60 Years of Michael Jackson, The Fashion Icon Vogue UK

[MacMandy90]

I came across this article that was around what would have been Michael’s 60th birthday, I found this was a fascinating read about how he still is an influence, especially in the world of fashion.

60 Years Of Michael Jackson, The Fashion Icon

To celebrate the King of Pop's 60th birthday on August 29th, Vogue fashion critic and lifelong super-fan Anders Christian Madsen speaks to his stylist, Rushka Bergman

www.vogue.co.uk

 

[zinniabooklover]

I came across this article that was around what would have been Michael’s 60th birthday, I found this was a fascinating read about how he still is an influence, especially in the world of fashion.

60 Years Of Michael Jackson, The Fashion Icon

To celebrate the King of Pop's 60th birthday on August 29th, Vogue fashion critic and lifelong super-fan Anders Christian Madsen speaks to his stylist, Rushka Bergman

www.vogue.co.uk

Oh, I've seen this before and didn't bother to bookmark it. Thank you so much. Safely captured.

You see the bit where she says she would be shouting at the screen when watching a tv interview with Michael? 'Ask him about his wardrobe!' You see? It's not just me. We are legion (probably, lol) but we keep a low profile so you don't know we are here. In my fantasy interview series I absolutely want to ask about his clothes. I mean, I don't mind limiting it to his show costumes so as not to be too intrusive. But, my god, what a lost opportunity, not to ask him about stuff like that. What is wrong with journalists?

God, thank you so much. So exciting.

 

[Hiker]

wow! wonderful article written by someone who knew Michael personally. He always knew how to get the best out of people and how to inspire them to think beyond what they already know. Few words jump out -
"His gentle and spiritual nature made him one of the greatest people to ever walk the Earth.”
"Our current zeitgeist considered, he was lightyears ahead of his time."
Also glad to read that the author is now working with Paris.

 

[zinniabooklover]

wow! wonderful article written by someone who knew Michael personally. He always knew how to get the best out of people and how to inspire them to think beyond what they already know. Few words jump out -
"His gentle and spiritual nature made him one of the greatest people to ever walk the Earth.”
"Our current zeitgeist considered, he was lightyears ahead of his time."
Also glad to read that the author is now working with Paris.

There is more from Rushka. We're not allowed to post links to other mj sites, I don't think. Which is fine since I can't do links, lol. So you'll have to go old-school. If you Google 'rushka bergman paris prince mj' it takes you to another lovely piece from her. You could also, if you wanted to, Google the same but 'vogue' instead of 'mj' and it'll take you to vogue.com where they have a lovely little clip of Paris and Prince getting ready for some appearance, I dunno, some awards show or something. But it's Rushka getting them ready. I generally don't pay attention to the kids but the interaction between Paris and Prince is just lovely. Very funny. Also, a great moment from Paris when she reveals that she didn't attend her high school prom because ... (drum roll) ... she went to a Metallica gig. Yay! She is Michael's daughter!

 

[staywild23]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I love to read anything current(ish) and positive about Michael! There are so many things I love about this.

1) I love how they regard not only his style but his actual appearance as high fashion. In his exquisiteness he was like everyone and no one all at once. But having spent so much more time than I ever expected staring at photos of Michael (lol) I constantly think about how stunning he was in an almost inhuman way. I’ve said before that he almost looks like a model, except that I can’t think of any models who actually look like him lol.

2) I love how the article tries to explain, or rather, examine his fascination with royalty. While they say it could be megalomania, they don’t linger there which makes me happy. They offer him more grace than that by saying he was constantly trying to understand “why me.” In the same conversation about his grandeur they tie in his kindness, his massive heart, his humanitarianism. They treat him like royalty, you could say. And I love to see it because Michael wasn’t perfect, but he was all the things they say and that’s so often ignored. I love the idea of Michael using art and fashion as a way of exploring his identity, not necessarily asserting himself in a megalomaniacal way. Side note to this, I love how broad Michael’s interests were and how much knowledge he had about culture based on his own study.

