So my good Pagan friend Gary Suto (who is a designer in the New York fashion industry) contributed this piece, which I think is really super important on any number of Pagan/ Cultural Arts levels:
Every so often a famous fashion designer will make me look at them in a different way. This month, that fashion designer happens to be Karl Lagerfeld. He is the man behind the 2011 Pirelli Calendar “Mythology’. Every year, Pirelli (Pirelli tires), creates a calendar for friends and family. Many of his past calendars are what some may see in the back of the mechanics shop or inside someone’s locker, and fall into the category of those that objectify women. Perhaps the company had a shift in consciousness, perhaps it’s the alignment of the planets or perhaps it’s just the direction that this company is going. Regardless of why they chose Lagerfeld and the theme of Mythology, this is indeed a beautiful calendar that depicts Greek Gods, Heroes, and myths.
As a New York fashion designer who is also Pagan, I am constantly looking for pagan inspiration in fashion. As the fashion planning calendar goes, November and December are very busy with designing and finishing up design work. January is much slower and time for research. So while the Pirelli calendar started getting press releases and blog postings in the beginning of December, I came upon this early this month.
For me, Karl Lagerfeld has never been in my top ten designers. In the past I did not like most of his designs and I did not like the way he presented himself. To me his designs are too ‘old school’- made for 5th Ave Socialites that are more interested in wearing a name than in wearing something beautiful. He always wears the same black outfit, with sunglasses and gloves and unchanging hair style. So what changed for me? The calendar by itself is not enough to make me change my view, I had to look deeper. Did he do the calendar on a whim? How did he come to use Greek Gods? Which Gods did he choose and why?
In an interview with writer Freédeéric Beigbeder, the Kaiser [Lagerfeld] explained why he decided to focus on Greek and Roman mythology:
“Because it’s my favourite religion: one god for every occasion. I’m a polytheist: all present-day religions are recent, but I prefer this mythology, which does without hell, without sin (an obstacle to happiness), and without forgiveness. We need to return to the disciplined form of beauty of Antiquity. Simone Weil said that Jesus was a direct descendant of Prometheus — which caused a scandal at the time. I love the goddesses, because they were the first emancipated women. They had a right to everything. The female divinities and the Muses are feminists!”
WHAT? Really?? How in all my years doing fashion did I miss this? Quite simply, I was being judgemental. Rather than look into what made this man so successful, I chose to be disdainful. How many others have I done this with? In light of what is being forecasted for Summer 2012, I need to re-evaluate many designers. Enough of my personal lessons and back to the calendar.
One would expect to see young supple airbrushed models in a fashion spread, and while you have this in this calendar, there are distinctions to be noted. The first and most talked about is the use of Julianne Moore as Hera. Julianne is a beautiful actress with credits beginning in 1984, who turned 50 on December 3rd. The reason this is talked about so much is because it is fashion photography, where ageism is not hidden. In the same Huffington Post article, Lagerfeld says:
“I really did want an actress for the wife of Zeus and for the mother of the Olympian gods. Julianne’s a beautiful woman – more matronly than the young girls under the olive trees. She’s a very dear friend. She knew she wouldn’t be running any risks with me — there wouldn’t be a parallel publication sold under the counter!”
This shows that Karl Lagerfeld has more than a passing interest in the Greek Gods, that he really understands what they represent and the relationships they have with one another.
Another distinction, while minor, is the fact that there are 5 men in this calendar. This is distinctive because, in its history, the calendar has mostly (if not exclusively) featured women. In addition to 5 male models portraying male deities, there are 3 female models also portraying male deities (Hermes, Hades and Apollo). I have not found out why he made this choice, but will continue to look.
For those interested, the list of Gods, Goddesses, demigods and heroes include
ZEUS, HERA, APOLLO, ARTEMIS, ATHENA, APHODITE, MARS, HADES, HERMES, BACCHUS, (3) BACCHANTES, ACHILLES, AJAX, AMPHITRITE, AURORA, FLORA, NARCISSUS, THE NYMPH ECHO, CASTOR AND POLLUX, TERPSICHORE, PENTHESILEA, ESTIA, ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
While the Huffington Post is safe to view at work, the below link will let you see some of the more explicit photos from this calendar (NSFW).
http://giovannatuccio.blogspot.com/2010/12/mithology-pirelli-2011.html
As this calendar was made for friends and family, it is not for sale in common areas. If you are willing, however, to part with $300 you might be able to obtain this treasure on Ebay.
Thanks so much for this, Gary, delivered from the heart of the NYC fashion industry!
As a follow-up: Gary points out that what is remarkable is Lagerfeld’s blatant use of Greek Mythological imagery; according to his perceptions: many of today’s designers use Greek mythological influences in fabric and clothing, without stating it- they leave it to the educated viewer to interpret-
The photo of Artemis is nude. I imagine she’s livid. No man was ever permitted to see her nude and live to tell about it.
Make that Artemis AND Athena… How cognizant of Greek mythology can he possibly be? Show the Bacchae nude, Aphrodite nude, sure. But Athena and Artemis? They would both be extremely offended.
Your point is well taken, however, in the art world, Artemis and Athena have been shown nude in the past. Lagerfeld is a European designer and much inspiration comes from European imagery and art history. The pose that he chose for Artemis in the calendar is almost directly taken from a nude bronze statue of Artemis in Hyde Park in London created by Lady Feodora Gleichen. Lady Feodora Gleichen (1861-1922), the first woman member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, produced this chaste bronze of the huntress Diana in 1899. It was donated by a female private owner to Hyde Park in 1906 and stands in the Rose Garden. You can also go back further in art history to see her in Diana and Callistro or Diana and Actaeon. paintings done around 1556–59 by the artist Titan.
