Matt's Journalism 61 Blog

Monday, May 17, 2010

Plato's Atlantis Review

In the blink of an eye one man's imagination upped the ante on all other collections for the Spring 2010 season. Alexander Mcqueen, one of the fashion industry’s golden children, more than out did himself through his Plato’s Atlantis Collection. For years the world has been accustomed to the beauty and imagination of Mcqueen through his work through his time at Givenchy and through his recent years at his own label Alexander McQueen. This year he took his talent to new height and delivered the most impressive and cohesive show of his career and of the season.

Plato Atlantis saw the return of Mcqueen’s most used tool, shock value. He started the show with a sexy and provocative introduction feature a nude women struggling and caressing her self under water. His stage then revealed itself as having movable cameras that were on rails so they could move and record the models as they walk down the aisle. Then collection itself was walked on the white stage.

This collection was very different than any other collection he has ever done. Usually during his couture line he makes clothes purely for artistic purposes, not necessarily to make something wearable. With this collection everything, if you stretch you imagination and don’t have a fear of heights, was completely wearable.

When just looking at the dresses in this collection your heart will stop for just a second. The dresses in the collection were a blend of powerful, sexy, animalistic, and futuristic designs and patterns. As random as this may seem McQueen infuses them effortlessly. The prints where loud and invoked a purely animal instinct. The solids were metallic beaded S&M inspired numbers. Both oozed sexiness and danger, which is what every girl wants right? What was true awe-inspiring was his use of structure and draping. These dresses were so sliming while adding excess fabric. He had bulging shoulder sleeves and wraps, he had plugging necklines, and he used structure to literally make objects float of the dresses create that futuristic look.

The most impressive and crazy amazing part of this collection was the out of this world shoe collection. He created three shoe designs, two of which were unnamed, and the other being the crowing jewel of shoe world: the 12” inch Armadillo heel. This show is the most beautiful show that I have ever laid eyes on. Towering in at 12” inches and ranging from pastels, metallics, and animal prints these shoes throw practicality out the window and embrace the extreme, unrealistic glamour that on a McQueen original can evoke. These shoes have taken on a life of their own and sent the fashion world aflame with love.

Since their presentation at Plato’s Atlantis celebrities such as Kelis, Victoria Beckham, and Lady Gaga (whose entire video for “Bad Romance” was almost completely outfitted in this collection) has worn and spoken out for their complete and utter obsession with these shoes and the collection as a whole.

By far this collection is the most beautiful and thought provoking collection of clothing I have seen in quite awhile, and unfortunately will be the last seen by this designer as he pasted away shortly after its critical acclaim. Forever this collection will remain a testament to Alexander McQueen’s talent and greatness and will serve as a bar for every designer after him to jump over.

Broadcast Script

(ANCHOR)

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, FASHIONS MOST REVOLUTIONARY DESIGNER, DOESN’T DISAPPOINT WITH HIS SPRING 2010 PLATO’S ATLANTIS COLLECTION.

VERY RARELY IN THE WORLD OF FASHION DOES ONE DESIGNER HAVE THE ABILITY BE SO TALENTED; THEY ACUALLY GET TO BE ORGINAL.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN MAKES IT A HABBIT TO DO IT EVERY SEASON.

THIS SEASON WAS FILLED WITH GAVITY DEFYING FOOTWEAR, FANTASTIC PATTERNS, AND A LEVEL OF CRAFTSMANSHIP THAT IS UNCOMPARABLE.

(ANCHOR/VO)

THIS SEASON HE INTRODUCED THE ARMADILLO HEELS. THESE POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS HEELS MEASURE OUT TO BE 12-INCHES HIGH.

RANGING FROM ALLIGATOR PRINTS, METALIC BEADINGS, AND BEAUTIFUL PASTELS THESE SHOES ARE ONES THAT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY.

(ANCHOR/VO)

HIS USE OF COLOR AND INCREDIBLE PATTERNS MADE THIS COLLECTION EYE TURNING.

