Thursday, November 15, 2012


“I look at life as retouching,” Dangin says. “Makeup, clothes are just a transformation of what you want to look like.” Photograph by Josef Astor.
 
Pascal Dangin owns a company, Box Studios, has eighty employees and occupies a four-story warehouse in the meatpacking district. He is a really talented man who literally makes pictures perfect, many will sugest to fix one thing but he ddefinitelt knows what to fix best. The controversy is that the majority of the time magazine covers and media characters look flawless and would make the younger naive crowed to appear like their favorite celebrities. When in reallity, celebrities look that way because their image was altered. 



We all know or at least we SHOULD all know that there is a lot of retouching done for celebrity photos and fashion magazines. Followers, readers, and viewers of these magazines look up to them for inspiration in style, image and more. This where picture manipulation becomes a touchy subject and media frenzy, depicting these “perfect” images, with unrealistic standards. What we may not know is who is behind these photo retouches, and what he takes from all the criticism of his job. One of the leading behind the scene-retouching artist is Pascal Dangin, who works with big name magazines such as Vogue. He is not only behind the scenes in the sense of his digital work but also due to his hush-hush loyalty to the celebrities and models.  Pascal and many of the people he has worked with consider his work a form of art, and enhancement not this misconstruction of real people. He also beliefs that we live in a world where beauty sells and that being glorified is not a bad thing it is just part of our lives at the moment.  So I leave you to decide, does retouching create beautiful art, or just fictitious ideals?  


Pascal Dangin


Pascal Dangin

From Fashion Icons such as Anna Wintor and Graydon Carter to Celebrities such as Madonna and J.LO call Pascal Dangin the Picasso of our time. Although, there have been a lot of controversies in weather or not image touch up or photo manipulation is an appropriate measure to take to portray an image, Dangin think differently- He states “ Hey everybody wants to look good” “Basically we’r selling a product--we’re selling an image. To those who say too much retouching, I say you are bogus.This is the world that we’re living in. Everything is glorified. I say live in your time” 

However, I do disagree with some aspects of Mr. Dangins thought. Yes i do believe that we as a society are evolving and technology is a significant part of who we are. But In my opinion Re-touching and manipulation of an image are two very different things.  Re-touching of an image is basically removing or discarding any flaws such as (scars, wrinkles, red-eye etc.) manipulation of an image is literally changing the image to portray something or someone different (making someone look skinner, taller, longer legs, longer neck etc.). Below I have posted a video of a model before and after retouching. 

Whats your opinion?


 Isaac Mizrahi, an American fashion designer who is just as famous for his quirky character as he is for his original designs, has become a memorable personality who had an obvious and definite passion for his work.  The 1994 documentary, Unzipped, followed his work for his fall fashion show screening his outshining designs and personality. He called the film his career highlight because “it synthesizes who I am in terms of a person who is into many multiple disciplines.”(Isaac Mizrahi: Following his Heart) Even though the highlight of his career ended soon after, he has done work for Target, and continues to do work on some higher end designs. After watching the documentary there is a definite longing for designers such as Isaac Mizrahi who had wonderful visions and put everything into his designs. 



"Isaac Mizrahi: Following His Heart and His Vision." SUCCESS Magazine. N.p., n.d. 
Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://www.success.com/articles/888-isaac-mizrahi-
following-his-heart-and-his-vision>.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Man Who Makes the Picture Perfect


    

The article “ The Man Who Makes the Pictures Perfect” is all about Pascal Dangin, the digital retoucher for fashion’s and Hollywood’s most famous photographers. 

a lot of people may not know who he is, but almost every have seen his work. He did photo retouching for Vogue, Elle, The New York Times, Allure, Vanity Fair, etc. He is the behind -the-scenes magician, more intimate with celebrity flesh than a personal trainer or a masseur.




In general, he is the digital artist, which is definitely a new titile since technology and digital have risen in fashion. 

 “I look at life as retouching, makeup, clothes are just a transformation of what you want to look like.”      "I never want to talk about my work, because it's kind of taboo, the people who benefit from my work do not benefit from me talking about it."                                                                                           - - Pascal Dangin




Thursday, November 8, 2012

Isaac Mizrahi


Isaac Mizrahi
During the 1990s Mizrahi would lit up the runways in a way that no one else woould, his witty, high energy fashion shows were always the higlight of the New York collections. His ambiton and fast fashion traking at an early age made him reach his goals and it wasn’t hard for the designer he was a total showman. 
The article describes him with a bandanna headband taming his frizzy black hair, he was an adorable cartoon. He described his 1992 spring collection: “It will be all about irresistable clothes. The only kind that will sell.” That year he was showered with “best designer” awards. 
Along with being a fashion designer, he is also an American TV presenter, and creative director of Xcel Brands. 


Mizrahi remains a shareholder, creative director, and media personality for his namesake brand under Xcel.

What happened to fashion?




In the article, it introduced Isaac Mizrahi, a talented designer who saw himself as a latter-day couturier who designed for supermodels and the coolest fashionistas – but not ordinary women. For example, when retail buyers once begged him to repeat one of his few best-sellers—paper-bag-waist pants—Mizrahi couldn't bring himself to do a rerun. “ I just got bored with them,” he later recollected.  This was happened during the early 1990s, and Mizrahi ended up with a zero in the profit column in 1996. Mizrahi become the quintessential fashion victim.  He arrived on the scene just when fashion was
changing. 




By the early 1990s, a confluence of phenomena arising from retailing, marketing, and feminism began transforming the ways of fashion forever; by the mid-1990s the forces of fashion had lost their ability to dictate trends. Increasingly, the roles have reversed. The power now  belongs to the consumers, who decide what we want to wear, when we buy it, and how much we pay for it.
The four megatrends sent fashion rolling in a new direction is that
      1.Women let go of fashion. (Women start moving up in the workplace, they dress professional instead of just fancy and pretty)
      2. People stopped dressing up. (Technology became a big thing, and Bill Gates emerged as dressed for success in chinos and sports shirts)
      3.People’s values changed with regard to fashion. (It became a badge of honor to be a bargain hunter, even among the well-to-do))
      4.Top designers stopped gambling on fashion. (The marketing is more important than the design itself, and fashion companies have spent more money on advertising)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

As young as you feel!


Not only on campaigns, older faces are showing more and more on Magazines, Runways, and Street style. In general, fashion world has decided to give us more good examples than just pretty faces.
                        
Corinne Nicolas, represents Dell’Orefice, said the octogenarian’s glamour and presence has helped redefine what society defines as beautiful. In an industry which prizes youth, Dell’Orefice says she's proof of the nation's general acceptance of a graying population.
                         
 
Meryl Streep who played Wintour’s fictional equivalent in The Devil Wears Prada, appeared in Vogue’s January issue. As the same age of Anna, Streep is also 62 years old.
In my opinion, it all makes sense. Older people experienced more than youth, and they desired to be shown images as good examples.