Story Ore Blog: lady gaga outfits vma

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The son of a Japanese stewardess and an Italian pilot, Formichetti was born in Japan and grew up in Rome and Tokyo, attempting to assimilate in both cultures. As a child he trained as a classical pianist (and still plays for relaxation). But moving to London became his great desire and he used the excuse of attending an architecture school to which he was accepted in order to get there. Formichetti has explained that instead of attending he "literally walked in the front door of the architecture school and then ran out of the back one to go clubbing for three years." He became a student of the nightlife and street fashions, and began working at a fashionable boutique called 'The Pineal Eye' where he would become art director and head buyer for two years.

While working at 'The Pineal Eye' Formichetti was spotted by fashion editor Katy England and she offered him a monthly page at Dazed & Confused called "Eye Spy," and after being named the magazine's fashion director in 2005 would eventually be promoted to become its creative director 2008. His work at Dazed & Confused led to other fashion magazines, including V, Another Magazine, Arena Homme +, and Harper's Bazaar USA. Among fashion designers he has worked with Kim Jones, collaborating with him on his collections and shows, and has worked with fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen, Gareth Pugh, Carri "Cassette Playa" Mundane, Prada, Missoni, Iceberg, and brands such as Nike, Umbro, Puma, Stussy, Topman, H&M, and Edwin. Among fashion photographers Formichetti has worked with Nick Knight, Hedi Slimane, Terry Richardson, Steven Klein, and Oliviero Toscani, as well as others.

After several months largely out of the spotlight (except on tour) Gaga returned in January 2011 to begin the serious promotion for her upcoming album Born This Way and Formichetti has been fashion director for the project. The music video for the title track "Born This Way" was directed later in January by Nick Knight, with Formichetti responsible for the styling. In February came her performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards where they collaborated with designer Hussein Chalayan on her appearance and performance. Gaga, interested in the concept of rebirth, sent Formichetti a picture of a human embryo, and he was first inspired to create, as he told her, "egg [shaped] shoes—like you were born that way, with eggs as feet." She took the idea further, resulting in the egg or "vessel" (designed by Chalayan) in which she was carried down the red carpet and later onto the stage, hatching out in a yolk-coloured latex outfit to perform her new single "Born This Way". She was wearing, as he tweeted, "Mugler by Nicola Formichetti." A "Born This Way"-associated shoot called "Alien Excess" done in January by photographer Mariano Vivanco for the Spring 2011 (March) issue of i-D features Gaga in a latex coat from the new Mugler menswear collection, with Formichetti responsible for the styling. A shot from the same session with Vivanco, but with different styling, also by Formichetti, appeared on the cover of Billboard in February.

The menswear, a collaboration with Romain Kremer, of Formichetti's debut (Fall/Winter) collection "Anatomy of Change" premiered during the Men's Paris fashion week on 19 January 2011. This was accompanied by a video shot by Mariano Vivanco, featuring Formichetti's new muse, the full-body tattooed Canadian model Rick Genest, and by a remix by Lady Gaga, as musical director for the menswear project, of a new track ("Scheiße") from her upcoming album Born This Way. The clothes, worn by Rico Genest and other models on the runway, recall those by Mugler himself from earlier decades, in such ways as the use of the colours navy blue and bright orange, or "hyper-modern"-style jackets lacking lapels. The collection also features some not-so-conventional latex pieces such as biker jackets, gloves, and even latex trousers. On the overall vision, Cathy Horyn of The New York Times describes Formichetti creating a "mechanical man" in the tradition of Mugler's fantastical woman, yet Adam Tschorn of the Los Angeles Times found plenty of the pieces surprisingly wearable. Formichetti himself says on the collection "I want to say something that has the past and the future, but what is really important to me is the present." Returning to Rico Genest, it was his discovery by Formichetti and then Gaga's urging which actually resulted in the menswear show, something not originally planned. Genest's discovery also influenced the collection itself. The show was streamed live from Paris on the Internet.