|
Delurking (hi!) to add a couple things. I should preface this by saying that I've been a huge fan of Ayu for a little less than half of my life, and my love for Lady GaGa has grown exponentially in the last few months.
1. Not everyone is as literate in fashion as Ayu, Lady GaGa, and some of the members on this board are. Lady GaGa became famous wearing McQueen, so a lot of people are going to equate McQueen designs with her simply because they don't know any better. Although I think some GaGa influence is inevitable--simply because of the sheer cultural saturation we're experiencing right now--I don't doubt that Ayu knows enough about the fashion industry to know McQueen is a go-to designer if she wants to represent England in the best of its fashion (and the most recognizable--partially thanks to Lady GaGa).
To me, the most obvious difference between the designs we typically see on Lady GaGa and those we see on Ayu is that, while GaGa often wears strange, even unflattering shapes that challenge our ideas of femininity and female sexuality, Ayu plays it (comparatively) safe. Even the more bizarre outfits--like the two checkered suits--are still structured to give her a traditionally-feminine figure. This makes me think it's more about the British fashion as British Fashion than a larger statement (however pretentious). In other words, yeah they use the same designers, but the clothes' narrative payoff in the video (so far) is different.
2. A big part of Lady GaGa's shtick is the creation of pop culture pastiche. She isn't just ~copying~ legends like Madonna and Michael Jackson for the sake of trying to emulate them and their success; she's consciously trying to evoke them in her themed performances about fame and pop culture consumption.
Ayu has also mimicked Madonna in her performances without coming out and saying "this is a statement about fame" or anything. However, I don't think we should ignore the fact that this album in particular is called Rock'n'Roll Circus and includes extensive photo and PV shoots in London. If she wasn't trying to consciously evoke other artists in previous performances, than I think it's safe to interpret this album, at least, as having an element of pastiche.
Of course, some people write off pastiche as just another despicable case of plagiarism, and not everyone buys into Lady GaGa's act; this post may be totally meaningless to you. I feel better putting this out there when there's so much hate flying around. Both Ayu and Lady GaGa are too awesome for this kind of debate.
|