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What Happened to Street Style?

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  • Faust
    kitsch killer
    • Sep 2006
    • 37852

    What Happened to Street Style?

    A good Op-Ed on BoF:



    NEW YORK, United States — Whatever happened to the “street” in street style? As interest in street style grows, there’s certainly no dearth of images featuring tony editors, buyers and other fashion insiders captured at the world’s major fashion weeks. But there’s a pointed lack of inspiration in these pictures. Too often, they reflect a highly merchandised construct that merely reiterates the seasonal themes dictated, top-down, from the industry to consumers, at the expense of true personal style. Sometimes, they are even part of a premeditated marketing plan.

    When legendary street style photographer Bill Cunningham hunkers down on New York’s 57th Street and Fifth Avenue to document the passing parade, he aims to capture real people in their real clothing living their real lives, something closer to reportage than public relations. But during fashion week, where an increasing number of street style images are now captured, so-called street style stars are often seeded with (if not gifted) pieces from designers in the hopes that they will be shot in them, earning brands exposure. Indeed, many of these “street style” images are now so constructed that it feels like the only thing missing are the credits in the lower left-hand corner.

    What’s more, for those aiming to land themselves on influential street style blogs, websites like The Cut are now able to pinpoint “street style bait” — items like Valentino’s rockstud footwear, Givenchy’s printed t-shirts, Fendi buggies, and almost anything from CĂ©line — and provide a formula for how to attract street style photographers.

    We once looked to the street for personal style and, indeed, new ways to interpret the onslaught of clothing and accessories presented on the catwalks. But is anything new being said when a street style star like Anna Della Russo, editor-at-large and creative consultant for Vogue Japan, wears a head-to-toe look from Prada or Balmain? Can this really be construed as street style any longer? It certainly has nothing to do with the street and feels anything but personal.

    To be frank, what we now call street style has stifled true style. While savvy readers have long known that the editorial content that appears in their favourite monthlies was influenced by advertisers, street style was once a space free from these kinds of transactional compromises. No longer.

    What’s more, when street style stars actively court the camera — dressing to be photographed instead of dressing according to one’s own wishes — with carefully planned and executed ensembles, what we get is polish and poise with none of the instinctive and idiosyncratic gestures of true personal style. Ultimately, what we are left with is an awful lot on display, but not much to see.

    Perhaps it’s a romantic idea, but I’d argue that true style, at its best, says something deep and intrinsic about the wearer. In contrast, the new wave of meticulously fabricated stars are all surface. There’s no denying that the surface is pretty. It may also reflect a strong visual persona. But is it genuine?

    For me, the majority of street style images have become as glossy — and, ultimately, two-dimensional — as the fashion stories found in most fashion magazines.

    Paradoxically, as the Internet provides instant access to everything, street style has lost its immediacy and vitality. We’re hypnotised by the material goods, but the indefinable characteristics of true style remain underrepresented. When was the last time you saw a street style image featuring someone who looked as though they just tossed on something they had hanging in their closet and it came together in an unexpected or surprising way that’s genuine and perhaps changed your eye a bit?

    There was a time when the runways and magazines reflected a world of fantasy, and real life was, well, real life. Which didn’t mean that you had to dress like a bore, but you certainly didn’t borrow clothes from a showroom either.

    Not long ago it was enough to be stylish and have a shrewd eye and a closet of well-chosen items. While street style used to represent the frontier of self-expression and do-it-yourself spirit. Now it looks as constructed as the runway.

    But when the runways and the streets become one and the same, isn’t the industry just reflecting its own perfectly manufactured image back to itself? This is a dangerous place for fashion to be, as it’s in this mutual admiration that stagnation occurs.

    Max Berlinger is a writer based in New York.

    The views expressed in Op-Ed pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Business of Fashion.
    Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

    StyleZeitgeist Magazine
  • BSR
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2008
    • 1562

    #2
    Saw that too. I agree with the diagnosis, but it's a much more general phenomenon, which is not so much tied to the difference between 'street' and 'podium' but to the colonization of the web by brands, marketing and stores. Even what used to be or is supposed to be user generated content, tends to become free advertising. see instagram accounts for instance, whether they advertise for the self of their owners, or for the brands they wear, the stores they buy from or the places they are pround to visit... content has never been so poor and conspicuous at the same time.
    pix

    Originally posted by Fuuma
    Fuck you and your viewpoint, I hate this depoliticized environment where every opinion should be respected, no matter how moronic. My avatar was chosen just for you, die in a ditch fucker.

    Comment

    • Faust
      kitsch killer
      • Sep 2006
      • 37852

      #3
      Some next level shit I saw and heard during the fashion week.

      a) At Pitti Uomo there was a handbag brand that sent a couple of people to stick handbags into the hands of fair attendees and then take photos of them, hoping that bloggers will also take photos of them.

      b) Apparently some people go in front of shows and have their friend photograph them and then post on social media that they were photographed by this or that blogger.
      Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

      StyleZeitgeist Magazine

      Comment

      • Fuuma
        Senior Member
        • Sep 2006
        • 4050

        #4
        Originally posted by BSR View Post
        Saw that too. I agree with the diagnosis, but it's a much more general phenomenon, which is not so much tied to the difference between 'street' and 'podium' but to the colonization of the web by brands, marketing and stores. Even what used to be or is supposed to be user generated content, tends to become free advertising. see instagram accounts for instance, whether they advertise for the self of their owners, or for the brands they wear, the stores they buy from or the places they are pround to visit... content has never been so poor and conspicuous at the same time.
        The age of advertorials.
        Selling CCP, Harnden, Raf, Rick etc.
        http://www.stylezeitgeist.com/forums...me-other-stuff

        Comment

        • lowrey
          ventiundici
          • Dec 2006
          • 8383

          #5
          Originally posted by Faust View Post
          b) Apparently some people go in front of shows and have their friend photograph them and then post on social media that they were photographed by this or that blogger.
          You mean claim that the photo was taken by someone else? That is pretty next level shit indeed..

