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Camp, camper, the campest

JANUARY 25, 2023 → WORDS BENJAMIN SCHIFFER

“Ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical; effeminate or homosexual” are all adjectives that describe the term camp according to the definition of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1909. However, how is camp actually embedded in today’s pop culture and particularly in one of its most visual dimensions which is fashion? 

Since 2019’s Met Gala “Camp: Notes on Fashion” at the latest, the term has been omnipresent and is no longer solely a concept that is deeply immanent to queer culture. Camp is a stylistically over-pointed way of perceiving cultural products of all kinds. Works experienced as camp (or “campy”) usually embody an essence of extravagance and artificiality which often make them centres of pop culture. A clear distinction between camp and kitsch is almost impossible as the borders blur. No wonder that this particular aesthetic strongly resonates with the individuals of the queer community. Writer and author Oscar Wilde himself can be considered one of the first pioneers of camp stating.

“The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is, no one has yet discovered.” 

Camp also explains the gay worship of divas such as Lady Gaga, Madonna or Cher.
They embody excessive representations of femininity with dramatic expressions of emotion and extravagant costumes and are thus in the tradition of Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe. Particularly, the over-acting of such divas as femme fatale unmasks the gender role as a social construct and opens up the deeply queer insight that gender is a learned performance. Exactly this theatricality is also celebrated in drag performances. Drag queens do not imitate femininity 1:1, but with exaggerated makeup, opulent wigs and dramatic poses. Drag play is therefore the epitome of camp. 

When describing trends Samantha Jones (a very camp figure herself!) famously claimed “First come the gays, then the girls, then the industry!”. So eventually, camp made it to the mainstream. However, with the depiction of trends from gay subculture by the powerful culture industry, the morally pressing question arises as to when a depiction is still a friendly reference or already exploitative appropriation. 

The following brands surely made the gays gag with their genuinely campy FW23 collections.

Ludovic de Saint Sernin

After having celebrated his 5th anniversary of Swarovskis, Sensuality and Seamaids and starting his new role as creative director at Ann Demeulemeester in 2022, Ludovic de Saint Sernin presents “Private Show” for FW23. The collection is inspired by de Saint Sernin’s beginnings of falling in love with fashion in the early 2000’s, him watching Fashion TV and getting a very first insight into the industry and the runway shows that seemed so unattainable at that time. His collection is dripping with Y2K elements such as miniskirts, his generous use of crystals and even his cast reminds us of the 2000-runway-goddess-fierceness with his models bringing attitude to the runway. For the first time, the Belgium designer sent a model down the runway that is not a typical XS, but powerhouse Alva Claire. Not including a male-identifying model of bigger size was a missed opportunity, if you ask me - especially when you are showing on the Men’s schedule. All critique aside, de Saint Sernin is an advocate when it comes to the celebration of gender fluidity and sex positivity in fashion by pushing the boundaries every season - one cannot tick all boxes, right?

Louis Gabriel Nouchi

In each collection Louis Gabriel Nouchi (LGN) processes his lifetime passion for reading. Every collection pays tribute to a book or a writer who has inscribed their vision on the world. 
The FW23 collection is inspired by the book “American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis (1991) and reflects on toxic masculinity. The violence created by a patriarchal system is distorted in a way to create beauty, transforming horror into strength. The collection questions the norms of society by showing different male body types which are all exuding sensuality from celebrities such as Lucas Bravo to anonymous faces, LGN feels embracing of its community. For this season, the young designer also experimented with a new design of draped jersey tops and dresses recalling evening gowns and challenging gender binaries. 
One of LGN’s most remarkable features must be their slit, this time not only on the hips but on necklines - That’s hot!

Lazoschmidl

The Swedish label Lazoschmidl founded by Lazo Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl knows how to tease their audience. Prints of peaches and bananas designed with the help of artificial intelligence do not only brighten up our gloomy winter days with their happy colours, but also remind us of stereotypical emojis used on Grindr. The designers showed a range of garments covering body suits with cutouts, leather vests, baby tees, low waisted pants and rain capes.
Lazoschmidl’s FW23 collection is accustomably quirky and daring mixing latex, leather and fake fur while revealing sensual parts of the body such as thighs, belly buttons and armpits - always following the motto “taste the forbidden fruit!”.