As far as Athena, there are more images of her in the nude than Artemis. In 1922 Franz von Stuck painted a nude triplet of Athena, Hera and Aphordite and in 1923 he painted a nude Athena by herself. Again, going back in art history, in 1585 there is a painting by Bartholomaeus Spranger that shows a semi nude Athena, labeled Hermes and Athena.
So when Lagerfeld says in his interview, “…I prefer this mythology, which does without hell, without sin (an obstacle to happiness), and without forgiveness. We need to return to the disciplined form of beauty of Antiquity…”, he is showing the Gods, without obstacles.
I was blown away by Mr. Lagerfeld’s shot of Artemis- by all of this amazing work (to sum up, the man put together some 20 separate photo-shoots, in order to assemble this photographic representation of the Greek pantheon)- but the Artemis in particular blew my mind- the primal vitality of Her, the stark composition of the shot- all of this would be lost if She had clothes on. Rather than being offended, the Goddess (to my mind) would be quite pleased to find Herself the subject of such an extraordinary work of Art, and gratified (I imagine) that Mr. Lagerfeld cared enough for Deities to take the time and go to the trouble.
It’s true that various artists have depicted Athena and Artemis nude for the past few hundred years. But this has been within the age when Christianity, when the Greek myths were treated as children’s stories. But where have you ever seen a classical sculpture of a nude Athena?
The virginity and modesty of these goddesses is an essential part of their character. You can’t separate it from them anymore than you can separate Bacchus from his wine, or Mars from his weapons. I feel that depicting them this way shows a fundamental lack of respect for or understanding of the deity. Christian artists did not respect the deities for what they were, so we can make excuses for them. But when Lagerfield claims to be polytheist and then depicts Athena and Artemis this way, I have to question his sincerity.
Excellent article, Gary. Thanks, zan, for making this happen.
The Pirelli Calender has a reputation as the highest of high class smut, and so the nudity is pretty much expected. The lack of clothing has made the Pirelli Calender more of photographer’s medium than a fashion designer’s. However, Lagerfeld’s design eye and open polytheism are certainly a revelation here.
I’m not a reconstructionist, and I’d love to hear a Greek reconstructionist’s (or additional Greek reconstructionists if Aurifex considers him/herself such) opinion on the nudity of these Goddesses. There is certainly an emphasis on Artemis’ virginity and modesty in several of Her myths and, in particular Actaeon. But having been indoctrinated with the (occasionally dubious) scholarship of the feminist Goddess movement of the 70′s and 80′s, I do wonder if these were later additions of a more patriarcal Greek culture when the word “virgin” moved from being a woman living alone to its more unbending sexual definition. Perhaps the message of the Actaeon myth is that Artemis gets to choose who gets to see Her naked form, and She is fully capable of enforcing that choice. Would She object to being portrayed in such a magnificent piece of artwork as here? That is less clear to me.
Well, the purpose of Art is to challenge perception and to stimulate thoughtful process, is it not? To a certain extent, it seems to me that the Classical Deities kind of belong to the universal western cultural mind- meaning that they can be interpreted again and again; in Apollo’s Angels, Ms. Homans writes about the interpretation of Apollo in early (16/ 17th century) ballet. I’m sure the early ballet masters were not operating from any “fundamental” understanding of the Sun God’s Greek worship, but rather, from the Renaissance understanding of the Sun God as representing certain qualities.
Frankly, I totally see Artemis nude. If She is the Goddess of the Wild, why wouldn’t wild nature be Her natural state? Kind of the point to the collection is the elemental nature of the Deities, that is only expressed through the elemental state of nudity. Clothes actually would diminish the power of the work- you would lose that “living sculpture” aspect- that quality of the Gods that the Greeks sought to express in the idealized realization of the human form.
I’m not a strict reconstructionist, but I am Hellenic. I was shocked at first when I saw that Artemis was depicted in the nude. My second though was “Maybe it’s actually Diana.” I do understand why it would be considered disrespectful of the Goddess to depict her in a way she would disapprove of. If the gods are, in fact, real beings and not just archetypes we have to respect their feelings and customs as much as we would respect each other’s. That being said, since I am not entirely a reconstructionist (more of a Devotional Hellenic Pagan) I think that whatever Mr. Lagerfeld does with his own art is between him and his gods or the way he views them.
Well, I think Laura said it best there: how an artist chooses to portray a God ought to be between the artist and the God. One thing that puzzles me, tho- on the other side of the Mediterranean in Turkey, at Ephesos (where the Temple to Artemis is one of the wonders of the Ancient World): isn’t that where the famous (and kind of Surreal) statue of Her was, the one where not only are Her breasts bared, but She has like 90 of them? How can Artemis have such a problem with nudity, if in Her own temple, at a major site of Her worship- She has Her breasts out. This suggests to me (rather) a Goddess so fond of Her breasts, not only does She show them, but She gives Herself dozens of them.
I feel bound to point out Aurifex, that I don’t actually see Athena in this collection- I wonder if you are mistaking the female model posing (in a fiercely composed shot) with a helmet as Ajax for Athena.
The statue you speak of actually pre-dates the Greeks and was associated with Artemis. And some people believe the breasts are eggs, so it is always up for interpretation.
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