Skin tight: the sensibility of the flesh

Boudicca was invited to design five outfits for the group exhibition Skin Tight, curated by Sylvia Chivaratanond and profiling the radical innovations of designers who use clothing garments to probe the cultural construction of embodied identity. Co-exhibitors included Hussain Chalayan, Martin Margiela, Victor and Rolf. Curator Chivaratanond was interested in work exploring “the architecture of the body, the sexualized body and the deconstruction of the body -- all of which reflect contemporary anxieties and suppositions related to both the body itself and the emotional resonances connected to it." Five skirts were designed especially for the show, drawing on Broach/Kirby’s longstanding research and exploring the movement of the silhouette over time in their collections, with particular attention to the concept of corseting/girdling below the waist, an area to which scant attention has been paid before. Five skirt patterns were made up in a single fabric. Each skirt was displayed with a shoe hanging from it, which often echoed the shape of the skirt (for example the bulbous part of the heel was exaggerated to echo the skirt and the form of the buttocks), with the concept of corseting even extended to boots. Each of these pairs was displayed in front of a montage of photographs of the influences they drew on. These ranged from Hans Bellmer and Duchamp to Allen Jones and Helmut Newton, as well as other forms of wrapped bodies, from Edward Muybridge's films to Dorothy Tanning's sculptures. Research involved rigorous attention to detail in styling, in particular exploring through sculptural tailoring skirts that cut sharply under the buttocks, “the provocative sensuality of the under-curve”. Special manikins had to be constructed to work on and display the clothes (as traditional manikins are too flat for such skirts). Zowie Broach and Brian Kirby work as a duo, collaborating on all aspects of the research and creative process. The show toured to New York, included talks and symposia, and resulted in a catalogue featuring a visual essay of Broach’s designs alongside other major international designers(http://www.artbook.com/0933856814.html)