Identifying the Object
The Mondrian dress is a red, blue, white, and yellow dress that shows the integration of art and fashion. One of the renowned French designers, Yves Saint Laurent, designed the dress in the winter of 1965-66 and made it his signature piece. This illustrates that the integration of art and fashion is an old concept, and it remains significant today. The Mondrian dress takes the form of the 1960s modified form of a sack dress, and Laurent utilized the color blocks. Inspired by the contemporary artists of the Mondrian art movement, Laurent incorporated the flat planes derived from 1960s’ canvas to make his historical, artistic statement of his time. The dress was meant for the autumn season and has a tidy shift, simple A-line Mondrian, and a typical silhouette of the 1960s. However, dissimilar to the Mondrian paintings, the woolen dress was constructed of several pre-dyed pieces of jersey that were assembled by hand to give the dress a seemingly real complexity of construction.
The color blocks are assembled to reflect the Mondrian order and to hide the shaping of the seams of the dress to accommodate the female body. The dresses are now found in various museums across the world, such as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The dress's dimensions are 37 inches length, center back. Although the design appears to be simple, the assembling technique was complex, and integrated the haute couture technique to produce impressive, artistic sensible and expensive dresses.
Analyzing the Object and Describing It
The revolutionary piece of work that integrates fashion and art reflect the modernist spirit of the contemporary generation. The Mondrian dress constitutes eye-catching and strong primary colors to portray an example of fashion influenced by art. The Mondrian dress seems designed for the youthful subcultural group, and specifically female consumers as depicted in the image above. According to Geczy and Karaminas, "the values associated with Mondrian included youthfulness, modernity, and the collapse of traditions that together formed the rhetorical tropes of fashion discourse at the time". The person in the Mondrian dress is a German model known as Diana Gartner photographed during the 2002 spring season
The outfit portrayed in the image is a simple outfit that has minimal decoration. The A-line or shift dress does not have a waistline seam and pairs perfectly with the flappy black saddles. The sleeveless tank dress with U-neck gives the outfit a perfect look. In addition, the polished earrings provide a casual and a refined appeal. The sleeveless design combines well with the model's medium length that lets her show off her curves. The type of representation utilized in the picture is the visual representation facsimile that features a model. This fashion model is tall, slender, young, and white, similar to most of the common representations. The implication of this representation is to make the audience assume that they will acquire a similar appearance or even a body type when they wear the same outfit. The representation is also positive, as the model represented appears formal, respectable, and natural. She is not overly dressed, and she is decently and elegantly attired to appeal to the target audiences. The model has a natural pose to represent the realistic idea of fashion representation.
Concerning the kind of silhouette represented by the object, the dress has a straight and Western silhouette that set the scene as the early 1960s when mini-skirts were made shorter and shorter. Consequently, this gives the object a youthful look that is influenced by the contemporary youth culture. This western silhouette is universally flattering, whereby the dress skims the female body and faintly flares out. Although the object does not reflect the waist, the linear silhouette does not define the bumps and lumps that a person might have around the hip or waist area, hence giving a chic and clean shape. The female model has natural looking and beautifully saturated hair. In addition, the person wears light and natural looking makeup that matches her skin tone. As a result, these touches gives the model a more vibrant and a younger look. In addition, the red tone of her lipsticks matches well with the red block of her dress. The dress is made up of wool and silk A-line graphics involving black lines, primary colors, and white blocks.
Interpreting the Historical Context
The history context of the YSL Mondrian dress illustrates the convergence of art and fashion in the late 1960s in France. During this time, designers developed shorter skirts while sack dresses were trending. The Mondrian dress comes is influenced by the 1920s Mondrian paintings, which have rectangle and line patterns with white, black, and primary colors. The Mondrian triangles were the simplified and asymmetrically balanced pictorial vocabulary that influenced the modern art. The main idea of the artist was to reflect the fundamental spirituality of nature. The original version of the Mondrian grids illustrated the underlying elements that reveal the balance between the force of the universe and nature. With this light, Yves Saint Laurent integrated these Mondrian grids into the fashion world to spread the theme of nature and universal harmony. The basic colors and forms of the Mondrian grids depict how modern art would surpass cultural divisions.
In the contemporary world, the use of basic colors depicts simplicity in fashion because the most basic and real attraction of fashion, especially women’s dresses in France is the simplicity. However, to avoid the simple being boring, Saint Laurent designed a simple and minimalist shape that integrated a design method that utilized the lines and planes employed by Mondrian. The dresses were more similar to the canvases of the painter and hence more complex than they appeared. Saint Laurent incorporated the motifs of Mondrian art into his dress to make them as simple as possible. Therefore, the Mondrian art helped Laurent to produce a 1960s simplistic look that had minimalism concerns and intellectual seriousness. This simplicity made her dresses referred to as the "dresses of the future" due to their simplistic design characteristics. Today most women, especially in France, prefer simple dresses and hence indicate that the YSL Mondrian dresses are relevant and modern.
