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Designers and what they wear themselves

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  • surver
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2007
    • 638

    Designers and what they wear themselves

    inspired from the various instants in various posts, would like to start a post to consolidate discussion of designers and what they wear themselves normally, and how they choose to project themselves... as 'spokesmen' for their own designs, as clowns, as boring-you'll-never-guess-he/she-is-a-fashion-designer-with-good-sense, etc...

    i think it is relevant for designers to 'live' by what they 'preach'...
    Last edited by surver; 01-09-2009, 10:36 PM.
  • Fade to Black
    Senior Member
    • Sep 2008
    • 5340

    #2
    This is a potentially good topic for discussion...

    As I mentioned in a thread much earlier, Thom Browne and Rick Owens both live out the vision of their work to a tee, and actually I think the former to an even fuller realization than the latter. I realize that consistency is a bit much to ask for in human behavior, but I like that these two take the themes of their designs and bring it to other aspects of their lives.

    I think Tom Ford is another good spokesman for his clothes in this regard.

    And of course, Yohji Yamamoto. Recent years, his collections for both men and women, and the clothes in stores are pretty much interchangeable from season to season with slight shifts in details, but manages to keep it fresh from (my own, at least) the perspective of a hardcore fan. It brings to mind about what Yohji said that 'civilized' people wear monochrome. Yohji designs some mindblowing technical pieces, but what spoke to me the most was always the basic template of black jacket, white/black shirt or t-shirt, black trousers and shoes. That look can be worn to eternity.

    Then there is Helmut Lang and Hedi Slimane. After retreating from the design world, Helmut (from the photos I've seen of him) looks pretty down to earth and utilitarian in a trucker cap, t-shirt and faded jeans. In a way I see that as reflecting something that's always been present in his work during his golden years. Likewise with Hedi post-Dior; he may not be wearing the duds any more, but whatever he is snapped in, whether it's thrift store or some other designer, keeps in line with the philosophy and image displayed during his tenure as a designer.

    Actually Hedi's personal style evolution is a pretty interesting one...during his earlier years his style was very uniform like. It still was in the later years when DH went saturated at the jeans and t-shirt level, but in a way Hedi's style regressed in contrast with his age to something more youth oriented, which he seemed to be obsessed with.
    www.matthewhk.net

    let me show you a few thangs

    Comment

    • rach2jlc
      Senior Member
      • Sep 2006
      • 265

      #3
      ^Interesting post, FtB!

      I also think it is interesting when designer's do NOT wear their own stuff... for example Dame Karla with his Dior fetish, and Gianfranco Ferre and Valentino Garavani, who primarily wore/wear Caraceni.

      Comment

      • Faust
        kitsch killer
        • Sep 2006
        • 37852

        #4
        Yea, Matt, can we have more posts like this and less of the other kind? This really was a good post.

        I like when designers wear their own clothing. A lot of creative designers make clothes for themselves and then share it with the world - Ann Demeulemeester, Yohji, Rei Kawakubo, Rick Owens, Altieri, etc. And so why wouldn't they wear their own clothes? It only makes sense. And it projects a certain sincerity on the part of the designer. Unless it's Thom Browne, who seems so self-serving that everything coming from him looks like a marketing gimmick.

        Then of course you get someone like J.Lindberg, who designs trash for the masses and wears Poell.
        Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

        StyleZeitgeist Magazine

        Comment

        • Raw Edge
          Senior Member
          • Jan 2008
          • 428

          #5
          ......................
          Last edited by Raw Edge; 02-13-2010, 01:49 AM.

          Comment

          • Magician
            Senior Member
            • Jul 2008
            • 709

            #6
            ^ A provocative post.

            I remember being very surprised that Poell did not wear his own creations. His work is so personal, and with the overarching emphasis on construction and artisanal work it seems odd that he wouldn't wear it. I kind of like it though.

            There is almost something perverse about a designer dressing in his or her own clothing - like a painter filling his or her house with his or her own works.
            Selling badass McQueen topcoat 48/38/M. I also write and tweet.

            Comment

            • Raw Edge
              Senior Member
              • Jan 2008
              • 428

              #7
              .............
              Last edited by Raw Edge; 02-13-2010, 01:50 AM.

              Comment

              • kunk75
                Banned
                • May 2008
                • 3364

                #8
                raf wears mostly jil. v-necks, crew necks, button downs, black dress pants and the simplest jil black oxfords.

