She’s still not sporting any latex accessories, but the 2016 Barbie, as just announced from its maker Mattel, certainly is seeing some interesting modernizing. And it’s not so much the cars, planes or even the fantasy wardrobe the doll is getting anew, as it is options in body types that makes this year’s plastic lady so interesting.
James has traveled widely to undisclosed and out-of-bounds locales capturing the decay of often stunning locations for nearly 3 years now. On one of these ‘typical’ outings recently James went out to shoot a series of images for designers in abandoned locations across Europe. In October 2015 this adventurous/adventuring photographer approached us to shoot our latex fashion design in some of these deserted locations. The stunning pictures you see here are the results from a weekend of image making, climbing and driving for James and his two models Jade Stacy Maria & Sadie Ann.
Very much how the infamous documentary Paris Is Burning did a quarter of a century ago, the KIKI story takes off now twenty five years later, revealing a group of young adults trying their best to develop a ‘safe space’ at their fashion and dance balls. The men who appeared in “Paris” were self-proclaimed drag queens, showing as much of their homemade frocks as they did their ability to vogue in ways Madonna could never have imaged (in fact Voguing house dancing began in the 80’s Harlem ballroom scene well before Madonna appropriated it for her 1990 hit and “Paris” featured it with such aplomb the same year); KIKI as much shows the evolution of voguing as it does delve deep into LGBT gender identity in the modern age.
Authors Rita Catinella Orrell and designer Jason Scuderi have created a luscious hard cover here of items one could certainly seriously desire. Scuderi and Orrell contacted us about a year ago and with photographer Paul Allan shooting the pictures (we have worked plenty with the super talented Mr. Allan before) we brought to life the Dawnamatrix style of latex fashion for the book’s Fashion and Jewelry section.
From the flaxen haired folk troubadour, to pushing past the boundaries of androgyny (and more or less inventing glam rock) with his spaceman alter ego Ziggy Stardust (certainly influencing some of own ‘space oddity’ styles https://dawnamatrix.com/shop/new-items/plugsuit-style-catsuit/ & https://dawnamatrix.com/shop/collections/classics/spiked-bodysuit/ . to pursuing Orwellian soundscapes as a Diamond Dog, then mining “Philly Soul” as the emaciated Thin White Duke (a period in his life where Bowie himself said he was scared by what he was becoming), to celebrating the synth laden dark tonalities of “Krautrock,” to all his acting, producing, writing songs for others, laying down the price of “Fame” with John Lennon, to selling stock in his songwriting royalties seeing well into the digital age and then releasing brilliant albums this century, up to his last Blackstar, released just last week on the man’s 69th birthday, containing all too prophetic songs like “Lazarus” (see the video embedded here…and Bowie just broke Vevo’s music video record) really is there anybody better then David Bowie?
The continued championing of alternative wardrobe pieces and avant-garde style accessories keeps brands like Dawnamatrix to the forefront of modern fashion. Celebs wearing our wares, even just a mention from a Kim Kardashian, is some of the very best advertising we could ever hope for. These moments for us specifically, married with the upward trajectory general mainstreaming of latex in the past few years-from reported cosplay wear to celebs like Kim strutting in bodysuits across red carpets, to styles seen in “American Horror Story”-has truly made latex so popular.
A latex catsuit, rubber clothing, fantasy costuming is damn sexy and is used often for characterizations of naughtiness that can range from coy expressions of sexuality, to outright kink and fetishes. It all works for us, from the high couture to the tie-me-up-for-a-spanking scene (in real life or film); like you all, we are just tickled when the latex is brought out, in any way it can be!
The sexiness of an ‘alternative’ wardrobe, non mainstream fashion is seen time and again (so much so in fact that many a layman fashionista-if there can be such a person-often comes to link latex/rubber/PVC clothing as being always about something sexual) as we have reported often and is seen in stark example on the new Showtime offering Billions.
The Kardashian/Jenner corporation made plenty of waves in print, as well as on the net (or one because/feeding the other): there was Caitlyn Jenner’s debut on the cover of and in Vanity Fair and Kylie Jenner posing for those controversial wheelchair “Interview” mag pics…in a photoshoot that saw her posed as the famous Hatstand/Table and Chair sculpture, as much as wearing some Dawnamatrix fantasy outfit accessories.
Our excitement over Katy Perry wearing out latex couture in the new Covergirl “Plumpify” Mascara commercial continues. We have just learned that a print add from the commercial-showing Dawnamatrix couture-has appeared in a two-page spread in the January 2016 issue of U.S. Vogue.