Like every other guy, I must confess that erotica fascinates me. So, it was with bated breath that for the past one week, I’ve been eagerly waiting to log in to porn site X-tube to view a soft porn video, commissioned by Nicola Formichetti, the Creative Head of the House of Mugler (Paris), to showcase his Spring 2012 collection called Brothers Of Arcadia.
Throughout the past week, Nicola would put up tantalizing teasers of pictures from the film shoot on networking sites across the internet (like the one above). He only revealed that the video was being made by model / film-maker Branislav Janic and that it would be a first time porn would actually be integrated with fashion.
While a tamer version of the video (without nudity) can be found on Youtube, here, the full soft-porn version can be viewed if you log on to X-tube.
The full-version video starts off in black & white, showing Nicola’s version of bronzed Greek gods cavorting on a beach in erotic swimwear. Then, huddled together in a very homo-erotic embrace, they throw coloured powder on each other (much like we do at Holi) and magically, the film turns into colour.
Intimate body parts of men and women are liberally shown (Yes! Everything!) and orgasmic love-making is a strong theme. Extremely enjoyable is the music score – Franz Schubert ‘s piano composition and White Horse by Brooklyn-based trio Jessica 6.
In fact, the musical group has a member – Nomi Ruiz – who is Nicola’s latest muse. After Lady Gaga and Rick Genest (the guy with the skeleton tattoo from the Born This Way video), Nomi is the next on Nicola’s list to receive his magic touch. Few people knew Gaga or Genest till Nicola waved his magic wand over them and made them celebrities over night with his patronage, encouragement and styling.
What’s even more amazing about Nomi (above) is that she’s a trans-gender. She was born a man and did a sex-change to become a woman. Bet you can’t tell from the picture that “she” was indeed, a “he”!
This photo is styled by Formichetti for a spread in the forthcoming issue of V Magazine and is shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. He put it up on his Facebook Fan Page.
Scenes from the film were also converted into a catalog (above) which was placed on every seat at the Mugler Spring 2012 men’s wear show that was held in Paris on Wednesday.
The collection is inspired by Japanese manga comics, Italian cinematic greats like Fellini and Pasolini, sports, Greek mythology and the homo-erotic photography of Herb Ritts and Bruce Webber.
All photos of the fashion show below are from www.style.com and are credited to Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com
The first model to hit the ramp was shirtless, bare-chested and had huge golden arms, neck-piece, helmet and cummerbund.
The collection moved from white to grey to black and was infused with sparkle detailing from time to time. There were many versions of swim-wear to choose from and the entire line had a sporty feel to it.
Nicola also explored light pinks, denim and acid green. “That green represented the blood of the digital era,” revealed the designer in an interview to Style.com
And exactly what is the reason for Nicola making a soft-porn film to promote this collection? On X-tube he says:
“I WAS INTERESTED IN THE IDEA OF FANTASY, DREAMS AND VOYEURISM. I ALSO LIKED THE IDEA OF MODERN AND ANCIENT MYTHS. I LIVE IN NEW YORK NOW BUT GREW UP IN ROME WITH THE BAROQUE AND CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE EVERYWHERE. SO I SUPPOSE THIS PROJECT IS A COMBINATION OF THE TWO THINGS; THERE ARE SURFERS, FOOTBALLERS AND CLASSICAL GODS ALL ROLLED INTO ONE IN THIS FILM.
I WAS LOOKING AT ITALIAN NEO-REALIST CINEMA AND THEN POST THAT, WHERE FELLINI AND PASOLINI BECOME MORE ABOUT MYTH AND FANTASY. AT THE SAME TIME I LOVED THE IDEA AND ACCESSIBILITY OF PORNOGRAPHY AND THAT EVERYDAY VOYEURISM ON XTUBE. FASHION IS ALWAYS REFERENCING PORNOGRAPHY, SO THERE WAS AN ELEMENT IN DOING THIS FILM OF JUST ‘CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLEMAN’, BUT IT IS AN EROTIC FASHION FILM NONETHELESS.
I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE NOW THINK THAT THE PORN AROUND AT THE MOMENT IS ‘REAL’, BUT IT IS NOT. IT IS TOTAL FANTASY, THESE PEOPLE ARE LIKE OLYMPIAN ATHLETES OF SEX. WHAT HAS CHANGED IS THE LOOK OF PORNOGRAPHY. I WANTED TO BRING SOME OF THAT EXCESSIVE DRAMA AND THE LOOK OF FANTASY BACK TO PORN – TO ACKNOWLEDGE SOMETHING AS OVER-THE-TOP AS TINTO BRASS’ CALIGULA. WITH THE EXPLICIT SEX SCENES LEFT IN.
I AM ALWAYS INTERESTED IN TECHNOLOGY AND I WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THE WAY PORNOGRAPHY DRIVES IT. IT IS SO USER FRIENDLY ON A PORN SITE LIKE XTUBE, SO INSTANTLY ABOUT SOMETHING YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN. WHEN YOU ARE ALONE YOU CAN BE AS FREE AS YOU WANT, WATCH WHAT YOU WANT AND BE WHO YOU ARE – YOU ARE NOT HAVING YOUR TASTE DICTATED TO YOU LIKE YOU ARE ELSEWHERE. I LIKED THE IDEA OF PEOPLE WATCHING THIS FILM IN THAT WAY.”