                Comment

                • AKA*NYC
                  Senior Member
                  • Nov 2007
                  • 3007

                  #9
                  i know where you're coming from raw edge but i think that to some degree this is an oversimplification, like arguing that every canvas a great painter paints is intended to hang in his own bedroom. obviously a large portion of our great art and sculpture was created strictly on commission. also, i think i mentioned this elsewhere, but i read that karl lagerfeld supposedly throws away all his sketches, archives nothing, and does everything possible to sever himself from even his immediate past. and consider woody allen's statement: i'd never want to join a club that would have me as a member. for woody and karl it appears that self-loathing is a powerful creative force; the extreme opposite of "wearing one's own clothes."
                  LOVE THE SHIRST... HOW much?

                  Comment

                  • asis
                    Member
                    • Dec 2008
                    • 47

                    #10
                    on the one hand iv always thought its a bit like being asked to trust a chef that does'nt eat his own food. but then I know some designers pull some serious 12-16 hour days 6-7 days a week. so perhaps they need some degree of separation from their work and their personal life.

                    Comment

                    • Faust
                      kitsch killer
                      • Sep 2006
                      • 37852

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Eternal
                      Just have to comment this one! It's actually pretty funny how much money he made on designing trash and selling 200 USD logo hoods to like 40% of the youth population of sweden and Norway some years back. His mainline was pretty good, one of the few designers showing in Milan that i enjoyed.

                      Back to topic. I see a lot of swedish and other designers who just walks around in converse, random jeans and a white tee most of the time. What's the gimmick about this? Are they trying to put the attention away from themselves and into their designs?

                      I often think about it. How good could the design actually be if the designer doesn't want to wear it himself? I mean, if I was a designer I would create pieces I would have been proud of, and pieces that I would love to wear every day.

                      Yea, man, as much as I loved Stockholm - gorgeous city - the population looked so homogenious, it was mind boggling. I've never seen anything like that. Weird. Lots of JL logos. Oh, well.
                      Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                      StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                      Comment

                      • Real Real
                        Senior Member
                        • Feb 2007
                        • 619

                        #12
                        Dries van noten's style seems pretty disconnected from the mens clothes he makes- compared to somebody like the guy that designs etro.

                        Comment

                        • Faust
                          kitsch killer
                          • Sep 2006
                          • 37852

                          #13
                          Originally posted by asis View Post
                          on the one hand iv always thought its a bit like being asked to trust a chef that does'nt eat his own food. but then I know some designers pull some serious 12-16 hour days 6-7 days a week. so perhaps they need some degree of separation from their work and their personal life.
                          That is an interesting point. Some designers just work differently, I think. Take someone like McQueen - he is just interested in creating amazing stories with clothes - doesn't necessarily mean he wants to wear them.
                          Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                          StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                          Comment

                          • Raw Edge
                            Senior Member
                            • Jan 2008
                            • 428

                            #14
                            Good points aka, I like the woody allen quote too.
                            I actually was trying to argue the opposite- not that every piece was intended or could be worn by the designer- but that in fact, in the case of many of these designers, even they themselves find many of their own pieces to be not particularly wearable, at least for themselves.
                            And that, furthermore, they themselves are drawn to a personal style that is somewhat simple and utilitarian- which contrasts with their production.
                            In Lindberg's case the production is cheesy, in Poell's its endless innovation and artisan craftwork, but in both cases maybe they think that they style that they want is about how they look and feel and actual style, rather than logo hoodies or head-to-toe runway-type innovative pieces.
                            What I'm saying is that, these designers, who in their business lives profit off all of the people who think men's style is about accumulation of "hot" or "artisan" or "(fill in the blank)" pieces, in their personal life realize that actual style has more to do with fit, simplicity, subtlety, how your clothing style fits who you are, etc.


                            Originally posted by AKA*NYC View Post
                            i know where you're coming from raw edge but i think that to some degree this is an oversimplification, like arguing that every canvas a great painter paints is intended to hang in his own bedroom. obviously a large portion of our great art and sculpture was created strictly on commission. also, i think i mentioned this elsewhere, but i read that karl lagerfeld supposedly throws away all his sketches, archives nothing, and does everything possible to sever himself from even his immediate past. and consider woody allen's statement: i'd never want to join a club that would have me as a member. for woody and karl it appears that self-loathing is a powerful creative force; the extreme opposite of "wearing one's own clothes."

                            Comment

                            • Faust
                              kitsch killer
                              • Sep 2006
                              • 37852

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Real Real View Post
                              Dries van noten's style seems pretty disconnected from the mens clothes he makes- compared to somebody like the guy that designs etro.

                              Really? I don't see that from the pictures of Dries himself.
                              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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