3) I love that they briefly examine his connection to the elephant man and how he may have related. It always breaks my heart during the 87 Ebony Jet interview when they are talking about the movie and the story of John Merrick. One of my dreams you could say would be to watch the movie with him and discuss it in depth and try to get a deep understanding of why he felt so connected to him. I mean, there are plenty of obvious reasons, but I want to understand from him.

4) It’s obvious that the article was written with love and that’s all Michael deserved.

 

[MacMandy90]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I love to read anything current(ish) and positive about Michael! There are so many things I love about this.

1) I love how they regard not only his style but his actual appearance as high fashion. In his exquisiteness he was like everyone and no one all at once. But having spent so much more time than I ever expected staring at photos of Michael (lol) I constantly think about how stunning he was in an almost inhuman way. I’ve said before that he almost looks like a model, except that I can’t think of any models who actually look like him lol.

2) I love how the article tries to explain, or rather, examine his fascination with royalty. While they say it could be megalomania, they don’t linger there which makes me happy. They offer him more grace than that by saying he was constantly trying to understand “why me.” In the same conversation about his grandeur they tie in his kindness, his massive heart, his humanitarianism. They treat him like, royalty, you could say. And I love to see it because Michael wasn’t perfect, but he was all the things they say and that’s so often ignored. I love the idea of Michael using art and fashion as a way of exploring his identity, not necessarily asserting himself in a megalomaniacal way. Side note to this, I love how broad Michael’s interests were and how much knowledge he had about culture based on his own study.

3) I love that they briefly examine his connection to the elephant man and how he may have related. It always breaks my heart during the 87 Ebony Jet interview when they are talking about the movie and the story of John Merrick. One of my dreams you could say would be to watch the movie with him and discuss it in depth and try to get a deep understanding of why he felt so connected to him. I mean, there are plenty of obvious reasons, but I want to understand from him.

4) It’s obvious that the article was written with love and that’s all Michael deserved.

Absolutely agree!

I've had thoughts about that as well, it would have been very interesting to sit with Michael to see The Elephant Man film, just to connect and breakdown the how's and why's, the connections.

This was a very lovely article, Michael deserved every ounce of love.

 

[zinniabooklover]

I've had thoughts about that as well, it would have been very interesting to sit with Michael to see The Elephant Man film, just to connect and breakdown the how's and why's, the connections.

And this is why I drone on and on, boringly on about interview fantasies. Why did no-one ever bother to cover this stuff? I know the answer, I'm just venting. Ignore me. And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want peeps trying to poke into every last corner of Michael's brain. It's not about being intrusive or trying to expose every last thought he ever had. I don't require him to give away every creative secret or expose every last emotion he ever had about anything. That's not the point of the exercise.

But he was an artist and most artists are happy to talk about their work as long as the approach is respectful and serious.

He talks about The Elephant Man quite freely in the Ebony / Jet interview and quotes from the film with no obvious discomfort so I can't believe he wouldn't have been open to a more in-depth discussion about this.

Oh god, the frustration.

 

[staywild23]

And this is why I drone on and on, boringly on about interview fantasies. Why did no-one ever bother to cover this stuff? I know the answer, I'm just venting. Ignore me. And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want peeps trying to poke into every last corner of Michael's brain. It's not about being intrusive or trying to expose every last thought he ever had. I don't require him to give away every creative secret or expose every last emotion he ever had about anything. That's not the point of the exercise.

But he was an artist and most artists are happy to talk about their work as long as the approach is respectful and serious.

He talks about The Elephant Man quite freely in the Ebony / Jet interview and quotes from the film with no obvious discomfort so I can't believe he wouldn't have been open to a more in-depth discussion about this.

Oh god, the frustration.

