What do
comic books and fashion have in common? As it happens, a lot. The vibrant
hero-filled pages and the technicolor crush of clothing are generated by the
same artistic processes. Often, concepts that seem too exotic or surreal for real
life are the very same ones that are most at home in the transcendent and often parallel
worlds of fashion and comic books.
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Gisele Bündchen, Vanity Fair, September 2007.
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Color
combinations such as color blocking, monochromatic matching, and complimentary, split-complimentary,
triad, and analogous color arrangements are part of the well thought-out
designs for two dimensional comic heroes and fashion amazons. Color is a universal
tool of comic book artists and creative directors that is used to define the
characters of make-believe muses who embody our vision of the present and dreams
of the future. Their dynamic stories are told through the endless tints and
saturations borrowed from the visible color spectrum.
One
only has to catch a glimpse of the green catsuit of Poison Ivy to appreciate
the planning that went into choosing a color that perfectly complements her red
hair, mirrors her dedication to all things chlorophyll, and defines her
personal aesthetic. Likewise, designers often have signatures in their oeuvre or
in a particular collection, such as the Valentino red (hence Red Valentino),
the Gryphon gold, or the Calvin Klein white.
Comic book characters find definition and tangibility for their style in the costumes and/or clothing they wear just as designers do for their muses. Clark Kent changing into his famous blue and red Superman costume is the equivalent of a model being primped three hours before a runway show. The transformation occurs in which the sketch becomes the character, whether they are a comic book or lookbook heroine.