          It's quite a sideshow indeed.. I just find it incredible that there are always people outside shows who never go in, but just try to get photographed.
          "AVANT GUARDE HIGHEST FASHION. NOW NOW this is it people, these are the brands no one fucking knows and people are like WTF. they do everything by hand in their freaking secret basement and shit."

          STYLEZEITGEIST MAGAZINE | BLOG

          Comment

          • BSR
            Senior Member
            • Aug 2008
            • 1562

            #6
            Originally posted by lowrey View Post
            It's quite a sideshow indeed.. I just find it incredible that there are always people outside shows who never go in, but just try to get photographed.
            it's a nice metaphor for the world in general, no?
            pix

            Originally posted by Fuuma
            Fuck you and your viewpoint, I hate this depoliticized environment where every opinion should be respected, no matter how moronic. My avatar was chosen just for you, die in a ditch fucker.

            Comment

            • Ahimsa
              Vegan Police
              • Sep 2011
              • 1879

              #7
              I would like to hear a street photographer weigh in on this as well. It'd be nice to hear what they see in all of this.
              StyleZeitgeist Magazine | Store

              Comment

              • Faust
                kitsch killer
                • Sep 2006
                • 37852

                #8
                Yeah, Adam, would be good to know your perspective.
                Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                Comment

                • Faust
                  kitsch killer
                  • Sep 2006
                  • 37852

                  #9
                  Originally posted by BSR View Post
                  it's a nice metaphor for the world in general, no?
                  I like this!
                  Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                  StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                  Comment

                  • Faust
                    kitsch killer
                    • Sep 2006
                    • 37852

                    #10
                    In related news: StyleZeitgeist posse invades T-Magazine
                    Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                    StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                    Comment

                    • Magic1
                      Senior Member
                      • Jan 2011
                      • 225

                      #11
                      I like the article as well, thanks for posting Faust.

                      I think it is indicative of the continuation of the private space being encroached upon by the public space. More and more of what has been considered private space has been appropriated by technology-mediated modes of expression and made public, with the contingent political and social influences that the public space has always been subject to. Being outside, in public, may seem different from, say, being in your house, but I think it still represents a private space that is being encroached upon and made public, or more public. Surely when we go outside, we (some more than others) are considerate of our appearance, so it's always been a public space in that sense. But the appeal of street style, as described in the article, is that the subjects choice in attire and style is unmediated, is somehow pure. With the recent "colonizing," this once semi-private space has been made fully public (for some) and hence implied for everyone else.
                      And one sad part, of course, is that this process is invisible to most.

                      Maybe I just said was BSR was saying but less succinctly.

                      Again, thanks for the article.

                      Comment

                      • Faust
                        kitsch killer
                        • Sep 2006
                        • 37852

                        #12
                        /\ spot on!
                        Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                        StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                        Comment

                        • viv1984viv
                          Senior Member
                          • Feb 2008
                          • 194

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Magic1 View Post
                          I like the article as well, thanks for posting Faust.

                          I think it is indicative of the continuation of the private space being encroached upon by the public space. More and more of what has been considered private space has been appropriated by technology-mediated modes of expression and made public, with the contingent political and social influences that the public space has always been subject to. Being outside, in public, may seem different from, say, being in your house, but I think it still represents a private space that is being encroached upon and made public, or more public. Surely when we go outside, we (some more than others) are considerate of our appearance, so it's always been a public space in that sense. But the appeal of street style, as described in the article, is that the subjects choice in attire and style is unmediated, is somehow pure. With the recent "colonizing," this once semi-private space has been made fully public (for some) and hence implied for everyone else.
                          And one sad part, of course, is that this process is invisible to most.

                          Maybe I just said was BSR was saying but less succinctly.

                          Again, thanks for the article.
                          Excellent post.

                          Welcome to facebook. Even our loves, friendships and late night thoughts are public and monetized, the most private parts of life have become public. In light of the article, the FB analogy is poignant because our FB profiles are not us, not true to life, but collages of brand/'lifestyle' choices that are pre-meditated to project a desirable image. The staged streetstyle shot is perfectly in keeping with this facade of individualism.
                          Notes from the Vomitorium - The Nerve Of It -

                          Comment

                          • Rei
                            Senior Member
                            • Oct 2011
                            • 112

                            #14
                            Reading through these comments, didn't even know people do some of that stuff. It's pretty sad what people do just to be noticed. But guess that is what the fashion circus/celebrity culture is about, whether pretending to know some made up designers or getting friends to snap pics so they could brag afterwards. Attention attention attention...

                            Comment

                            • Faust
                              kitsch killer
                              • Sep 2006
                              • 37852

                              #15
                              Originally posted by viv1984viv View Post
                              Excellent post.

                              Welcome to facebook. Even our loves, friendships and late night thoughts are public and monetized, the most private parts of life have become public. In light of the article, the FB analogy is poignant because our FB profiles are not us, not true to life, but collages of brand/'lifestyle' choices that are pre-meditated to project a desirable image. The staged streetstyle shot is perfectly in keeping with this facade of individualism.
                              With social media though the man is measure of all things. You can control what you post. I used to be against it, but it can be a very useful tool for networking and for keeping in touch with friends in other places. I have found magazine contributors, interview subjects, and have struck deals over FB with people who did not have my contact info or were afraid to approach me otherwise.

                              In a way the problem are the people who let social media take over their lives and not the social media itself.
                              Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                              StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                              Comment

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