over and it's this 'brand identity' that makes us continually keep coming back for more.  Which is exactly what keeps fashion ticking over and is exactly why the next few posts will look at the weird and wonderful muses which have influenced some of the most well known designers.