In terms of high fashion it does not feed from other fashion brands as this is the top, where trends are created; theres is nowhere to look in terms of fashion because all of the other sectors take inspiration from high fashion. Therefore, they have to gain inspiration from cultures, time periods and social media. By the fashion industry taking on Neo-Tolkienism it definitely shows that they have followed the latest trends, in terms of what is popular at the moment, and although this periodic, costume-like dress is very unpredictable, fashion has to listen to hat consumers want to a certain extent. And 'fantasy, fairy-tale' is clearly what consumers want!
The target market has now shifted, in the sense that is not just something that teenagers show an interest in anymore. Adults are accepting the genre and embracing it themselves.
Neo-Tolkienism is becoming increasingly significant as it is now affecting all industry sectors. Which is therefore allowing all individuals to become so much more openminded.
The fashion industry has adopted Neo-Tolkienism and it is now largely implemented into retail. For example Celestine Eleven; a store which stocks high end designers clothing, has implemented this theme into their brand. They use crystals and tarot cards as props around their clothing. Then allowing consumers to understand the theme further. By placing these mystical props with high end clothing, it makes consumers understand that it is ok to merge mystical and materialistic things together.
Consumers are always looking for an escape out of their everyday lives; Neo-Tolkienism is something that you are definitely able to escape from your usual look with. It is based around creating a character for yourself, with everything from alternative clothing (costume), to hair and make-up adjustments too. It is a very broad theme as you can either go for a dramatic, deep, medieval look. Or there can be a neutral, natural and fairy-tale look. But whatever is chosen, it allows the consumer to adopt an alter ego; showing an extension to their personality. Although, those are only two ends of the spectrum, and there is many more looks in between.
As I mentioned before Neo-Tolkienism has been implemented into the fashion industry a great deal. One of the ways this has been done is through Vanity Fair magazine. One of the most watched and talked about television shows at the moment is Game Of Thrones, and the cast got the chance to become stars on the cover of this high fashion. And this was all down to the increasing success of the series. They wore beautiful medieval garments; taking on the rolls of their characters and captured perfectly by photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Some other actresses from the films I mentioned above that have done increasing well in the fashion industry, since amercing themselves in these magic and fairy-tale fantasy and science-fiction films are Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence.
Firstly, Emma Watson became a famous face at a very young age, and has gradually become more successful on a global level. She has now modelled for Burberry and been on the cover of multiple magazines. Harry Potter was in a way one of the first films that made Neo-Tolkienism accepted to a wider audience than just the small sector of fantasy-fiction enthusiasts.
Secondly, Jennifer Lawrence became so successful through her role in The Hunger Games. She is not modelling for various different designers, on the cover of various magazines like Emma Watson, and is the face of Dior. All of her success just shows how playing a lead role in a fantasy-fiction film can elevate you to the hight of your career as it is so successful. Designers now feel that these characters are now relatable figures and consumers will be eager to purchase goods that are advertised by one of the most popular women of our time.
Many Luxury fashion have even bought into Neo-Tolkienism by creating collections that has a medieval ora. They are gaining huge amounts of inspiration from these films and television shows, in the way that they design their costumes.
A brand that has recently done this is Dolce and Gabbana. Their current Autumn/Winter collection oozes fairy-tale, fantasy and fiction all rolled into one. It seems to be following the avenues of stories like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Little Red Riding Hood. As the setting for the photoshoot is in a woods, which is significant in both tales. There is also a specific ad that has three models in it that are dressed in fairy-tale red dresses and they also have snoods over their heads. This outfit in addition is obviously signifying Little Red Riding Hood's long cloak and memorable hood.
Another common style within the ad campaigns are heavily embellished two pieces that take on the role of knights in castles. They are embellished with silver beading to give the effect of the silver chained body armour and suits they wear. Then to make this look come even more to life, the models are wearing snood type scarves around their heads to signify the knight's helmet in their 'head-to-toe' style uniforms.
All of the outfits in each campaign is extremely mystical; in the sense that it holds deep colour schemes with pops of metallic gold and silver. These colour schemes, also the thick, velvety fabrics used definitely remind me of medieval royalty, having their glamorous outings; prancing around with their extremely wealthy goods to show off! As well as this, their accessories are full of jewels, including: crowns and royal-looking necklaces. Some of the other styles include men in their waist-coats and caps, looking as though they are serving the women's every need. This is opposing the time period, as men were seen as the 'more important' gender. Therefore, Dolce and Gabbana have switched the roles to show the independence and strength of women today!
