Basic Homme

or 'Spread Your Legs'










Polo dress Comme des Garçons Homme Plus
Jacket Comme des Garçons Homme Plus

The gradual is the rationale behind fashion. Dressing accordingly to the trends and times is, per definition, unfashionable. Prolonging the men's dress therefore is a never-ending cycle of right-not-right which makes it a classic already.
/HORST

ER - A - (S...)ER

1. Michael Krebber Systemic Relevance, 2014
2. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 1998
3. Jil Sander Spring/Summer 1996
4. Ed Ruscha Rabbit, 1986

Flying from Krebber to Ruscha via Sander. For obvious reasons, I am still faithful to the brand. Although left anonymous now. But besides all personality talk, it is the moment and concept that count.
/HORST

Paths Towards Modernity II

A fictive documentary in art and fashion.

1. Georg Baselitz Familienbild Ancora, 2009
2. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2007
3. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2007
4. Georg Baselitz Victor Brauner Besucht Dix, 2008
5. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2000
6. Georg Baselitz Und Die Ganze Folklore, 2009
7. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2011
8. Georg Baselitz Besuch In Ekely, 2005
9. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2011
10. Georg Baselitz Ekely, 2004
11. Jil Sander 1990
12. Georg Baselitz Untitled, 1998
13. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2004
14. Georg Baselitz Elke I, 1975
15. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2003
16. Georg Baselitz Tränenkopf, 1986
17. Georg Baselitz Gut Grau, 2009
18. Jil Sander 1966

Georg Baselitz and Jil Sander/Raf Simons share a rawness, immediacy and severity. Mostly depicting/proposing men in suits and women in primary colour dresses. They are minimalist, restrained and, yet, messed up. The purity of imperfection.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art X

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Neo Rauch Diktat, 2004
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Love is a bourgeois concept and in the end, we like what we see. But we do not fully understand. We are caught in a painting by Neo Rauch. A setting that has no beginning nor ending but an intensely complicated story - with actors pursuing individual objectives mysteriously yet convincingly. We are, in the end, caught in the world of fashion, that we do love... so much.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art IX

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Otto Dix Portrait Of Dr. Heinrich Städelmann, 1922
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

But why is Miuccia Prada referring to conservative codes? To suits, coats, ruffle shirts. Why is her proposal so bourgeois? Why is the movement of 'Neue Sachlichkeit' fashioned into 'Neue Spießigkeit'? Or, in other words: Why are 'we' re-evaluating conservative patterns?
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art VIII

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Isa Genzken Mona Isa IV (Dürer Selbsportrait), 2010
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Within this art historical mishmash or 'mix and cash', Prada not only explores the canvas to frame a point of view but also creates installation views that we might associate with Isa Genzken, Anselm Reyle or Wolfgang Tillmans who stage the 'sheet', the paper, the folded fabric, the cutout, the collage as itself. Material as readymade, or, in case of Prada: fashion as post-curational act.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art VII

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Chad Wys Nocturne 113, 2011
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Another motif in Prada's latest offering is the idea of 'portraiture'. A classical, artistic modus operandi. By misplacing the collars (seemingly as an act of confusion or childhood-ness) our attention is directed towards the face. Distortion is used as a framing technology/trick. A special effect (similar to Photoshop) that aims to trigger one thing: facial emotion.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art VI

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)


1. Francis Bacon Study (Self-Portrait), 1976
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Prada's Fall/Winter 2013 inhabitants are twisted bodies à la Francis Bacon. Dropped shoulders, twisted collars. Hanging down, letting loose. Layers of fabric, misplaced, distorted luxury. A motif that calls back the tablecloth pattern which interweaves the whole collection. The tablecloth as symbol of the commonplace, the rustic and homey, often accompanied by Dirndl shapes. Why? The ordinary is used as 'distortion' technique within Prada's multi-million luxury context.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art V

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)


1. Mark Rothko Untitled, 1969
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

The style of paintings and digital works that build the layers of Prada's new 'salary men' have a tendency for - and present the cohesive idea - of 'abstract gesture'. Some references are literal (pattern), others are analytical (layers) or conceptual (collars) - but overall they function as exercises in turning flat reduction into 3D reality.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art IV

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)


1. John Baldessari Valise/Serpent/Fist, 2009
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

And with each exit, each look that was proposed upon the sensitive psyche of her mindful audience, Miuccia Prada, together with her team, made art history. Each outfit resembled a room in a well-curated exhibition. While the artworks slowly evolved from Minimalism to Pop Art to New Realism.
/HORST