Camp, camper,
the campest

JANUARY 25, 2023 → WORDS BENJAMIN SCHIFFER

“Ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical; effeminate or homosexual” are all adjectives that describe the term camp according to the definition of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1909. However, how is camp actually embedded in today’s pop culture and particularly in one of its most visual dimensions which is fashion? 

Since 2019’s Met Gala “Camp: Notes on Fashion” at the latest, the term has been omnipresent and is no longer solely a concept that is deeply immanent to queer culture. Camp is a stylistically over-pointed way of perceiving cultural products of all kinds. Works experienced as camp (or “campy”) usually embody an essence of extravagance and artificiality which often make them centres of pop culture. A clear distinction between camp and kitsch is almost impossible as the borders blur. No wonder that this particular aesthetic strongly resonates with the individuals of the queer community. Writer and author Oscar Wilde himself can be considered one of the first pioneers of camp stating.

“The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is, no one has yet discovered.”

Camp also explains the gay worship of divas such as Lady Gaga, Madonna or Cher.
They embody excessive representations of femininity with dramatic expressions of emotion and extravagant costumes and are thus in the tradition of Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe. Particularly, the over-acting of such divas as femme fatale unmasks the gender role as a social construct and opens up the deeply queer insight that gender is a learned performance. Exactly this theatricality is also celebrated in drag performances. Drag queens do not imitate femininity 1:1, but with exaggerated makeup, opulent wigs and dramatic poses. Drag play is therefore the epitome of camp. 

When describing trends Samantha Jones (a very camp figure herself!) famously claimed “First come the gays, then the girls, then the industry!”. So eventually, camp made it to the mainstream. However, with the depiction of trends from gay subculture by the powerful culture industry, the morally pressing question arises as to when a depiction is still a friendly reference or already exploitative appropriation. 

The following brands surely made the gays gag with their genuinely campy FW23 collections.

Ludovic de Saint Sernin

After having celebrated his 5th anniversary of Swarovskis, Sensuality and Seamaids and starting his new role as creative director at Ann Demeulemeester in 2022, Ludovic de Saint Sernin presents “Private Show” for FW23. The collection is inspired by de Saint Sernin’s beginnings of falling in love with fashion in the early 2000’s, him watching Fashion TV and getting a very first insight into the industry and the runway shows that seemed so unattainable at that time. His collection is dripping with Y2K elements such as miniskirts, his generous use of crystals and even his cast reminds us of the 2000-runway-goddess-fierceness with his models bringing attitude to the runway. For the first time, the Belgium designer sent a model down the runway that is not a typical XS, but powerhouse Alva Claire. Not including a male-identifying model of bigger size was a missed opportunity, if you ask me - especially when you are showing on the Men’s schedule. All critique aside, de Saint Sernin is an advocate when it comes to the celebration of gender fluidity and sex positivity in fashion by pushing the boundaries every season - one cannot tick all boxes, right?

Louis Gabriel Nouchi

In each collection Louis Gabriel Nouchi (LGN) processes his lifetime passion for reading. Every collection pays tribute to a book or a writer who has inscribed their vision on the world. 
The FW23 collection is inspired by the book “American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis (1991) and reflects on toxic masculinity. The violence created by a patriarchal system is distorted in a way to create beauty, transforming horror into strength. The collection questions the norms of society by showing different male body types which are all exuding sensuality from celebrities such as Lucas Bravo to anonymous faces, LGN feels embracing of its community. For this season, the young designer also experimented with a new design of draped jersey tops and dresses recalling evening gowns and challenging gender binaries. 
One of LGN’s most remarkable features must be their slit, this time not only on the hips but on necklines - That’s hot!

Lazoschmidl

The Swedish label Lazoschmidl founded by Lazo Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl knows how to tease their audience. Prints of peaches and bananas designed with the help of artificial intelligence do not only brighten up our gloomy winter days with their happy colours, but also remind us of stereotypical emojis used on Grindr. The designers showed a range of garments covering body suits with cutouts, leather vests, baby tees, low waisted pants and rain capes.
Lazoschmidl’s FW23 collection is accustomably quirky and daring mixing latex, leather and fake fur while revealing sensual parts of the body such as thighs, belly buttons and armpits - always following the motto “taste the forbidden fruit!”.

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