No, I totally understand the frustration! I know how much you hate Oprah and won't watch that interview, so I hope you don't mind me referencing it here. But there is a moment when he goes on about how much he loves Michelangelo and how if he could talk to him he would want ask him questions about his craftsmanship and understand it as much as possible. Suffice to say, Oprah's immediate follow up to this comment is dreadfully, dreadfully disappointing.

But I agree with you. It's not about wanting to unearth every last thought he had (I mean...yes, I want to, but I don't actually want that, if you know what I mean lol). It's really about honoring his brilliance and wanting to understand and learn from him. I would bet that he would have seriously appreciated the opportunity to expand on his thoughts about any of this stuff, including The Elephant Man, had he been given it.

 

[zinniabooklover]

No, I totally understand the frustration! I know how much you hate Oprah and won't watch that interview, so I hope you don't mind me referencing it here. But there is a moment when he goes on about how much he loves Michelangelo and how if he could talk to him he would want ask him questions about his craftsmanship and understand it as much as possible. Suffice to say, Oprah's immediate follow up to this comment is dreadfully, dreadfully disappointing.

But I agree with you. It's not about wanting to unearth every last thought he had (I mean...yes, I want to, but I don't actually want that, if you know what I mean lol). It's really about honoring his brilliance and wanting to understand and learn from him. I would bet that he would have seriously appreciated the opportunity to expand on his thoughts about any of this stuff, including The Elephant Man, had he been given it.

Derail coming up.

So. Oprah. I always disliked her style of so-called journalism. I didn't watch the interview back in the day cos she just doesn't do it for me. She's one of those that, when she interviews someone, you find out more about her than you do about the interviewee. She always centres herself. Strike One.

I did try to watch the interview because it's so long so I thought it would be cool. It's split into two parts on YT, IIRC. So I decided to jump into the thing a little way in, not starting right from the beginning. So I bump it forward, stop it at random and it's the bit where she's asking him about being a virgin. I don't care if Michael knew she was gonna ask that question and approved, it should never have been on the list because it's boring. I mean, I don't know if she did submit her questions in advance. I'm just saying, don't go there. It's boring. Be a journalist. Ask interesting questions for gawd's sake.

Yeah, the Michaelangelo bit. Jeez. Talk about a crap response. Strike Two.

So I tried the other clip. Did the same thing, bumped it forward and landed on ... ta da ... the bit where she's asking about plastic surgery. Oh for the love of Pete. Seriously? I know it's Hollywood, love, but you have 1001 questions you could have asked him. But no, you had to do the tabloid thing. Strike Three.

So she was already dead in the water to me. And then we got the post LN thing. Where Oprah decided she is actually god, or something, and announced that 'it's time to say goodbye to Michael Jackson'. Oh no, it flaming well isn't, love. I decide. I will decide what to think about this crap tv programme. You don't get to tell me what my reaction to anything should be.

Not having a go at you for watching the interview. I get it and it doesn't offend me if peeps make different choices to me. It's just that I already had previous with her. I'm not cutting off my nose to spite my face. I'm sure there are a few good bits in there. But I don't need to see every bit of footage of Michael. I'm fine with the bits I can watch. I don't hate Oprah but I have no time for her and I will not give her any headspace. So that's it.

This article here. It's not even that long. I think you get a better sense of Michael from this than you ever could from some dopey tv person asking Michael about his sex life, fgs. It is interesting, even-handed, tries to give a new perspective on things, celebrates him without being sycophantic. It's an absolute treasure. It shows what can be done but you have to have the intelligence, integrity and balance to be able to do it like this. This is what journalism should look like. Not like the gossip page in a tabloid.

Here endeth today's rant.

 

[staywild23]

Derail coming up.

So. Oprah. I always disliked her style of so-called journalism. I didn't watch the interview back in the day cos she just doesn't do it for me. She's one of those that, when she interviews someone, you find out more about her than you do about the interviewee. She always centres herself. Strike One.