The interpretation of the YSL Mondrian dress' influence on further authors and objects is based on the influence of the modernism on the fashion. Today, the influence of modernism has challenged the designers and authors to integrate art and fashion, which as a basic element on Saint Laurent's Mondrian dress. According to Darwent, the Mondrian has emerged to be modernism and Mondrian work has significantly contributed to the high modernist ideal. Therefore, the Mondrian dress is perceived as an expression of modernism, hence influencing more and more designers to embrace a similar concept. For instance, in 2014, the Yves Saint Laurent's Mondrian dress influenced the McQueen's 2014 Mondrian ballet flats. Other influences include Mondrian Rubik's cubes, fingernails, and fringe magnets among other things. In the contemporary world, most of the products or objects represent the integration of art and fashion, hence indicating that the urge for modernity is the best way to describe the influence of Mondrian dress. In addition, simplicity is another factor that explains the influence of Mondrian dress to other objects. Today fashion, especially targeting female audiences, is all about simplicity, which is a fundamental element of Mondrian dress as highlighted in the above chapter. This can be explained by the theory of simplicity.
According to the simplicity theory, the human species are highly sensitive, attracted to the situations or events that seem simple to them, and tend to avoid those that are complex. For instance, the simplicity in the cognitive science allows the individual "to choose the patterns that provide the simplest explanation of the data." In this case, the human individual tends to avoid the patterns that are redundant and select the ones that are simple. Similar, the simplicity theory can be utilized to explain why contemporary consumers prefer objects that appear simple. The Mondrian dress applies simplicity through a tidy shift, simple A-line Mondrian, and a typical silhouette of the 1960s.
Visualizing the Object
The YSL Mondrian dress has many connections in both the art and fashion industry. The connection between these objects is based on the use of the Mondrian concept of utilizing white, black, and the primary colors. The concept utilized in the objects that are related to the YSL Mondrian dress involve utilization of primary value, primary colors, and the primary direction. The primary values include white, gray, and black; primary colors involve blue, yellow, and red; and the primary directions include vertical and horizontal. The fundamental aim to use the primary values is to reveal order and universal harmony. The original version of this design is attributed to artists such as De Stijl and Mondrian. These objects include the Alexander McQueen' Mondrian ballet flats designed in 2014 and his spring/summer collection. Other objects include the Red-blue chair designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1918, Mondrian Blocks cube, and the 26 Rue du Départ reconstructed in 1926. Other objects include the ordinary fridge magnets, Nike's new Dunk SB, the Mondrian Saddle table, 1960s go-go boots, Bildergebnis für Mondrian kids, and Deluxe Bauhaus Duck, and Pepsi's Pepsi can. All these objects have one thing in common: They have their primary elements derived from the Mondrian art.
Reinterpreting the Object
One of the interesting aspects of the YSL Mondrian dress is its simplicity and how the object has integrated both fashion and art to produce an attractive and relevant design even in the contemporary world. This integration was one of the first collaborations between art and fashion, and the collaboration has gained momentum today to produce breakthroughs in contemporary fashion. The dress is attractive because it has a simple look that had minimalistic concerns and intellectual seriousness. In addition, Geczy and Karaminas assert that the Mondrian art is associated with the youthfulness, modernity, and current fashion. Therefore, the dress is interesting because it contains the aspects that matter most at the current time. In addition, the model is tall, slender, young, and white, and hence appeals to the audience to acquire a similar product so that they can also acquire a similar appearance or even the same body type when they wear the same outfit. Given the object, I would like to recreate my own t-shirts, shirts, or even pants with the similar colors to embrace the original concept of Mondrian.
Annotated Biography
Cartner-Morley, Jess. "Yes, French Women Are Chic. But They Don't Own the Secret to Style | Fashion | the Guardian." The Guardian. Last modified November 2, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/nov/02/fashtag-frenchess-style-or-simplicity
The article is written by Cartney-Morley to illustrate how women in France are concerned about simplicity when it comes to matters pertaining their outfit. Cartney-Morley suggests that the real allure of the women dressing is the simplicity of their garment rather than pandering to fashion. The article contributed to the topic by suggesting that women in France are more concerned about simplicity and hence illustrated the relevance of the object analyzed in the contemporary fashion industry.
Cohn, Hana. "The 50 Best Artist Collaborations in Fashion." Complex UK. Last modified April 4, 2013. http://uk.complex.com/style/2013/04/the-50-best-artist-collaborations-in-fashion/.
