I have analysed fashion in connection with space in numerous previous posts on this site and this theme came back to my mind a lot after seeing images of the Autumn/Winter 2012-13 collections.
Quite a few designers seemed stuck in Metropolis and Blade Runner land, but, after all, the times we are living in understandably call to mind the dystopic moods of these films (or you may have been reading too much this site...).
Yet for the next Autumn/Winter there has been an emphasis on a specific palette – sky blue and bright tomato red – that mainly appears in one sci-fi film from the ‘50s, Flight to Mars.
Shot in 1951, directed by Leslie Selander and produced by Walter Mirisch, this Cinecolor adventure is a rather pleasant B-movie following the vicissitudes of four American scientists (three men and a woman) and one journalist (Cameron Mitchell, who also worked with Mario Bava) landing on Mars and discovering an underground civilisation living a seemingly luxurious life.
The film, shot - believe it or not - in just five days and somehow inspired by Protazanov’s Aelita (the sensual Martian female scientist the crew meets on Mars is called Alita), is definitely not a realistic reconstruction of a space flight (the crew even wears everyday clothes during the journey and they do not seem to feel any absence of gravity, but sit or stand as they please…), but it mainly features a series of speculations on the life on Mars.
As in most sci-fi films, aliens are evil (though there are a couple of exceptions…) and in this case Martians only pretend they are interested in helping the earthlings, since, running low on their main natural resource called Corium, they are actually planning to steal the astronauts' rocket and conquer Earth. Mars the “red planet” becomes therefore the perfect metaphor for the fear of Communism, very rife when the film was shot.
Among the most visually stimulating elements in this film there aren't the sets, mainly recycled from Rocketship X-M (1950), but some of the costumes, especially the ones donned by the Martian ladies, plus the bright colours and their shifts in intensity.
Bright sky blues and tomato reds first appeared on some of the runways during London Fashion Week. Antonio Berardi moved from Italian sculptor and decorator Giacomo Serpotta, though his main aim wasn’t artistic but sensually functional, since he attempted to sculpt a body-con armour through tailoring.
Shoulders were curved rather than peaked as in the Flight to Mars costumes and hems longer, but the shape-fitting cinched waist dresses, the mix of silk, linen and bouclé that gave the fabric a neoprene-like consistency and the palette, somehow evoked the moods of the film.
There was a futuristic mood in the setting rather than in the clothes at Jonathan Saunders’s since the show had a breathtaking view from the 20th floor of the Broadgate Tower with the sun setting. Sky blues came back in tailored jackets matched with shirts in geometric upholstery graphic prints in acid, contrasting and clashing colours.
Futurism was also injected and reinterpreted in different textures that featured 3-D or quilted/embossed motifs. One orange red dress with a black line sprayed in the middle was almost a tribute to the red planet surrounded by a pitch black universe, while a brown fitted and high-necked dress with black chiffon sleeves bizarrely called to mind one of the mini-dresses donned by a Martian lady (albeit Saunders' looked more elegant and wearable...).
Matthew Williamson and his customer base are more interested in sunny beaches and bohemian life than in space explorations, yet for the next season digital futurism appeared in some of the designer's garments, especially in the square appliquéd glittering mosaic-like sequins scattered on the dresses and calling to mind QR codes and circuits, in the uniform-like organza T-shirts matched with turquoise turtlenecks and iridescent brocade gold skirts, and in the cashmere polonecks worn with ice blue trousers.
Rather than orange red, half of Holly Fulton’s collection came in bright raspberry, but the other half was characterised by an eye-popping turquoise shade.
Her signature Art Deco prints of cityscapes turned this time into stylised images of arched window panes from historical hothouses full of butterflies and tropical flowers (one inspiration for this collection was Lady Chatterley’s Lover, so a gardener’s world, mixed with Edinburgh’s botanic gardens), cutting bold silhouettes on bright sky blue oil-coated silk A-line dresses, turtlenecks, jackets and trousers.
Christopher Kane’s collection started in a sombre, almost gothic mood, with trousers, knee-length leather skirts and matching jackets in black and white pinstripes.
Then dark blue and blood red were mixed with black to create oily moiré effects in shifts with leather piping at the hems and shoulders. Orange red tulle mesh was used as the background for sheath-like dresses with velvet flowers belted with black leather cording and a tomato red appeared in the electric wire-like decorations forming intricate patterns on cashmere knits.
There weren’t too many bright colours on the Milan runways, but space iridescences, holograms and silver metallics appeared in two rather excessive collections, Anna Molinari’s Blumarine and Byblos'.
Molinari’s label is traditionally known for its bright colours and the Flight to Mars palette made an appearance in Mongolian fur jackets in an assortment of excessively bright and bold shades including blue and orange matched with all white ski suits (bizarrely calling to mind the colour paletteof the Martians’ space suits in Flight to Mars, that were actually recycled from another early '50s sci-fi movie, Destination Moon).
The inspiration for Byblos’ Autumn-Winter 2012-2013 collection was actually life on Mars interpreted via dresses and knits with graphic 3-D effects, reflective leather jackets and garments with cocooning silhouettes built to protect the wearer’s body and made using thermal fusion fabric welding.
Yet while this was the more commercial side of the Flight to Mars palette in Milan, there was also the commercial yet more refined side at Marni and Giorgio Armani’s.
Consuelo Castiglioni focused on linearity and architectural moods influenced by the ‘60s employing a bold colour palette. Red appeared not only in the coats and capes but also in the tops and the platform shoes with their gold tipped toes, while sky blue in its paler incarnation was applied to a graphic straight line dress.
A splash of bright red (just one…) added a cheerful note to Emporio Armani’s collection, returning in Armani’s main line transformed in a peach shade.
Entitled “Easy Chic” and focused on androgynous and masculine clothes that still allow women to preserve their femininity, the collection focused on tailored suits and dresses matched with hats perched at an angle.
There were no sky blues, but a lot of vibrant orange, peach, corals and pinks. These shades first appeared in liquid tops, then extended to swingy skirts, A-line dresses and fur jackets, infiltrating also in the details, from the gloves to the bags and the flat shoes.
The final section of the collection with crystals elaborately shining on black or orange backgrounds, reminded in a way the shots of meteors travelling in space in Flight to Mars.
Paris Fashion Week has just started and the Flight to Mars palette has already made an appearance here and there, at Rue du Mail and See by Chloé.
The focus at Martine Sitbon’ Rue du Mail was on macramé lace, laser-cut bouclé and lattice work, but the most interesting section of the collection included red and black dresses with cut-outs revealing white beneath.
At See by Chloé’s - launched via the Digital Fashion Shows platform (so a further connection with futurism....) - there was more emphasis on soft and fluid lines with materials such as silk georgette and viscose employed for blouses and dresses with soft pleats.
When you sit down and think you realise that, more than the palette, one of the most interesting connections between an early sci-fi film and fashion is the absence of any kind of realism in both of them.
Flight to Mars was a total fantasy, but today’s fashion industry is more or less a glamorous lie full of sound and fury (think about how many collections are designed, how many are presented, how many are produced and how many actually sell…). So, if you think like me that space is a much more comforting place compared to planet Earth, you will be happy to hear that Mars may not be so unreachable in future.
Last November NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover slated to land on the Red Planet in August 2012.
The rover will investigate Mars' potential to host life, and, while you can be sure that during its researches it will never meet sensual ladies in blue mini-skirts, it will hopefully send us back scientifically vital information regarding the planet's ability to sustain microbial life and also some inspiring images for more fantastical cinematic or fashionable flights to Mars.
With thanks to the Kutmusic archives for providing me with two copies of Flight to Mars for my screenshots.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