Dolce and Gabbana have also extended their ad campaign by creating a backstage video, and it is full of references to the beauty of fairy-tale fiction. The opening of the women's collection titles are in the style of font that old fairy-tale stories were written in, then the music they play is a beautiful harp. With regards to the story it is very much good versus evil, which most stories of this genre entail. To show this opposition the music changes through out the clip depending on the atmosphere of the scene, and the model's facial expressions also change.
Another brand that has achieved this mysterious look of the medieval/mystical time period is Givenchy and their most recent Autumn/Winter collection, designed by Riccardo Tisci. This was by chance I came across these images as I noticed them on Givenchy's Instagram page.But they are actually the shots from Harper's BAZAAR China magazine.
This collection holds a nature... 'into the woods' feel, that is also an extension of the mystical, enchanted world. The photoshoot took place on a forest/naturalistic looking set, which complimented the emerald and brown tones in the garments. The model's makeup is very earthy, also keeping in with the theme, and her hair is sleeked back to show off her features.
The garments themselves compliment each other, but are different in many ways. The first image shows the model wearing a dress that covers her whole body, which is very periodic as that was when women did not show much skin at all! The material is thin and silk-like, flowing to her feet. This give the illusion of moving water, and is again a theme within nature.
The second outfit worn by the model is heavily focussed on fur. She is wearing a fur, sleeveless jumper; including ruby red jewels to bring in the theme of high class and wealth, as I mentioned above in the Dolce and Gabbana analysis. She is also wearing leather and fur gloves to add to the high amount of existing fur. This amount of real animals is another theme associated with nature, thats constantly flowing through these images. Also, wearing this amount of real animal materials is something else that shows style and taste in a somewhat reminiscent, royal way. As many people that can afford such clothing is often considered to own these traits.
Finally, the third outfit the model is posing in contains very obvious patterns of a specific wildlife creature. I can see traces of different butterfly wings all over the dress, and although they are very different shapes and sizes, the colour scheme of the dress ties it all together. Again, we see the leather and fur gloves, with jewelled earrings for accessories to show wealth throughout this collection of garments.
Neo-Tolkienism has not just affected the fashion industry, but it has managed to circulate through so many sectors of businesses. For example: food restaurants, day experiences created for these themes, museums and many more. Another industry that I have researched, and seems to thrive on this theme at the moment is the cosmetics industry. I have seen looks within certain ad campaigns that are taking a great deal of inspiration from Game of Thrones; as consumers are revelling in 'middle-age' beauty at the moment.
One example of this is a product made by Fresh, called Elixir Ancien.
The image to the right is something that reminded me of a fairy-tale princess. This look is very much like the way Snow White is described, with her,
The image on the right reminds me of a romantic tale in a periodic time, when passion and love was very much embraced. In this time love was very dramatic and everything was exaggerated. This ad campaign is all of those things; even down to their make-up which is obviously the main feature. Both the male and females eye make-up is bold and fierce, just like the tale of love throughout the visual is meant to be portrayed. In most of these television programmes and films, whether it be a magical, mystical, medieval or fantasy style, they all consist of love and hate emotions in a heavily embedded way into the storyline. Therefore, this ad campaign decided to take the route of love in their titling 'Novel Romance'. Also, portray the visuals with deep and dramatic tones in the set, costume and make-up design.
To conclude Neo-Tolkienism I feel that it is taking over all so many sectors as I mentioned earlier. Businesses have understood that his is a niche market and it has become loved by such a huge amount of the global population. This unexpected and somewhat strange theme has suddenly become relatable to so many people, and to some extent it is a mystery as to why. Therefore, it would be silly for a business not to invest in something that is likely to attract an increasingly large audience.
Many Luxury fashion have even bought into Neo-Tolkienism by creating collections that has a medieval ora. They are gaining huge amounts of inspiration from these films and television shows, in the way that they design their costumes.
A brand that has recently done this is Dolce and Gabbana. Their current Autumn/Winter collection oozes fairy-tale, fantasy and fiction all rolled into one. It seems to be following the avenues of stories like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Little Red Riding Hood. As the setting for the photoshoot is in a woods, which is significant in both tales. There is also a specific ad that has three models in it that are dressed in fairy-tale red dresses and they also have snoods over their heads. This outfit in addition is obviously signifying Little Red Riding Hood's long cloak and memorable hood.
Another common style within the ad campaigns are heavily embellished two pieces that take on the role of knights in castles. They are embellished with silver beading to give the effect of the silver chained body armour and suits they wear. Then to make this look come even more to life, the models are wearing snood type scarves around their heads to signify the knight's helmet in their 'head-to-toe' style uniforms.