The article ranks top 50 artist collaborations in fashion and sheds light to the moment when the artist comes a designer and the vice versa or even both becoming something different. The author argues that the collaboration between the artist and the designers does not only change the social temperature but also reflects the society. The article is relevant to the topic because it illustrates how the artist and a designer has collaborated to produce the Mondrian dress.
Chater, Nick, and Paul Vitányi. "Simplicity: a unifying principle in cognitive science?" Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7, no. 1 (2003): 19-22.
This article is a scholarly article that provides an insight of simplicity in the cognitive science. The article illustrates the use of the simplicity theory to find a pattern in a data and suggest that individuals are included to choose the pattern that appears simpler. The article contributes to the topic by relating the theory of simplicity and Mondrian dress.
Darwent, Charles. "Complex Simplicity: The Enduring Influence of Mondrian | Sotheby's." Sotheby's: Fine Art Auctions & Private Sales for Contemporary, Modern & Impressionist, Old Master Paintings, Jewellery, Watches, Wine, Decorative Arts, Asian Art & More | Sotheby's. Last modified June 6, 2014. http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/impressions/2014/06/complex-simplicity-the-enduring-influence-of-piet-mondriaan.html
The article provides a brief background of Piet Mondrian and his influence on fashion through the complex simplicity aspect of his art. The article highlights some of the common aspects of Mondrian art and illustrates how his artistic work influenced Yves Saint Laurent to design the Mondrian dress. The article contributes to the topic by providing several examples of the object that have been influenced by the Mondrian dress.
Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas, eds. Fashion and art. Berg, 2013.
The book shed light to how art and fashion have maintained a relationship and both utilize the language of style to revitalize ideas, perceptions and ideas. The books suggest that the relationship between art and fashion is a competitive one and has both love and hate. The contribution of this book to the topic is to illustrate how the Mondrian is associated with youthfulness and modernity.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Yves Saint Laurent, Paris | Dress | French " The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e., the Met Museum. Last modified 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/83442.
The article provides a full description of Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian dress that entails the designer, date of design, material, dimension, and culture among other. The article contributed to the topic by providing a detailed description of the object analyzed in this paper.
"Mondrian Dress, Yves Saint Laurent, 1965." Rijksmuseum. Accessed June 20, 2016. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BK-2011-58
The article provides a brief description of one of the Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian collections that were designed in 1965. Although the article does not have a credible author, it provides the silhouette description of the object analyzed in this paper. The article also portrays a picture of the dress to help the reader understand the basic element of the object.
Sleepover. "Sew It Seams. One of the Mondrian-inspired Dresses from Yves" Sew It Seams. Last modified 2012. http://sewitseams.tumblr.com/post/17720855706/one-of-the-mondrian-inspired-dresses-from-yves.
This article highlights some of the Mondrian- inspired dresses that were designed by Yves Saint Laurent. The article depicts several dresses that apply the concept of primary colors, directions, and values. The contribution of the article is that it contains the exact object discussed in the paper and hence helped the writer to determine the person involved in this object.
Bibliography
Cartner-Morley, Jess. "Yes, French Women Are Chic. But They Don't Own the Secret to Style | Fashion | The Guardian." The Guardian. Last modified November 2, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/nov/02/fashtag-frenchess-style-or-simplicity.
Chater, Nick, and Paul Vitányi. "Simplicity: a unifying principle in cognitive science?." Trends in cognitive sciences 7, no. 1 (2003): 19-22.
Cohn, Hana. "The 50 Best Artist Collaborations in Fashion." Complex UK. Last modified April 4, 2013. http://uk.complex.com/style/2013/04/the-50-best-artist-collaborations-in-fashion/.
Darwent, Charles. "Complex Simplicity: The Enduring Influence of Mondrian | Sotheby's." Sotheby's: Fine Art Auctions & Private Sales for Contemporary, Modern & Impressionist, Old Master Paintings, Jewellery, Watches, Wine, Decorative Arts, Asian Art & More | Sotheby's. Last modified June 6, 2014. http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/impressions/2014/06/complex-simplicity-the-enduring-influence-of-piet-mondriaan.html.
Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas, eds. Fashion and art. Berg, 2013.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Yves Saint Laurent, Paris | Dress | French | The Met." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I.e. The Met Museum. Last modified 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/83442.
"Mondrian Dress, Yves Saint Laurent, 1965." Rijksmuseum. Accessed June 20, 2016. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BK-2011-58.
Sleepover. "Sew It Seams. One of the Mondrian-inspired Dresses from Yves" Sew It Seams. Last modified 2012. http://sewitseams.tumblr.com/post/17720855706/one-of-the-mondrian-inspired-dresses-from-yves.
