A Seat At The Tastemakers Table
And for dessert? A complimentary collage.
Tastemaker (noun): a person who decides or influences what is or will become fashionable.
I think we can sum it up as someone who is worthy of imitation. We live in the time of the World Wide Web 1.0 and 2.0, where social media is alive and well, often bombarded with consumerism, products, and influencers. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all become professional jugglers. Lets delve into the crux of who is deemed worthy to take the title of tastemaker, in my opinion.
Taste is idiosyncratic, but it also can be used as a tool to push the traditional norms and heavily impact what is to follow, which brings me on to the first tastemaker.
Commencing with British Fashion Designer and Couturier, Lee Alexander McQueen, who founded his fashion label in 1992 and became the Head Designer at Givenchy in 1996. McQueen embarked on his anything but linear journey as a fashion designer and completely revolutionized the fashion industry. He wasn’t one to shy away from controversy, he forged his own path forward with a plethora of jaw-dropping runway moments from It’s a Jungle Out There to Widows of Culloden. I was reading an article about him, and it mentioned that McQueen had a fascination with the relationship between predator and prey, which seems evident in his body of work and the messaging behind each collection. Let’s take a closer look at his ability to shock and engage his audiences over the course of his vibrant career:
McQueen never ceases to amaze me with his brilliant storytelling and messaging. The next seat at the tastemakers table is Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí y Domènech.
Salvador Dali captivated audiences with his eccentricity and catapulted the art world into another dimension: surrealism. He was a cultural curator in fashion, film, and art creating objects of intrigue and mystique, making viewers (at the time) utterly shocked. His unexpected pairings and psychological distorted images weren’t considered masterpieces until later on. Dali’s ability to create dreamlike paintings full of bizarre juxtapositions and visual contrast with hidden desires behind each surrealist object grants him the title of tastemaker.
As an Independent Creative and aspiring Art Director, I consider myself a student of tastemakers, constantly learning about styles, concepts, ideation, and industries that I believe would shape my own distinct style.
Steps to Cultivate a Tastemaker Status:
Develop your own signature point of view – step one: find your point of view. Step two: create consistency and cohesion in your narratives.
Look at things beyond your niche/industry – whether that be retro-futurism architecture or gastronomy, it’s always good to keep an eye on other industries that are of interest to you.
Stay ahead of the trends – easier said than done, but I try to live in the world of exploration by digesting different subcultures, disciplines, and environments. Go out into the world and see what’s happening around you, document it, and add it to your creative archive.
Curate thoughtfully and audit your ideation – we can all be allured by a pretty image, BUT use your own discretion. Study it, put it down, and circle back to it at a later time. Then decide if it deserves a spot in your archive. I know I have definitely been guilty of acting too hastily on an idea, executing it, and then realizing (once all the work is said and done) it ain’t all that. Audit, subtract, audit, add.
Both Dali and McQueen designed a repertoire of otherworldly creations in their mediums. They were emblems of creativity in their own right and notable boundary-pushing storytellers that defined decades to come thereafter. My two cents?
Dare to be different. Dare to be authentic. Dare to be controversial.
Whew, if you made it this far, thank you so very much for reading! On another note, I wanted to show appreciation for each and every one who has subscribed to Reserved for the Creative Mind. I cannot thank you enough.
As a token of my appreciation, I made a digital collage, titled ‘Masked Identity’ (if you think of a better title, drop it in the comments!) which is free to download! If it ends up on your wall, please share with me as I would be tickled pink to see that! =)
Nugget of Inspiration:
https://www.theperfectmagazine.com/
https://www.themodernhouse.com/journal/surreal-surreal-design-objects-products-and-furniture/