Stylist and creative director Nicola Formichetti with his muse Lady Gaga
A DESIGNER will find inspiration in all sorts of places and forms; for example they may be inspired by a particular decade, by a film, by a plant, an animal but most often by a person.
Many designers have a close relationship with a particular celebrity or model and in some cases it can almost seem like an obsession. In many cases this inspirational relationship can spring from a particular celebrity being a fan of the designers work.
A designer and muse relationship can result in anything from one capsule collection based around the preferences of their muse or years and years of collaboration together in an almost obsessive partnership. Throughout the decades there have been countless designer and muse collaborations and as you can guess all muses are influential, stylish, and quirky and their look is inspirational to others.
Here are my top five designer and muse collaborations.
Hubert de Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn
This was a relationship made in style heaven as the designer couldn’t have picked a more elegant and naturally beautiful canvas.
The pair met by chance on the set of one of Hepburn’s films where he thought he would be meeting Katherine Hepburn.
Together they created the wardrobe essential and one of Hepburn’s most famous outfits, which she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the little black dress.
Hermes and Jane Birkin
Every fashionista has heard of the Birkin bag, the coveted bag that speaks volumes for your street cred and style status.
The creation of the bag itself came about when artistic director of Hermes Jean-Louis Dumas was seated beside Birkin on a flight from Paris to London.
When Birkin’s hand luggage fell over spilling its contents everywhere a conversation began about what makes a good weekend bag.
Dumas took all of Birkin’s ideas and some of his own and created the bag of her dreams which he subsequently named the ‘Birkin bag’ and a beautiful friendship began.
Marc Jacobs and Sofia Coppola
The pair have been friends since the beginning of Jacob’s career when he was working for Perry Ellis and she was an up and coming film maker.
They have collaborated many many times with Coppola staring in Marc Jacobs advertisements, attending countless gala’s and shows together and in more recent times the pair have created a shoe and handbag collection together for Louis Vuitton, for whom Jacobs has been creative director since 1997.
Henry Holland and Agyness Deyn
Whenever I hear the phrase ‘like two peas in a pod’ I often think about Holland and Deyn as one is rarely seen without the other.
The duo have been friends since they were 13 and grew up together in Manchester before moving to London to try and forge a career in the fashion industry.
The pair would not be where they are now without their friendship. Deyn was scouted by a model agency while on her way to visit Holland at university and in return Deyn helped Holland hit the big time by modelling his collections giving his work the super model effect.
Nicola Formichetti and Lady Gaga
One of the more recent collaborations the pair have been working together for around five years with the half Japanese half Italian designer being at the forefront of the creative team behind ‘Haus of Gaga’. Formichetti has styled countless music videos, magazine editorials and put Gaga in that controversial meat dress.
It was recently announced however that the pair would no longer be collaborating together on a professional basis as Formichetti’s career has gone into overload.
Not only is he fashion director at Uniqlo but he was recently made artistic director at Diesel and is fashion director at Vogue Hommes Japan.
