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Fashion's Postmodernist Phase
(full article on www.sz-mag.com)
New York – From the numerous editorial reports underscoring the end of the fashion season in Paris one of the leitmotifs was the lack of originality on designers’ part.
Paris is usually the cherry on the cake in terms of creativity, a critic’s reward for having to sit through the commercial blandness of New York’s shows, the campy antics of London’s, and the vulgar luxury of Milan’s. Not this time, at least according to Angelo Flaccavento and Robin Givhan, two of the most powerful fashion commentators.
In his wrap-up for Business of Fashion, Flaccavento lamented the rise of styling tricks that are pushing out genuine fashion design. “Contemporary fashion is less about clothes making and more about image-making,” he astutely observed. Givhan, in her Washington Post article, wondered why today, when fashion commands unprecedented attention and unrivaled prestige, there were so few interesting ideas on Paris’s catwalks. “Little is surprising. Few designers have been able to breath life into a dream. Few have even tried.” was her verdict.
Why is this so? The answer is that fashion has entered a postmodernist stage. Postmodernism is characterized not by genuinely revolutionary ideas, but by mixing the existing ones. This is why you see so much referencing of past decades on the catwalks, the very thing that the fashion critics are sick of.
The problem – if it is, indeed, a problem – is twofold. First is the so-called democratization of fashion. Once marketers figured out that “fashion” is a great way to sell clothes, overnight all clothes magically became fashion. Changing the name is the oldest – and cheapest – trick in any marketing textbook and it has worked incredibly well by providing validation to any piece of apparel. This has lead to destruction of all hierarchy in fashion, another characteristic of postmodernism. Everything is called fashion today, from Chanel’s haute couture to the rags in H&M’s clearance bin. The high/low divide has been erased by cheerful championing of fast fashion on the part of fashion magazines full of “get-the-look-for-less” articles and celebrities who proudly display their it bags next to their flip-flops.
The destruction of hierarchy can also be seen in the meteoric rise of streetwear. Today, two of the most-talked brands in the fashion press are Hood By Air and Public School, who churn out spruced up sweatshirts, sweatpants, t-shirts and bomber jackets. A pair of Nikes worn with a designer coat is as common of a site as a pair of Dior shoes.
The above simply means that today all propositions in fashion are valid and it becomes increasingly hard to champion one thing over another. The new generation has been told that sneakers and t-shirts are fashion since they could remember their first forays into personal style. That is why they crave the same things now as they did when they were teenagers. They wants something stylish, but also something that does not take them out of their comfort zone. And they are willing to pay premium prices for it.
(continue here)
(full article on www.sz-mag.com)
New York – From the numerous editorial reports underscoring the end of the fashion season in Paris one of the leitmotifs was the lack of originality on designers’ part.
Paris is usually the cherry on the cake in terms of creativity, a critic’s reward for having to sit through the commercial blandness of New York’s shows, the campy antics of London’s, and the vulgar luxury of Milan’s. Not this time, at least according to Angelo Flaccavento and Robin Givhan, two of the most powerful fashion commentators.
In his wrap-up for Business of Fashion, Flaccavento lamented the rise of styling tricks that are pushing out genuine fashion design. “Contemporary fashion is less about clothes making and more about image-making,” he astutely observed. Givhan, in her Washington Post article, wondered why today, when fashion commands unprecedented attention and unrivaled prestige, there were so few interesting ideas on Paris’s catwalks. “Little is surprising. Few designers have been able to breath life into a dream. Few have even tried.” was her verdict.
Why is this so? The answer is that fashion has entered a postmodernist stage. Postmodernism is characterized not by genuinely revolutionary ideas, but by mixing the existing ones. This is why you see so much referencing of past decades on the catwalks, the very thing that the fashion critics are sick of.
The problem – if it is, indeed, a problem – is twofold. First is the so-called democratization of fashion. Once marketers figured out that “fashion” is a great way to sell clothes, overnight all clothes magically became fashion. Changing the name is the oldest – and cheapest – trick in any marketing textbook and it has worked incredibly well by providing validation to any piece of apparel. This has lead to destruction of all hierarchy in fashion, another characteristic of postmodernism. Everything is called fashion today, from Chanel’s haute couture to the rags in H&M’s clearance bin. The high/low divide has been erased by cheerful championing of fast fashion on the part of fashion magazines full of “get-the-look-for-less” articles and celebrities who proudly display their it bags next to their flip-flops.
The destruction of hierarchy can also be seen in the meteoric rise of streetwear. Today, two of the most-talked brands in the fashion press are Hood By Air and Public School, who churn out spruced up sweatshirts, sweatpants, t-shirts and bomber jackets. A pair of Nikes worn with a designer coat is as common of a site as a pair of Dior shoes.
The above simply means that today all propositions in fashion are valid and it becomes increasingly hard to champion one thing over another. The new generation has been told that sneakers and t-shirts are fashion since they could remember their first forays into personal style. That is why they crave the same things now as they did when they were teenagers. They wants something stylish, but also something that does not take them out of their comfort zone. And they are willing to pay premium prices for it.
(continue here)
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