Beauty, retouched: Is natural beauty just not beautiful enough?
The 'retouching' of imagery is all around us; the process is used to 'perfect' most, if not every, photograph within the media. Natural beauty is often disguised by the detailed manipulation of ‘imperfections’ during the post-production process, producing a glamorous illusion of many icons in our culture. Magazine editors have argued that the reasoning behind retouching stems from the reading audience wanting a perfected look, which they in turn aim to portray in there day-to-day lives. They also say that readers know that the photographs they see are altered and, therefore, they do not need to be labeled as such.
This poses the question, ‘Is re-touching necessary?’ To the extent that it is currently used, I personally do not think it is. Being bombarded with images of ‘perfect’ super-toned bodies and flawless skin can, and does, give a distorted image of beauty which many women feel pressure to live up to. But look at these images of Madonna and Angelina Jolie. They are beautiful already, before the retouching. In my opinion, ‘flaws and blemishes’ should be celebrated, as they create individuality; the essence of true beauty.
The images above show the kind of retouching that most editorial and advertising images undergo. They give us an idea of how much work goes into post-production and how manipulated the final images are. Images which give their viewers an un-realistic image of beauty to aspire to.
For Dove's 2003 "Campaign for Real Beauty" they produced a short film called ‘Evolution’ which provides a refreshing view of the truth behind the image; stripping back the make up, undoing the slimming processes and showing the blemishes of reality. Once uploaded, the advert was viewed over 40,000 times in its first day, 1,700,000 times within a month of its upload and 12,000,000 times within its first year. Here is one of the many Youtube videos of the film:
Tell us what you think about retouching in the media on the All Walks Beyond the Catwalk Facebook page.
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Post by Zina Graber
Zina is a fashion styling student from Cornwall who has a huge interest in celebrating the female form and individuality through styling. I want to be part of changing women’s negative perceptions of themselves so I have recently created a campaign that promotes global style and fashion diversity. The idea is to collect photos of individuals around the world, no matter who you are and showcase you’re style to the world. Check out "What Ya Wearing World?" and find Zina on Twitter @whatyawearingw
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
All Walks model Valerie Pain walks for Fashion Fringe winner Fyodor Golan
For their S/S collection – that was showcased as part of their winning Fashion Fringe entry, design duo Fyodor Podogrny and Golan Frydman (together forming FYODOR GOLAN) decided to break fashionable conventions by selecting All Walk’s very own mature model Valerie Pain to showcase their collection.
“This s/s we were looking for the essence of a woman. We wanted to show her journey through our story and how with her struggles she accepts herself for what she is. We wanted to show her sexuality, strength, melancholia and beauty. We admire women of all ages and believed it was crucial for our story and to portray our thoughts to have a mature woman that will encompass the qualities we admire so much.
When we met Valerie she gave us so much drive and energy. She is a very unique woman and she told our whole story with one look. The layers and depth of her life and character swept us into her world and we knew from the start that she was who we were looking for”
Their collection, ‘Flowers of Evil’ was inspired by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, resulting in a dark and dream like presence being felt from the runway. Embroidered flowers, rigid tailored dresses and detailed laser cutting all featured in a wash of greens and yellows to gothic blacks.
We admire Fyodor Golan for their open minded attitude as new designers and very much look forward to seeing more of their work in the near future.
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Words by Hanna Fillingham
Hanna Fillingham is a second year Journalism student at Cardiff University. During the summer of 2011, Hanna worked as an intern for Caryn Franklin. Hanna has a blog here, and is on Twitter @hannafillingham
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
Our London Fashion Week Highlights
This season, for the first time since our launch in September 2009, we decided not to produce a high-profile industry campaign during fashion week. The reason for this is that we have been focusing all of our attention on the educational side of our work, helping to shape the mindset of future industry players - designers, writers, image makers - towards emotionally considerate practice. To this end, All Walk's founders Caryn and Debra will continue to tour the country, speaking to students at university level about the All Walks way.However, the spirit of All Walks has continued to have a presence on the catwalks during fashion month, and I would like to share these highlights with you. At All Walks, we love to see the people we work with doing really well, and this London Fashion Week has certainly made us proud.
