Analysis of a Stars Image (Homework Three)

The development of a stars persona: Lady Gaga

The international superstar Lady Gaga as we know her has had a radical development in character, style and all round persona.  Stefani Joanne Angelina Gernanotta born on the 28^th March 1986 was born into a wealthy Upper East Side family in New York. Gaga is of both Italian and distant French Canadian heritage.

At the tender age of four Stefani learnt to play the piano; and at 14 started to perform at open mike nights. Stefani attended a strict Catholic school and often felt oppressed and unable to express her ‘true’ nature. After education Stefani broke free from what she felt were Catholic chains and begun her life as a performer.

2005-2007

In the earlier stages of her musical career, Stefani made significantly different music than to what we know her for now, working with artists such as Hip-hop’s Grandmaster. While attending University she created a band called the Stefani Gernanotta Band which played covers of Classic Rock music from the likes of Led Zeppelin. During her time within SGBand in 2006, Stenafin was scouted by Rob Fusari, gradually the band grew apart and Stefani started to work with music producers in New Jersey. During her personal career Stefani’s stage name was coined, and originated from the Queen song “Radio Gaga”. Lady Gaga’s image instigated from her performing years and her time as a go-go dancer with her double act partner Lady Starlight. During her time as a go-go dancer Gaga wore as little as a bikini, her feeling of being at home in little clothing is evident today with live performances, music videos and every day wear just as revealing as the go-go dancing ‘uniform’.

2008-2011

2008 was the definitive year when Lady Gaga’s career really took off in the mainstream charts. Mid-2008 Gaga released ‘The Fame’ her first studio album that would go on to top charts worldwide. Then to keep up with demands in 2009 she released a continuation of ‘The Fame’ called ‘The Fame Monster’, the same songs with the addition of a few more tracks. In 2011 she released her massively anticipated third studio album under the name of ‘Born This Way’. Reports tell us that she is working on a fourth album already, only three months into the release of ‘Born This Way’.

Gaga’s image through time

Over the three years Lady Gaga has been in the spotlight her style has changed nearly every time she is in the public eye however what we as the audience expect from her stays the same, we expect ; flamboyance, outlandish, fashion forward, often themed clothing sometimes accompanied by a prop.

In 2008, Lady Gaga caught the eye of magazines worldwide with her unusual choice for red carpet attire. Covered in geometric crystal shapes, Gaga begun the craze for flamboyance and bizarre clothing on the red carpet. With the craze catching on, many celebrities and high-street shops such as Topshop and Urban Outfitters begun to copy her eccentric style and ushered in a new wave of flamboyant mainstream fashion trends. As time passed and her success rate grew massively, her persona and what people knew her for became familiar. Designers queued up to have Gaga wear their clothing and fans queued outside of HMV to get her album. Gaga had cleverly created herself into an object of desire and targeted one the most powerful industries - fashion. Not only did she effectively change fashion forever but she made heaps of money doing it and helped many small time fashion designers make it big. http://gagafashionland.com/ is one of the many websites dedicated to following every outfit Gaga wears and tracing its origin. Continually, her career spiralled into the limelight and in 2010 VMAwards Gaga emerged wearing a meat dress, created massive controversy and intrigue but nonetheless getting her face in the spotlight and promoting herself and what type of artist she is.

MEIDA

Gaga’s face is printed everywhere. It has become very hard to find a high-street shop even a website that hasn’t got an image of Lady Gaga. Her image is seen everywhere and the sheer volume of it is a vital key to her success. Because she is seen all the time, she has become a universal icon and stays firm in the forefronts of people’s minds, effectively she will never go stale. Magazines such as iD, V and Dazed keep her image ‘cool’ and ‘underground’ creating appeal for ‘arty type’ people, while big names such as Vogue and Elle present her as a ‘fashion queen’, ‘innovative’, stylish and most importantly in season and hot. Additionally, covering Rolling Stones magazine more than once portrays her to the public as truly a talented artist, we this this because she graces magazines that have respect and are seen as knowing what they are talking about. Her image is also reproduced in a spectrum of ways. Topman for instant has released a few graphic tops and jumpers with images of Gaga on the front, while Topshop has also done the same smaller items are also sold with Gaga expression. High, metallic, clumpy shoes are sold resembling that of what Gaga often wears and party dresses have become more extravagant and outlandish than before. Soviet inspired posters care sold in HMV and her songs are frequently played in shops, and background music on TV shoes and adverts and advertising campaigns take inspiration from her image, reproducing it and still reminding us of what it kind-of-looks-like or resembles.