Fashion in the Movie “Zoolander”

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The world of fashion has seen many changes that have led designing of clothes in many different ways. As it has become an integral part of life, fashion appears everywhere, from commercials, to live shows and Hollywood movies. The movie “Zoolander” shows several designers and the work that they have been doing in the movie, which is paralleled to real life. “Derelicte” is the name of the fashion line that the main character, Ben Stiller, takes part in but the real life alignment is made to designer John Charles Galliano.

Even though the movie is a comedy, it has many designs that are used and can be worn in real life. In reality, John Charles Galliano, born in 1960, was the basis for parody through his collection in year 2000. Galliano is considered to be a British designer but he was the major figure in the French “Givenchy”.

In his early days of life, he recalls feeling different and having trouble relating to other children. Since his mother always took care in his appearance, his creativity was supported, thus growing into a designer. Several times, he was named the Designer of the Year and has recently been involved in new designs (John Galliano par. 4).

The movie “Zoolander” is used in a very witty and provocative way to show the designs of many fashion icons. It starts out by the “red carpet” appearance where many celebrities are present. Derek Zoolander is wearing a stylish suit that has unique details significant of his character. Even though it might seem conservative at first glance, it has touches of sparkling material, as well as “loud” and distinctive features.

Later, in the scene when he decides to come back to the mines and work with his father and brothers, he is shown wearing a snake skin suit. This very much represents the difference between the two worlds and classes. One is the working class where people are not even aware of such things as fashion, as they have to make a living by hard work and long hours. The other one is filled with glamour and fame where people of higher class live in style, often making appearances on TV.

The major theme throughout the movie is that the fashion world is a unique place, which is sometimes hardly understood by the outside world. But the center of the movie is the fashion show called “Derelicte”. Mugatu, the designer, has a revolutionary idea to use everyday materials and attributes of the homeless and people of the lowest class in his collection. Such forward nature and ability to express views so clearly and without fear, creates a certain appeal to the public.

It is very straightforward and things that seemingly cannot be mixed with fashion are made into stylish designs. The fact that the creator prefers modernism says a lot about his character and his ability to see the true value of things. An idea is revolutionized where road construction cones are used as tops for women, garbage bags are cut to fit male and female models (Zoolander).

Not only the unique nature of the design is one of the sticking features, the morals and cultural connections are made obvious as well. It is very interesting because it enables precise positioning of the context of modern world into fashion and this greatly adds to the design. A very blunt and truthful point is brought forward through the fact that modern society is too focused on the way things look and how beautiful something is.

By connecting the “underworld” and the world of fashion, the designer brings out the true realities of the society and laughs at the styles that cost a fortune. This shows that he is very knowledgeable of his work because it is not money that creates art—it is people and their ideas. People’s morals are brought to judgment, as a person is already predisposed with the visual stylistic of the colors, materials and the message, which leads to wrongful conclusions because people are very much concerned with appearances.

The end result with a clear, simple, provocative and sometimes explicit style makes people connect with the fashion and look for details and unique features in almost everything people come into contact with. The style is a mix of reality and abstract, as not many people would probably wear cardboard boxes and skirts made out of bottle caps.

The illustration of the desperate times and falling social classes is very well thought out because it represents a historic period very specifically. It is also original and grabs the attention of the viewer. It is obvious that the artist’s intent was to show that fashion and beauty are very relative things and everything depends on people’s perspective (Svendsen 143).

Even though the movie is a parody, it greatly shows the views of society and draws an analogy to the tastes and styles of the modern wealthy society. The clear cut line between those with enormous resources and people who are forced to struggle is brought to people’s attention through fashion and irony.

Works Cited

John Galliano 2013. Web.

Svendsen, Lars. Fashion: A Philosophy. London, Great Britain: Reaktion Books, 2006. Print.

Zoolander. Ex. Prod. Ben Stiller. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures. 2001. DVD.

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Fashion in the Movie “Zoolander”

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