Fashion Designer: How To Interpret "Kemp Style"

When asked what "camp" really means, designer Dame zandra Rhodes can't say. "It's hard to describe the word clearly, it's a minefield," she said with a smile She's not the only one who feels that way. At the end of the 19th century, the word "camp" entered the English world for the first time. Since then, people have different interpretations of the meaning of camp, and there is still no consensus.

Susan Sontag's 1964 article notes on camp inspired this year's met Gala and related exhibition themes. The late writer and filmmaker wrote: "if you want to use language to explain emotional issues... You must be flexible and tentative." However, when reading Sontag's article, we find that the term seems simple, but sometimes she can't understand it herself.

In the 1909 edition of Oxford English dictionary, the definition of camp appeared for the first time. "Showing off, exaggerating, affectation, dramatization; feminization or homosexuality; homosexuality...", which was the public's understanding of camp at that time. Even if camp is not a synonym for a typical gay man, according to the definition of Oxford English dictionary, we can find that camp is closely related to homosexuality. "When it comes to camp, the first thing I think of is a gay man with his fingers up. For women at the time, the first thing I would think of might be Oscar Wilde [for whom Sontag's article was dedicated]," Rhodes said

Fabio Cleto is a co-author of the met Gala exhibition collateral, He said: "The clear definition of camp did not appear until the late 19th century, when people first thought of Oscar Wilde, the star of queer world. Wilde was not accepted by the common people at that time. In 1895, he was accused of" serious indecency "and had the typical characteristics of" homosexuality ". This added a distorted aestheticism meaning to the later camp, and to a large extent, camp represented it Sexual deviation. "

According to Sontag, camp is not just about gay style. At the beginning, she mentioned that "the characteristic of camp lies in the spirit of exaggeration". In addition, she also labeled Kemp as cynical, "anti serious", and, of course, exaggeration and affectation. She also has a metaphor: "a camp is a man walking around in clothes made of three million feathers."

At the same time, Sontag also divided camp into "naive" and "deliberate". Sontag believes that David Bowie's semi feminine look in songs like fill your heart is different. "Craftsmen in the Art Nouveau movement would coil a snake by a lamp... It's not a joke. They're seriously saying, 'look, the Easterner,'" she said. Some people say that Jacqueline Susan, a legendary American publishing figure, wrote his 1966 novel valley of the dolls in the style of camp, Although the movie didn't make this meaning, it also had the intention to shape it. Sontag personally is more inclined to the "naive" camp. She thinks that this is more pure and less artificial: "camp for the sake of camp is always less than that."

Later, the scope of the camp gradually expanded. "Today, the camp is everywhere. Because it's everywhere, people don't think it's special," Clayto told BBC design Kemp is tolerant of gender and sexual orientation, which leads to the dyke camp and a series of behaviors. "Has become a strategy to subvert marginalized identities." Just as Sontag commented on the Art Nouveau movement, sometimes, Kemp has stripped away the sexual implication. "The focus of the word camp has changed," Rhodes said One of her works is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of art. "It's not just about homosexuality," she said

What is the significance of "camp" for "fashion notes"? According to Rhodes, "it does mean that what goes beyond the top in its concept will not be ignored and [has] a sense of humor; but it is not mainstream, it is fun and unusual..." of course, the main focus of the exhibition is the "deliberate" camp. As Thierry Mugler - whose work is also on display - tells the BBC, camp is "free and interesting in mind.". Or, as Cleto put it, "it can be roughly described as a form of grandiose performance and perception, in which reality becomes an extremely ironic existence in this stage of self presentation."

So, what is the meaning of "camp" in the theme "fashion notes" of met gala? "Camp is something that goes beyond the concept. There is a sense of humor that no one can ignore. But camp is not one of the mainstream cultures. It's very pleasant, but it's also very extraordinary..." the focus of the exhibition is obviously the "deliberate" Kamp style. Mugler, who also has works on display, told BBC reporters that camp "is a free and interesting spiritual realm.". Kraito said, "it can be said that even if camp is a kind of performance, it is also a form of perception. It is very dramatic and exaggerated. Reality is a stage to show and reshape oneself, which is extremely ironic, and camp improvises on this stage."