You may have read in a prevous post, written by our Editor Charlotte Gush, about one of the original All Walks pairings, of designer Alexandra Groover and model Lucy Freeman, reuniting this season to make a film together for London Fashion Week.
I was also pleasantly surprised when I received an email containing the images below, of William Tempest's All Walks model Laura Catterall walking in the Elena Miro show in Milan, where she is channelling the perfect Mad Men silhouette with her femme fatal curves:
Coming back to the UK from Milan, spreading the spirit of our campaign at London Fashion Week was All Walks model Valerie Pain, who walked for Fyodor Golan, this year's winner of Fashion Fringe. Pain, the amazingly stunning 70-year-old model, told me that when she attended the casting, she walked in and, on sight of the samples, announced to the casting agent, "I'm not going to waste your time, they won't fit me."
However, the designers were so impressed by her that they redesigned an outfit and fitted it to Valerie's own body shape so that they could have her walk in their show. And just look how confidently she walks and how beautiful she looks in her show-stopping outfit in the short film, below:
To watch more, visit the Fashion Fringe section of the LFW website.
Until next time, I would like to leave you with this thought:
Whatever shape you are, whatever age you are, the women in this post show that being unique is the most beautiful trend to have emerged from fashion week, and I hope you can use this inspiration to embrace your individuality with pride.
Images courtesy of 12+ UK Model Management
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Post by Michael Williamson
Michael is a designer, stylist, blogger and an integral member of the All Walks team, having been with us from the very beginning. Check out his blog, Safety-Pin Charm, to keep your finger on the pulse of all things fashion - especially london based. Follow Michael on You Tube and on Twitter @mwfrost
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
H&M’s SUMMER MEN!
I found H&M;’s last advertising campaign very refreshing; not only for the light and beach portrayed but for the male models they chose to wear the swimmear designs.The models are Andrés Velencoso, one of the most famous Spanish models, and Ben Hill, an American model ranked amongst the top ten world models. Both are 33 years old and have worked for H&M; before.
In the campaign images, Andrés and Ben appear with hair chest and, in Ben’s case, with some grey hair. What I like about this is that they look more natural and healthy than many of the models we are used to seeing lately. We shouldn’t forget that the images are clearly fashion-oriented; the location is perfect and the models are extremely handsome, but they look confident, masculine and quite relaxed.
In my opinion, the issue of thinness and youth is impacting the male model industry more and more, with well-known models losing weight – like Jon Kortajarena - and fashion houses and magazines choosing young and androgynous models, such as this model on the cover of Japanese Voge Homme:
We can already see that many male models face the same pressure over their weight as female models do. This is worrying as men have, until now, appeared to be less susceptible to pressure to be ultra-skinny, but the more pressure on models to be this thin, the more pressure 'normal' men may feel to look unhealthily thin .
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Post by Maria Llanos
Our voice from Spain! After graduating in Business Administration, María worked in marketing at L’oréal for almost 3 years. After this period, she decided to develop her creativity by studying an MA in Design Studies at Central Saint Martins, where she developed her thesis around the evolution of the ideal female beauty concept and got to know All Walks. Currently, María is working at a Communication agency in Madrid. Check out all her posts here, and on Twitter @merillanos.
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
Caryn Franklin visits Edinburgh’s “ALL WALKS” diverse design show
As colleges gear up to show their latest collections at Graduate Fashion Week, we at All Walks can reveal that diversity is firmly on the agenda.Students at Edinburgh College of Art have been working with All Walks on a project that replaces inanimate tailor's dummies with real and opinionated women, who give the students crucial feedback about their designs.
After all, training on a lifeless dummy and a model who is paid to stay silent (both presenting only one body type, and without movement) is not a rounded training, we say!
The fact is that all women, apart from the odd catwalk model, have ordinary bodies and design students must understand the needs of ordinary women if they are to make a lucrative business; and as these great designs show, creativity is not compromised. Emotionally considerate design is possible, and working on a model with a realistic body shape is a necessity.
