My Interpretation of 'Wild Kingdom'

After sitting in the lecture and listening to Sharon introduce our new brief, I was really keen to get to work! I am really into Aztec prints and tribal fashion prints at the moment. To have a project that is based around different cultures and cultural tribes is right up my street.

‘Wild Kingdom’ was introduced to us with two music videos which have been influenced by different tribes and cultures. I have included stills from the videos below, and I urge you to watch them as they have been a great inspiration to me!

As the lecture progressed, the focus was on Rodarte’s 2010 catwalk in which the models were painted with tribal tattoos. The collection was described as ‘psychadelic’ and ‘playful’ and was inspired by a trip to California’s Death Valley which led to a look created along the theme of ‘tough beauty’. After watching the full catwalk show, I was astounded by the amount of work that had been put in by the MAC make-up team to create the looks. 

This was extremely encouraging and I couldn't wait to get home and begin my research.

At home, I brainstormed ideas and so far, I have collected a wide range of possible avenues I could take this project. I was inspired mostly, by the video ‘Acapella’ by Kelis in which she is a native tribeswoman and takes great influence from the wildlife in her surroundings. 

I then went on to think about other cultures that were less obvious in that they wouldn’t spring to mind straight away. I have been extremely drawn to Indian culture and most of all, henna. I think that intricate designs painted all over women’s bodies are exquisitely beautiful and I am definitely going to follow up with a post about what I have found. Not wanting to hone in on one idea too quickly, I am also going to research into the ‘Thareg People’ of Niger and Inuit tribes as I felt that they were extremely interesting too and their cultures are something I would like to explore.

I have had an exciting time so far, researching into tribes and cultures of the world and I cant wait to continue the project.

All in all, I am extremely excited!

Just one of the many looks in Kelis' music video for 'Acapella'.

I was inspired by the tribal tattoos and the attention to detail in the headdress of this look.

A still from 'We Are The People' by Empire of the Sun.

I was drawn to the styling of the front man (on the left) in this video. His look is a 'cultural mish-mash' and I found it extremely intriguing.