All of the outfits in each campaign is extremely mystical; in the sense that it holds deep colour schemes with pops of metallic gold and silver. These colour schemes, also the thick, velvety fabrics used definitely remind me of medieval royalty, having their glamorous outings; prancing around with their extremely wealthy goods to show off! As well as this, their accessories are full of jewels, including: crowns and royal-looking necklaces. Some of the other styles include men in their waist-coats and caps, looking as though they are serving the women's every need. This is opposing the time period, as men were seen as the 'more important' gender. Therefore, Dolce and Gabbana have switched the roles to show the independence and strength of women today!
Dolce and Gabbana have also extended their ad campaign by creating a backstage video, and it is full of references to the beauty of fairy-tale fiction. The opening of the women's collection titles are in the style of font that old fairy-tale stories were written in, then the music they play is a beautiful harp. With regards to the story it is very much good versus evil, which most stories of this genre entail. To show this opposition the music changes through out the clip depending on the atmosphere of the scene, and the model's facial expressions also change.
This collection holds a nature... 'into the woods' feel, that is also an extension of the mystical, enchanted world. The photoshoot took place on a forest/naturalistic looking set, which complimented the emerald and brown tones in the garments. The model's makeup is very earthy, also keeping in with the theme, and her hair is sleeked back to show off her features.
The garments themselves compliment each other, but are different in many ways. The first image shows the model wearing a dress that covers her whole body, which is very periodic as that was when women did not show much skin at all! The material is thin and silk-like, flowing to her feet. This give the illusion of moving water, and is again a theme within nature.
The second outfit worn by the model is heavily focussed on fur. She is wearing a fur, sleeveless jumper; including ruby red jewels to bring in the theme of high class and wealth, as I mentioned above in the Dolce and Gabbana analysis. She is also wearing leather and fur gloves to add to the high amount of existing fur. This amount of real animals is another theme associated with nature, thats constantly flowing through these images. Also, wearing this amount of real animal materials is something else that shows style and taste in a somewhat reminiscent, royal way. As many people that can afford such clothing is often considered to own these traits.
Finally, the third outfit the model is posing in contains very obvious patterns of a specific wildlife creature. I can see traces of different butterfly wings all over the dress, and although they are very different shapes and sizes, the colour scheme of the dress ties it all together. Again, we see the leather and fur gloves, with jewelled earrings for accessories to show wealth throughout this collection of garments.
One example of this is a product made by Fresh, called Elixir Ancien.
"A precious oil treatment hand-blended in a monastery that smoothes the complexion and provides supreme nourishment."It is created by monks in the Czech Republic in their monastery. This is showing that no longer are consumers interested in beauty brands that are selling them chemicals and artificially made products. But it is now more about going back to the old days and creating products in a natural way - the old is the new, new!
Another brand in which has taken on the theme of Neo-Tolkienism is M.A.C cosmetics. I recently visited Selfridges and noticed that two of their ad campaigns, visually displayed around their make-up counter reminded me of dramatic, mystical stories. I took images and wanted to deconstruct them, as I could see so many similarities with them, in regards to Neo-Tolkeinism.
I photographed the image on the left because there was two themes in one here. The ad to the left shows a model wearing a camouflage hood, reminiscent of a knight's hood in the medieval ages. Then her make-up style hold deep and powerful tones.
"Skin white as snow and lips red as blood."This look is something that has been seen in films such as Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie and the Red Riding Hood adaptation starring Amanda Seyfried.
The image on the right reminds me of a romantic tale in a periodic time, when passion and love was very much embraced. In this time love was very dramatic and everything was exaggerated. This ad campaign is all of those things; even down to their make-up which is obviously the main feature. Both the male and females eye make-up is bold and fierce, just like the tale of love throughout the visual is meant to be portrayed. In most of these television programmes and films, whether it be a magical, mystical, medieval or fantasy style, they all consist of love and hate emotions in a heavily embedded way into the storyline. Therefore, this ad campaign decided to take the route of love in their titling 'Novel Romance'. Also, portray the visuals with deep and dramatic tones in the set, costume and make-up design.
To conclude Neo-Tolkienism I feel that it is taking over all so many sectors as I mentioned earlier. Businesses have understood that his is a niche market and it has become loved by such a huge amount of the global population. This unexpected and somewhat strange theme has suddenly become relatable to so many people, and to some extent it is a mystery as to why. Therefore, it would be silly for a business not to invest in something that is likely to attract an increasingly large audience.
Neo-Tolkienism is there to give the consumer more! It allows there to be a story behind the product that they are purchasing. More often than not the consumer will be able to feel like a totally new person with this possession or experience, as it will be so far out of their comfort zone. This is more than a materialistic purchase, it is an experience that the consumer is buying into, in the hope that they can become an alter-ego of theirs, for example.
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