Wrote this in light of the Givenchy show and other things that have been whirring in my mind. Discuss.
Last week marked the fourteenth anniversary of 9/11, a tragedy that radically changed the political landscape of the world. There were memorial services held in New York and across the United States.
The Givenchy Spring/Summer 2016 show was another unlikely place where 9/11 was invoked. The show was held at pier with a view of the new Freedom Tower, and was art-directed by Marina Abramovic. The presentation was supposed to pay respects to 9/11 and celebrate the spirit of human unity. The entire thing – from having an Italian designer who works for a Parisian house preaching to New Yorkers to Givenchy offering special guests tours of the 9/11 memorial – was tone-deaf, if not insulting. There was not a shred of the political in the clothes he presented, making the show’s art direction even more jarring as mere trappings.
The above fiasco is hardly surprising, because when fashion gets political – identity politics excepting – it usually produces cringe-worthy results.
Last year for its Spring/Summer 2015 ready-to-wear show Chanel staged a pseudo-feminist protest. For its Grand Palais set, Lagerfeld constructed a fake Parisian street block, in homage to the venerable tradition of Parisians protesting in the street. Models, fake humans for the purposes of the show, were holding fake signs, shouting fake slogans into megaphones. The most fake thing about the show, of course, was its supposed avowal of feminism.
“My mother was very much a feminist and I thought it was something right for the moment,” Lagerfeld told Fashionista. “I couldn’t care less if people are for or against. It’s my idea. I like the idea of feminism being something light-hearted, not a truck driver for the feminist movement.”
And there is the rub. Feminism is not light-hearted, and neither are politics in general. These are serious issues that affect people’s lives, and fashion, by its nature, is simply in no position to address, let alone solve these issues. Moreover, by co-opting the language and symbols of political movements they create an illusion of action, of effecting change, lulling people into believing they are doing something meaningful, when in reality they are doing nothing of the sort.
Fashion is frivolous by nature. By and large it is characterized by transience and, as Lagerfeld rightly pointed out, light-heartedness. This can be dispiriting in its pomp and circumstance, but it can also be refreshing, because it is something we can turn to when we are tired of being exposed to the constant political crises of the contemporary world that the 24-hour news cycle brings to us. In realizing our inability to do anything meaningful about these crises, we only feel guilty. And contrary to what our many moralizing societal forces maintain, no compassionate, morally conscious human being can feel guilty twenty-four hours a day. As a matter of fact, such a person needs respite precisely in order to keep her morality intact, in order not to become numb to the constant barrage of guilt. And that’s where fashion, if this is your interest, as it is mine, comes in. Its preoccupation with things that do not carry the level of seriousness politics do is a welcome diversion. This does not mean that fashion is uninteresting, but simply that its interest lies elsewhere.(continue)
Last week marked the fourteenth anniversary of 9/11, a tragedy that radically changed the political landscape of the world. There were memorial services held in New York and across the United States.
The Givenchy Spring/Summer 2016 show was another unlikely place where 9/11 was invoked. The show was held at pier with a view of the new Freedom Tower, and was art-directed by Marina Abramovic. The presentation was supposed to pay respects to 9/11 and celebrate the spirit of human unity. The entire thing – from having an Italian designer who works for a Parisian house preaching to New Yorkers to Givenchy offering special guests tours of the 9/11 memorial – was tone-deaf, if not insulting. There was not a shred of the political in the clothes he presented, making the show’s art direction even more jarring as mere trappings.
The above fiasco is hardly surprising, because when fashion gets political – identity politics excepting – it usually produces cringe-worthy results.
Last year for its Spring/Summer 2015 ready-to-wear show Chanel staged a pseudo-feminist protest. For its Grand Palais set, Lagerfeld constructed a fake Parisian street block, in homage to the venerable tradition of Parisians protesting in the street. Models, fake humans for the purposes of the show, were holding fake signs, shouting fake slogans into megaphones. The most fake thing about the show, of course, was its supposed avowal of feminism.
“My mother was very much a feminist and I thought it was something right for the moment,” Lagerfeld told Fashionista. “I couldn’t care less if people are for or against. It’s my idea. I like the idea of feminism being something light-hearted, not a truck driver for the feminist movement.”
And there is the rub. Feminism is not light-hearted, and neither are politics in general. These are serious issues that affect people’s lives, and fashion, by its nature, is simply in no position to address, let alone solve these issues. Moreover, by co-opting the language and symbols of political movements they create an illusion of action, of effecting change, lulling people into believing they are doing something meaningful, when in reality they are doing nothing of the sort.
Fashion is frivolous by nature. By and large it is characterized by transience and, as Lagerfeld rightly pointed out, light-heartedness. This can be dispiriting in its pomp and circumstance, but it can also be refreshing, because it is something we can turn to when we are tired of being exposed to the constant political crises of the contemporary world that the 24-hour news cycle brings to us. In realizing our inability to do anything meaningful about these crises, we only feel guilty. And contrary to what our many moralizing societal forces maintain, no compassionate, morally conscious human being can feel guilty twenty-four hours a day. As a matter of fact, such a person needs respite precisely in order to keep her morality intact, in order not to become numb to the constant barrage of guilt. And that’s where fashion, if this is your interest, as it is mine, comes in. Its preoccupation with things that do not carry the level of seriousness politics do is a welcome diversion. This does not mean that fashion is uninteresting, but simply that its interest lies elsewhere.(continue)
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