Why? Well, as Mal Burkinshaw - course leader at Edinburgh College of Art, who has created this project with us - says, it has made a huge impact on the learning of the students.
Mortwenna Darwel, one of the students, agrees, "I gained a much better understanding of the relationship between real women and fashion."
Jennifer Alexander adds: "I feel I've learned a lot from fittings and communicating with my All Walks muse. From this project onwards, I will take into consideration who I design for and how my garment will make the person feel."
We'd like to thank all of the tutors at Edinburgh who have worked hard to embrace diversity by introducing a range of bodies and ages into the training, in order to help students understand the true meaning of emotionally considerate design and practice.
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Post by Caryn Franklin, All Walks co-founder
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Credits: 1. Pam Craig wears blue dress by Shauni Douglas. 2. Eileen Reilly wears green dress by Isabella Lyginou. 3. Sarah Saunders wears red dress by Laura Jayne Nevis, and 4. Collette Nelson wears maroon and pink dress by Louis Anderson Bythell
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
ADVANCED STYLE
Advanced Style: Age and Beauty on Nowness.com.
Here at All Walks we have been loving photographer Ari Seth Cohen’s blog Advanced Style for a little while now. Showcasing women who have honed their style credentials for generations, it is a wonderful resource of creativity and inspiration. The style of Cohen's subjects is often high-maintainance but it seems effortless at the same time. As several of the fashionistas in the video point out, they don't care what other people think of their style; they dress for themselves and to make themselves happy. Perhaps it is this confidence, and the drive to always be themselves, which makes them such style icons. In this respect, they too are icons of self-belief, wellbeing and happiness, and we can all learn something from them.
The short film, above, is by Lithuanian-born video maker Lina Plioplyte, who often shoots catwalk films for Nylon TV. This particular film, exclusive to Nowness, allows the viewer an insight into the stylish lives of the women featured on the Advanced Style blog.
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Post by Charlotte Gush
Charlotte is the Online Commissioning Editor for All Walks, based away from the London office in Manchester. She has previously spent 6 months working for All Walks at the London office as a social media, marketing and production intern. Charlotte writes a fashion, street style and personal style blog, 'CAVACOMA.com', with a dedicated Facebook fanpage here, and a Twitter account @CavaCharlotte
All Walks - All Talks:Weekly Blog:
All Walks - All Talks:Weekly Blog:
It has been announced today that a plus size runway at NY Fashion Week the event won't be held in conjunction with IMG Fashion Week.
However it will take place right next door to the main tents at The Atrium in Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall on September 15, 2010.
More on the story at: http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/archive/2010/08/20/a-magic-moment-for-plus-sizers.htm
Matthew Williamson for Bulgari handbags - revealed!
All Walks Supporter Matthew Williamson (where if you download our brochure from last year you can see his quote) has just revealed new bags for Bulgari, see link below: http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/2010/08/matthew_william_15.html finally- Who says you can't look good at any age? At 'All Walks' we have come across this site that celebrates older women with style. Feel free to browse and click for link to site: http://www.oldladiesrebellion.com/ Happy reading and remember to check the Blog for Updates on our current project's and future ones too. report by : MUpdate on ‘All Walks’ why we heart Marc & Ageless style
The Excitement is Buzzing around the 'All Walks' office this past week, With London Fashion Week On the way! and for another year Running we are receiving amazing support for the campaign that I just cant wait to tell you readers about, However you going to Have to watch this space as updates of 'All walks' and our evolvement on fashion week will be tweeted and on here.The Official 'All Walks Beyond the catwalk' Blog.
remember you can always follow our tweets by clicking the link on our web page but for today enjoy our stylish links from articles selected by myself from the 'Telegraph'-why I welcome Marc Jacobs new plus size range, to Co founder Debra Bourne's pick of the day from 'Vogue' — looking great is ageless Reported by M.WWhy I welcome Marc Jacobs new plus-size range
As Marc Jacobs announces a plus-size range, New York stylist Annabel Tollman says the impact on Designers will be huge.(click here for link to picture and Telegraph feature)