Men’s suits – Hackett London SS13 took inspiration from Jay Gatsby
The fashion world has been waiting with baited breath for the release of Baz Luhrmann’s adaption of The Great Gatsby. The film set in 1920’s New York was originally due to hit cinemas in December; however producers decided to push its release back to May 2013. I had been looking forward to seeing this film for a long time and when I heard that I had to wait a further five months I was slightly put out.
Fans of 1920’s fashion will be pleased to hear that menswear brand Brooks Brothers have launched an exhibition this week in their London Regent’s Street store as a sneak preview to some of the costumes featured in the film.
The exhibition will include just ten pieces as worn by Leonardo Dicaprio, who plays leading character Jay Gatsby and Carey Mulligan who plays Daisy Buchanan.
The menswear brand have collaborated with director Baz Luhrmann’s wife and costume designer Catherine Martin who designed and sourced the costumes for the film.
For those of us who won’t get a chance to view the exhibition we will just have to wait that little bit longer to see the costumes in their full glory when the film is released on 16th May.
Gucci SS12 took inspiration from 1920’s flapper styles.
Baz Luhrmann is known for putting on an extravagant show and fans of his work are in for a real treat if the rereleased trailer is anything to go by. Luhrmann created films such as ‘The Moulin Rouge’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ so if you enjoyed them you will certainly enjoy Gatsby.
Not only is the fashion to die for but you should also be impressed by the sound track which features a cover of Beyoncé’s Crazy in love by Emeli Sande, a cover of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ by Beyoncé and Andre 3000, new songs from Florence and The Machine,
The xx, Brian Ferry and Will.i.am and a special new release by Jay Z, who Luhrmann personally appointed as executive director of the album.
Despite all the hype surrounding the film the fashion world has moved on from their 1920’s obsession and is currently looking towards very different decades. Had the film been released on time then one would be forgiven for thinking the world had gone 20’s crazy but perhaps that was one of the reasons behind the films delay, as Luhrmann is one for making an impact on his own terms and not relying on help from elsewhere.
What I am particularly excited about is the fact that costume designer Catherine Martin has collaborated with Miuccia Prada for many of the costumes and they have gone into the Prada achieves as well as creating new pieces inspired by the original period of time. Prada and Martin have aimed to create authentic looks which tell a story of what was happening in New York at the time.
In New York during the mid-1920’s what you wore in society made a very strong statement about who you were. For example European fashion was beginning to influence the aristocratic East Coast crowd therefore if you moved in those social circles it was very important to dress in that style.
If you followed the fashion of Europe you were said to be extremely sophisticated, decadent and glamourous; dressing in this style made society think something of you even if in reality you weren’t from a wealthy family you could simply fit in just because you looked the part.
As a fan of fashion and history this is one film I will certainly not be missing and with a host of stunning gowns, a fabulous soundtrack, wild 1920s cocktail parties and a line up of stars in 3D to look forward to who would want to miss this?
