Marc Bouwer Serves ‘Nouvelle Couture’
His greatest inspiration just might be Wonder Woman. He dubs the fabrics and fake furs he uses with such fanciful names as “baby gorilla” and admits it gives him no end of pleasure when models ask him if the fur is real.
Marc Bouwer, in town recently with his fall collection, is 27, but even younger in spirit; there’s a bit of mischief to him and to his designs, which have been described as both glamorous and counterculture, sensuous and New Wave.
While assistants showed the collection to prospective clients in rooms at Le Bel Age hotel, the South African-born, Seventh Avenue-based New Yorker offered his own description.
A Self-Description
“How about ‘nouvelle couture’?” Bouwer asked. “Beautiful fabrics, beautiful workmanship, but young, less up-tight. Slightly ‘retro’ with futuristic appeal. Simplification with a sense of humor. That’s important--without humor, you’re finished.”
Bouwer’s time has apparently come. He’s worked with stretch fabrics for nine years, and he prefers short lengths, even for gala occasions. Now, he pointed out, “Stretch is everything; short is everywhere.”
He said his clientele includes Morgan Fairchild (“one of my faves”), Barbra Streisand (he dressed her for the premiere of “Yentl”) and Patti LaBelle (she wears one of his designs in her “Outrageous Fortune” video). Neiman-Marcus and Giorgio are among retailers that carry the line.
Bouwer is best known for his form-fitting sequin-and-jersey gowns, which he likes to adorn with jeweled snake forms. “It’s a symbolic thing with me,” he explained. “And artistic. A snake is slinky, its form very streamlined.”
He intends to become even more tailored, if not necessarily slinky, in his approach.
“The human form is sculpture at its finest,” he said. “A human body in great shape is beautiful to look at, the proportions wonderful. That’s my canvas. I want to cover it in such a way that I don’t obliterate that form, or disguise it.”
But Bouwer also has his practical side, and a certain oval shape that definitely disguises the female form is becoming increasingly important in his output. “The bottom line here is to pay those bills,” he admitted. “There are certain shapes one has to do to accommodate the fuller-figured woman.”
Though obvious influences would have to include Lacroix, Gaultier and Mugler, Bouwer again showed his practical side when asked which designers inspire him: “Any designer who’s working,” he answered with a laugh.
He confided that his most important inspirations come from sources such as Superwoman and Wonder Woman.
“You think it’s a joke? I’m serious,” Bouwer said. “I see women as heroic and strong, as super heroes. I loved reading comic books as a kid--the Fantastic Four, the Justice League. I also admired strong women in history, Joan of Arc, for instance, and Medusa in mythology.”
Early Influences
Science fiction, horror and fantasy novels, a love for the movies and a background in dancing and singing also played important roles in Bouwer’s development. He confided that if for any reason he had to stop designing clothes, he would probably go back to singing. He wouldn’t go back to his native South Africa.
“It’s a beautiful country, a wonderful environment to grow up in as far as the natural things go,” he recalled. “But I don’t have too many pleasant thoughts about things that happened to me there and things that I saw. I’m glad to be out of there. I’m glad to be here.”