MCQUEEN USED ANIMALISTIC AND FUTURISTIC PRINTS TO AMAZE THE EYE AND GIVE THE COLLECTION A FEEL OF DANGER WITH AN AIR OF SEXY.

(ANCHOR/VO)

ABOVE ALL THE LEVEL OF CRAFTSMANSHIP WAS MIND BLOWING.

MCQUEEN’S USE OF DRAPPING CREATES SLIMMING AND DRAMATIC BODY SHAPES.

HE USES REMARKABLE STRUCTURES THAT CREATE CLOTHING THAT FLOAT AND EXPLODE OFF THE MODELS.

THE DESIGNS SEEMS TO DISREGARD GRAVITY AND TAKE ON SHAPES THAT LEAVE NORMARL BEHIND AND LET THE IMAGINATION SOAR.

(ANCHOR)

WITH THE 2010 PLUTO’S ATLANTIS COLLECTION, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN SETS A NEW STANDARD FOR INNOVATIVE.

IT WILL SURELY LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION ON THE ART AND FASION WORLD FOR YEARS TO COME.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

My Personal Rating For the Show



Over all I would give this a collection a "I just died a little" rating. This collection was near flawless and left me literally breathless the first time I saw it.

Matt's Ratings

Alexander McQueen's Final Walk
Matt's Ratings!
(I Just Died A Little!) (Pretty Cute!) (Meh) (This was almost unlivable)



My Broadcast

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Extra Credit

On Monday I attended the Magazine Clubs presentation on the San Francisco publishing company McSweeny's one time Newspaper project Panorama. The three editor's behind the project: Chris, Jesse and Brian decided they wanted to produce a Newspaper that was 350 pages long and deluxe as possible. They decided to do this project with no newspaper experience, which was not easy. They took inspiration from The Sunday Morning Post, Zaman and Excelsior. As Chris said, " We wanted to make a newspaper worth buying." They decided to do something very different. As Jesse said, " [We] let writers as much as they need to. Every article has it own page." With all their dense material they still managed to sell almost all 40,000 copies of the magazine. Since they are not newspaper writers I asked them what they saw as the future of newspapers and if they thought they were dying. Chris said, "Print is always dying. The Bar needs to be higher. It's and exciting moment. It's a vibrant and alive. That hasn't really changed." After seeing their presentation I thought it was really cool and successful. I think that they proved that the newspaper, especially an elaborate one, is still in style and still important. I think it proved that people are still interested in in depth and well rounded information they can hold on to. When asked if they'd do it again, Brian said, while slightly laughing, "We're not going to do it again."

Broadcast of Party With a Plan

THINKING OF DRINKING? GET READY TO PARTY WITH A PLAN.

DAVID EMMERT, SAN JOSE STATE COUNSELOR, HOSTS A WORKSHOP INSTRUCTING STUDENTS ON HOW TO DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

IT STARTS BY SHOWING STUDENTS HOW TO FIND THEIR BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT ONLINE SO THEY ARE PREPARED TO DRINK IN ANY SITUATION.

THE PRESENTATION TAKES A SERIOUS TURN WHEN HE DESCRIBES THE RATE OF SEXUAL ASSULT FOR WOMEN.
"90 PERCENT OF ON CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULTS ARE ALCOHOL RELATED, " EMMERT SAYS. "NINE PEOPLE REPORTED SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS, EIGHT OF WHICH WERE ALCOHOL RELATED. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST UNREPORTED CRIMES."

EMMERT CONCLUDED HIS PRESENTATION BY LECTURING ON SIGNS OF ALCOHOL POISONING AND SOME PROTECTIVE STRATEGIES WHILE DRINKING.

HE GAVE THE ABCDE'S OF DRINKING: AWAKE, BREATHING, COLD AND CLAMMY, DO NOT LEAVE ALONE AND EMERGENCY, THAT HELP SOMEONE KNOW SOME SIGNS OF ALCOHOL POISING AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.

AFTER GOING TO THIS LECTURE YOU'LL KNOW HOW TO PARTY WITH A PLAN.