#i was watching a 21 minute long video about the history of sears while making this

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i wanted to post this alongside something else because i dont think its good enough to have its own post but i couldnt find anything else so just have it i guess

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#Blog New Post has been published on http://www.titoslondon.co.uk/reliving-michael-jacksons-fashion-legacy/

Reliving Michael Jackson’s fashion legacy

Ever since he burst into the public consciousness aged 11 with the Jackson Five, few artists have been as boundary-smashing and revolutionary as Michael Jackson. His 1982 album Thriller ushered in the golden age of music video with its 12-minute short film for the title track, and since then the record has reportedly shifted more than 105 million copies globally—passing 33 times the platinum mark in the US to become the highest certified album in history. The image of him dancing in his red leather jacket was seared onto the minds of a generation.

Now, nine years after his untimely death from a cardiac arrest in 2009 (and coinciding with what would have been his 60th birthday), the London National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Michael Jackson: On The Wall examines the phenomenon of Jackson as depicted by 40 artists including Kehinde Wiley, Maggi Hambling, Grayson Perry and David LaChapelle.

Director Nicholas Cullinan first conceived the idea for the show ten years ago while working on a Tate exhibition of Andy Warhol (coincidentally the first artist to depict Jackson in the 1980s). “It’s unique that one artist can represent so many different things to so many different people,” says Cullinan. “He was almost a meme before they were invented. His essence is distilled in costume, gesture and fashion—he can be recognised in all these different parts, it’s extraordinary.”

Nowhere is this more evident than in a portrait by the artist Kaws, which shows Jackson in his iconic jacket with the white gloves that will forever be associated with him. As Kaws puts it in the accompanying catalogue, “I loved how he could take a normal article of clothing such as a white glove or a red leather jacket and claim them as elements of his identity.”

Over the course of his career, Jackson would collaborate with designers including Gianni Versace (who dressed him for a duet with Paul McCartney and for his HIStory tour) and in later years, Hedi Slimane and Riccardo Tisci. Unlike chameleonic fellow superstars Bowie and Madonna however, Jackson kept the core components of his look—gloves, ornate military jackets and white socks paired with black loafers—remarkably consistent.

While his impact on fashion can still be felt today—designers as diverse as Supreme, Olivier Rousteing of Balmain and Philip Treacy have paid direct tribute to him in recent years—it’s easy to forget that at the time it marked a form of rebellion. As Jackson said himself in his 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk, “My attitude is if fashion says it’s forbidden, I’m going to do it.”

Vogue speaks to some of the musician’s closest collaborators about the evolution of his style.

Michael Bush, costume designer

Over the course of a 25-year collaboration with Jackson which began on the set of the 1986 film Captain EO and continued until his death (even extending to dressing him for his funeral), no designers helped cement Jackson’s image in the public’s mind as much as Michael Bush and his partner, the late Dennis Tompkins.

More than costumiers, they became his personal couturiers, responsible for crafting many of the sartorial innovations of his career—from the “Thriller” jacket made for his 1987-89 Bad tour, which contained 11,000 lightbulbs that pulsated to the beat of the song, to the patented “lean shoes” that allowed Jackson to lean forward by 45 degrees (all lovingly documented in Bush’s 2012 book, The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson).

The clothes they made for Jackson had to fulfil what Bush refers to as the “Four Fs of dressing Michael Jackson: Fit, Function, Fun and First.” Famously a perfectionist, Jackson would constantly challenge the duo to greater heights of technical mastery for his stage performances. “He expected no more from anyone else than he expected from himself,” says Bush, “and Dennis and I took on that challenge and tried our best to pay attention to designing his stage clothes for maximum movement.” These items of clothing became both a reflection of and a companion to his music, contributing to a greater whole. “Michael Jackson didn’t follow fashion. Fashion followed him.”

Swarovski

If there was an item of clothing that would go on to take a larger-than-life significance in Jackson’s career, it would be the single white glove he first wore on his left hand during a now-classic performance of “Billie Jean” in 1983. Encrusted with 1,200 Swarovski crystals, it was made by Jackson’s original costume designer, Bill Whitten. Recalls Nadja Swarovski of her family’s association with him, “The first time Michael performed the moonwalk, he wore a crystal-embellished shirt, crystal socks and, of course, the crystal glove all made with Swarovski crystal. It apparently took 40 hours to hand-sew the crystals onto it.”

While Swarovski has a long heritage of collaborating with stars, from Madonna to Beyoncé, working with Jackson was especially thrilling. “Michael Jackson was an unrivalled icon—he was totally unique and constantly innovative in both musical and fashion terms.”

