- Culture
- 19 May 03
Madonna has always pushed boundaries and dictated trends to an almost ridiculous level – even just last year, she put a Stetson and a frilly shirt on, something that was not the least bit fashionable at the time, and next thing we see them on the high street and on the catwalk for the next two seasons.
Madonna has done the clever thing by surrounding herself with the right people… most of the people working with her are very in touch with whatever is fashionable at the time. There is a diversity, energy and an ability to reinvent herself that I admire – I mean, the conical bra idea was way ahead of its time.
One of my favourite looks of hers is the cover for Ray Of Light. At the time Madonna was being criticised for being old – on the cover, she looked fresh, rejuvenated, natural and stripped down to her basic self. It was her way of saying ‘Here I am, take it or leave it…’
One of the looks I find questionable would be the look she had in the video for ‘Deeper And Deeper’. It’s one of my favourite songs, but the ‘no eyebrow’ look wasn’t great! Again, once she did it, you had all these models shaving off their eyebrows for the next season, and they all looked like they were ill!
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I admit when I was younger I did try the whole ‘leggings under the miniskirt’ look… I was really big into Fame at the time too, and I loved the puffball skirts that were worn by Pepsie and Shirlie!
It seems obvious that Kylie Minogue is after Madonna’s style crown – she has adopted the same ‘chameleon’ philosophy too. It looks like it may be down to her incredible stylist – Kylie seems very easy going, yet her outfits are so incredible and forward.
Again, once Kylie wore stiletto heels with cropped combat trousers (in her video for ‘Love At First Sight’), it was a look that was all over the high street for the following year. That kind of impact is amazing.