I did try to watch the interview because it's so long so I thought it would be cool. It's split into two parts on YT, IIRC. So I decided to jump into the thing a little way in, not starting right from the beginning. So I bump it forward, stop it at random and it's the bit where she's asking him about being a virgin. I don't care if Michael knew she was gonna ask that question and approved, it should never have been on the list because it's boring. I mean, I don't know if she did submit her questions in advance. I'm just saying, don't go there. It's boring. Be a journalist. Ask interesting questions for gawd's sake.

Yeah, the Michaelangelo bit. Jeez. Talk about a crap response. Strike Two.

So I tried the other clip. Did the same thing, bumped it forward and landed on ... ta da ... the bit where she's asking about plastic surgery. Oh for the love of Pete. Seriously? I know it's Hollywood, love, but you have 1001 questions you could have asked him. But no, you had to do the tabloid thing. Strike Three.

So she was already dead in the water to me. And then we got the post LN thing. Where Oprah decided she is actually god, or something, and announced that 'it's time to say goodbye to Michael Jackson'. Oh no, it flaming well isn't, love. I decide. I will decide what to think about this crap tv programme. You don't get to tell me what my reaction to anything should be.

Not having a go at you for watching the interview. I get it and it doesn't offend me if peeps make different choices to me. It's just that I already had previous with her. I'm not cutting off my nose to spite my face. I'm sure there are a few good bits in there. But I don't need to see every bit of footage of Michael. I'm fine with the bits I can watch. I don't hate Oprah but I have no time for her and I will not give her any headspace. So that's it.

This article here. It's not even that long. I think you get a better sense of Michael from this than you ever could from some dopey tv person asking Michael about his sex life, fgs. It is interesting, even-handed, tries to give a new perspective on things, celebrates him without being sycophantic. It's an absolute treasure. It shows what can be done but you have to have the intelligence, integrity and balance to be able to do it like this. This is what journalism should look like. Not like the gossip page in a tabloid.

Here endeth today's rant.

I appreciate rants like this! I've been mostly indifferent to Oprah throughout my life. I agree about always making interviews about herself in some way, which I certainly picked up on. But I just never engaged at all with anything she did. The first time I watched the Oprah interview, I was really shocked at some of the questions. Now, this may not be true, but Oprah and Michael both said in the interview that he didn't clear any questions first and nothing was off the table. If nothing else, I do think he seems genuinely taken aback by the "are you a virgin?" question. But I suppose we can't really know what goes on behind the scenes there.

I really love the interview as a whole because I love Michael in it. But I 100% appreciate and understand why you want to sit that one out. You are right in that it is wholly unnecessary to see all of the footage of Michael, especially if you feel you won't get much but frustration out of it. I have seen it several times though and I just find Michael so endearing that the rest falls away for me. But I really do understand where you are coming from.

As for LN, I agree on all counts. I've said this in other places on here, but I didn't even know LN was a thing until this year when I became a fan, so I certainly hadn't heard anything about Oprah's involvement since then. It's sickening and disappointing, but I suppose not surprising.

 

[zinniabooklover]

A few weeks ago I came across a photo of Michael in the Jackson's/J5 picture thread and thought, 'oh that reminds me of one of his TII jackets'. Just been re-reading this article and this jumped out:

"For the last years of his life, [Rushka Bergman] served as his full-time stylist, the only one he ever had. It was Bergman who dressed Michael in the pagoda-shouldered Balmain jackets by Christophe Decarnin - inspired by the star's own fashion legacy - which became his wardrobe during the filming of This Is It."

The jacket they're referring to, I assume, is the one he wears during the IJCSLY rehearsal and also at the beginning of the HN section. The Jackson's - era jacket has sparkles on both lapels (overkill, imo) but the TII one has sparkles only on one lapel. Looks way cooler. But I do love the way the newer jacket references the earlier one. Gonna go and bump the photo now.

I love this.