Stick to yourself

The exhibition of fashion notes at the Metropolitan Museum of art explores the development of camp from marginal culture to popularity, starting from the French court in the 17th century. (some people say that the word "camp" comes from SE camper in French, which means boldly sticking to one's own self). About 200 items were displayed at the exhibition, covering clothing, sculpture, paintings, etc. The exhibition was held in Anna Wintour fashion center. Due to its inseparable connection with met Gala, the exhibition naturally focuses on fashion. Rhodes's design is a gorgeous and eye-catching jacket, decorated with shell epaulets. "It's definitely wrong to say that the dress is too flashy. You can say it has a great sense of humor," she said There are also works by other designers, including Muggle, Christian Lacroix, Giorgio Armani, Miuccia Prada and Anna Sui.

Many of the costumes in the exhibition have nothing to do with sex and seem to be seen only at Plush parties / parties. In peyosky's autumn / winter 2000 collection, one of his clothes was worn by Bjork on Oscar's red carpet. The skirt is like a swan, the head of which is lifelike and is leaning against the model's chest. There is also a piece of clothing from Schiaparelli's fall / winter 2017 men's wear collection, designed by French designer Bertrand Guyon. This is a full body pink suit, with Flamingo prints on the coat and exaggerated bird head accessories on the head.

Today, camp still retains its original association with gay men. In the 2009 Spring / summer collection of Walter van beirendonck, there is a men's tights with the details of men's muscles and the outline of the penis, which is still quite large - a typical example. Similarly, there is a suit from Jeremy Scott's spring / summer 2012 collection, which is made up of tassel vest, leather leggings and a pair of leather underpants. It adopts the color of pink and green, and details are decorated with black, which is very gaudy. It's reminiscent of the cowboys in the singing group village people and the gay work of the Finnish artist in the film Tom of Finland.

More than a century ago, the Oxford English Dictionary defined camp as "related to homosexuality", which seems largely unchanged. Sontag particularly emphasized the dramatic and pompous side of the camp. In this regard, Cleto once said, "some people accused (Sontag) of de homosexualization of camp, she revealed the camp culture to the educated class, some said it was a betrayal of homosexuality." However, Sontag himself admits that "many of the pioneers are [male] gay, and they are also the most expressive in the camp culture."

MOE Meyer, a scholar, has also had extensive discussions on the camp culture, saying that it is "imitating the queer group". In Rhodes's eyes, camp has a sense of "holding a cigarette holder and doing extremely feminine movements". She said that this is not malicious imitation or deliberate devaluation, but simply fun. Singer David Bowie was closely connected with the camp culture in his early years. Alan Edwards was David Bowie's public relations officer before his death, and he came from England. Before he knew met Gala, he said, the word "camp" had made him think of "the British films of the 1950s, especially the" carry on "series, as well as the films in which drama and television actors went back to the concert hall, because there were so many women disguised as men in these films."

So what is the final definition of camp? Rhodes tried to explain it in words and understand it in the exhibition, but she still didn't understand it. "I still don't understand," she said After a long pause, she exclaimed, "is it just a simple foreign fashion?" Obviously not. As Cleto said, there is no clear answer to what camp is: "it is elusive, unpredictable, and superior. It cannot be bound by a sentence or a definition."

Many designers participating in the exhibition may agree with Rhodes's point of view, and feel that it is far fetched to take camp as the theme of an art exhibition, but from the perspective of curator, the obscurity of camp can be regarded as a bonus; Because if few people can agree on what camp is, then very few people can rule out what camp is not. In this way, one of the dresses that gardini designed for MOSCHINO's spring / summer 1988 collection is very vivid - a big white question mark on the black dress.