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Louis Vuitton Names Virgil Abloh as Its New Men’s Wear Designer
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I mostly see people complaining and lamenting this appointment ("the dude hasn't even studied fashion")... well that's the new taste of the masses. It isn't as if we were secretly hopping that the masses should dress according to our SZ standards.
I dont see the point in feeling nostalgic for a time "when fashion designers actually knew about fashion".
I don't think we should really care about it... I mean yes it's a big news, but I don't think no one around SZ really cares about the fate of LV... for me it's about the whole fashion system (or "industry" if you will) being transformed, and that is something interesting to observe as well as trying to understand what is the meaning behind it, why is it transforming in such way etc.
As long as we have our "niche" that caters to this audience, there's a market for everyone....
I'm mostly amused and excited, because there's much to think about what it means from a cultural and sociological point of view.
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Yes I agree— I always have seen abloh as a designer who (unconsciously) reflects the times we live in rather than the designers more often discussed on this forum who arguably shape what is to come... My shallow analysis is that his popularity in the West stems from his accessible and fraudulent intellectualism by way of marketing lazy, Dadaist postmodern ideas to kids... perhaps this is too pesamistic
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/\ brilliant!Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde
StyleZeitgeist Magazine
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by Eugene Rabkin
"When two and a half years ago Balenciaga hired the unproven but exciting (at the time) Demna Gvasalia, Alex Fury, the respected fashion critic, wrote that Gvasalia’s appointment marked an important victory for design over marketing hype. And while the jury is still out on that, it is fairly obvious that in yesterday’s appointment of Virgil Abloh to helm the menswear at Louis Vuitton, marketing hype triumphed over design. In the fashion industry Abloh is widely considered to not be a real designer, but a savvy image-maker who has risen to the top through celebrity connections – most notably that of Kanye West – and social media.
Abloh, who has no education in fashion design, began his fashion career by printing Caravaggio paintings onto Champion sweatshirts for his first line, Pyrex Vision, and charging several times over its retail price. These, and his other streetwear items with “PYREX 23” (“23” after Michael Jordan’s jersey number), printed in stark white on black, owed an obvious debt to what Ricardo Tisci was doing at Givenchy. When rappers like Kanye West and ASAP Rocky began wearing them, hype quickly caught on. Capitalizing on that, Alboh went full force into fashion, by creating Off-White, a full-fledged line. But his work at Off-White, which added womenswear to his menswear, has remained largely meritless as fashion design – most of it is simply rehashing of apparel archetypes – jeans, hoodies, tees, denim jackets and so on. The majority of these aren’t even redesigned, but simply covered with a highly visible Off-White logo of wide slanted black and white stripes that resemble a traffic sign. It photographs well, and it telegraphs immediately what you are wearing. It’s irresistible Instagram fodder. And it sells like hotcakes."
Read the full article on SZ-Mag
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"Abloh represents everything that is spurious about the post-modern, ersatz, marketing-driven culture we live in – photographers instead of painters, DJs instead of musicians, and stylists instead of designers."
That pretty much sums it up.
I would like to add also that these times are all about "perception" as well. People want to be perceived in certain way, it is true that in the past individuals have created personas for themselves but today it's quite different and on a larger scale. There is no more journey to complete or an exceptional talent to show in order to be considered something unique. It's all about the perception that you're able to create, fake intellectualism, fake creativity, fake success. Most of this is simply a classic fraudulent behaviour that would've been considered unacceptable just a couple of decades ago. I'm not sure where we're headed with this, unfortunately it looks like it becomes more and more common, especially in the US.I love beautiful melodies, telling me terrible things.
My Music: https://soundcloud.com/iamanton
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This man deserves a fucking medal, he is fucking smart (obviousbly not a fashion genius, but just intelligent). I mean come one, you don't have to like his "designs", but he managed to come from nowhere taking over the whole industry from Nike to LV in a couple years with the hottest brand starting with printing hoodies! I have respect that he surpassed designers who maybe wanted that LV position and who may have all kinds of design or fashion degrees while he has none. But let's be honest, I often read complaints about these so called fashion schools so what does it even matter or add. I hate his shit, and think it's outright stupid that people purchase off white, but he did well for himself and I can respect that.
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Why does everyone keep saying he came from nothing? I'm not familiar with his early upbringing, but I'm not referring to that. He went to school at University of Wisconsin Madison and graduated with an architecture degree. Tom Ford also holds an architecture degree, even if it is from Parsons, and headed some of the most major brands in the world, so it's not a new phenomenon. As a fashion student, I think complaining about him not having any fashion education isn't relevant. To be a designer you just need to know how to think creatively; knowing how to draft a coat pattern becomes unimportant (not to me, but to most.) Parsons' current curriculum is so self motivated that after picking up a few books on pattern-making and spending a lot of time working on designs, concepts, and materiality, you'll probably be at a similar place as most fashion students. So I think that its a great thing that he achieved this position in that regard, but he really hardly puts any design into his work. From an architecture student, I'd expect a ton more.
However, Virgil rode Kanye and the rest of his friends' coat tails to get where he is. Having Kanye promote PYREX to its full extent got him famous; continuing to put celebrities and rappers in his clothing is what cemented his position in the streetwear world, not creative and innovative designs. I don't think there was any time that one of his brands wasn't plastered on some celebrity since their inception. I admit he played the new internet based fashion system that was put in front of him beautifully, but how many times have you seen someone where a piece of Off-White that wasn't a tee, hoodie, jacket, or heavily branded accessory? If he is as for the kids as he so heavily proclaims, then why is his demographic the fashion elite rather than the kid in the Supreme line?
I really have no idea what he will even do at LV, as his menswear is the least interesting and inspired part of his selection. This just seems like LV trying to get to the place Balenciaga and Gucci are at. It will be hype for a season or two and then the majority will move on.Originally posted by AleshaDoes CCP make pizza?
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Yes, I am also baffled of the "came out of nowhere" comments. Creative director for Kanye West is certainly somewhere.Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde
StyleZeitgeist Magazine
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Originally posted by Anton View Post"Abloh represents everything that is spurious about the post-modern, ersatz, marketing-driven culture we live in – photographers instead of painters, DJs instead of musicians, and stylists instead of designers."
That pretty much sums it up.
I would like to add also that these times are all about "perception" as well. People want to be perceived in certain way, it is true that in the past individuals have created personas for themselves but today it's quite different and on a larger scale. There is no more journey to complete or an exceptional talent to show in order to be considered something unique. It's all about the perception that you're able to create, fake intellectualism, fake creativity, fake success. Most of this is simply a classic fraudulent behaviour that would've been considered unacceptable just a couple of decades ago. I'm not sure where we're headed with this, unfortunately it looks like it becomes more and more common, especially in the US.Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde
StyleZeitgeist Magazine
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the issue here isnt that he came from nothing, it is that he has no discernible design talent to speak of.
designers do not have to go to fashion school. most of the time schools are an absolute joke.
Ghesquiere never went to school, Theyskens was a drop out at La Cambre. there are dozens of great designers who had no formal training. but they had talent, they had a unique perspective and brought something to the table.
this my friend is the spirit of the times, From Lavar Ball, to Trump to the Kardashians, to now Abloh, one can rise to the highest heights of Politics, entertainment, Fashion, Sports without having any of the (once) necessary fundamentals in order to succeed.
I worry not though, Icarus did fly, but the structure of his wings could not support the heights to which he aspired.........“You know,” he says, with a resilient smile, “it is a hard world for poets.”
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Zam Barrett Spring 2017 Now in stock
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