Rushka Bergman, stylist and contributing fashion editor, Vogue Italia

Serbian stylist Rushka Bergman first came into contact with Jackson in 2007 when she and the photographer Bruce Weber shot him for a special editorial in L’Uomo Vogue, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Thriller. “When I saw Michael for the first time, I was very nervous, but he was kind, shy and special,” says Bergman. “My fondest memory was of watching him dance the moonwalk and robot walk on our photo shoot in front of Bruce Weber’s camera. The whole crew was dancing together, singing and crying. It was magic.”

In 2008, she would go on to become Jackson’s creative consultant and stylist, commissioning designers including Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy, Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme and John Galliano to create outfits for This is It!, Jackson’s intended comeback tour. “My goal was to bring his status as a fashion icon back again,” she says. “Michael had a perfect body for clothes and in precisely tailored Balmain jackets and Dior Homme pants you could feel his sex appeal coming back. He looked like a rock star and a sex symbol again.”

Bergman hopes to one day exhibit the 120 couture looks she created for that ill-fated tour, but in the meantime she has continued maintained her connection with Jackson, recently working with his daughter, Paris. “She reminds me of her father a lot,” says Bergman. “Michael would be so proud to see his daughter rising up as a superstar.”

Balmain

Olivier Rousteing’s recent spring/summer 2019 show was a direct homage to Jackson, but Balmain’s relationship with the singer began ten years ago when its previous creative director, Christophe Decarnin, was commissioned by Bergman to create outfits for the This is It! tour. Bergman met with the then head of womenswear, Nikola Vasari to select looks from Balmain’s spring/summer 2009 show to be specially made for Jackson.

Jackson fell in love with with the ten sketches Vasari did for the project. “At the time we hadn’t heard from him in some time so it was very exciting,” recalls Vasari. He set to work adapting the collection for Jackson’s “tiny frame”, adding embellishment to jackets and biker jeans. Though his work would not see the light of day following Jackson’s death, he still recounts it as “an amazing experience. We were supposed to go to the premiere and the news of him passing was really a shock. But those songs will last for ever.”

Philip Treacy

During London Fashion Week in September 2012, Philip Treacy staged his first show in eight years beneath the arches of the Royal Courts of Justice. Lady Gaga acted as mistress of ceremonies and introduced an all-black cast modelling stage outfits from Michael Jackson’s archive, topped off with Treacy’s extraordinary millinery creations; they included a glove hat worn by Alek Wek and a hat that resembled a miniature carousel, complete with blazing lights.

Treacy was keen to do an African-themed show. “One day I was playing Michael Jackson’s music and ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ came on, and I thought, ‘That’s it,’” he recalls. “This show was about Africa getting rich, and Michael Jackson was rich and he indulged his sensibilities when he dressed up.” When he called LA auction house Julien’s Auctions hoping to borrow a glove, they offered to lend him Bush and Tompkins’ entire archive for Jackson, which was due to be auctioned off in December.

Seeing the wardrobe for the first time was “breathtaking”, says Treacy. “They hummed with energy. These clothes were part of his persona. They were 21st-century pop relics.” The show, which was dedicated to Treacy’s friends and mentors Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow, was rapturously received—which he puts down to the enduring power of Jackson’s image. “He was the ultimate showman of our generation. He had more mystique and talent than anyone else. He was the ultimate example of an image-aware entertainer. His clothes were messages to his fans.”

1/21 Michael Jackson

Image: Neugerriemschneider

Michael Jackson on the Illuminating Path in 1998

Image: David LaChapelle

Michael Jackson, 1984

Image: Andy Warhol National Portrait Gallery

Equestrian portrait of King Philip II, 2009

Image: Kehinde Wiley Stephen Friedman Gallery

Elizabeth Taylor's closet

Image: Regen Projects

Portrait of Michael Jackson for Interview Magazine

Image: KAWS

Michael Jackson's dinner jacket, designed by Michael Lee Bush

Image: John Branca

Michael Jackson

Image: Graham Dolphin

Michael Jackson

Image: Insight Editions

Michael Jackson's jacket

Image: Insight Editions

Michael Jackson

Image: Insight Editions

Autographed painting of Michael Jackson

Image: Insight Editions

Michael Jackson

Image: Insight Editions

Michael Jackson's Swarovski glove

Image: Getty

Michael Jackson

Image: Getty

This Is It costumes by Rushka Bergman

Image: Getty

Sketches by former Balmain designer, Nikola-Vasari

Image: Balmain

Ensemble from Philip Treacy's spring/summer 2013 collection, inspired by Michael Jackson

Image: Getty

Michael Jackson on the 'Dangerous' Tour

Image: Getty

Ensemble from Philip Treacy's spring/summer 2013 collection, inspired by Michael Jackson

Image: Getty

Michael Jackson on the 'HIStory' Tour, also pictured with Madonna

Image: Getty

Michael Jackson: On the Wall is at the National Portrait Gallery from June 28 to October 21, 2018

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