[BoF] How to Sell Subculture to the Masses

[Monologue]

https://www.businessoffashion.com/ar...-to-the-masses

Most of the article is just descriptive, but this being published on BoF is saddening nonetheless. It took a pandemic and recession to reveal their true colours, and I thought their content was very good up until a few months ago. Curious to hear your thoughts.

[Faust]

I was deeply saddened to see this headline.

[Monologue]

I think these days subculture/counterculture is just setting itself up for failure by having a 'visible movement', they always become subordinate to massively profitable advertising and data industries. The internet hasn't killed counterculture, but it's more difficult to see and find because the goal is to avoid feeding the social media machine. These days there's no mandatory link to your identity like there was for a GG Allin or Kurt Cobain.

And I think that's where the problem for fashion lies for internet-era countercultural potential - how do you split fashion from identity, when it's something that someone has to wear? And don't tell me Margiela, he doesn't count - his anonymity became his identity, and we all know what he looks like anyways.

I can't imagine fashion or clothes being separate from someone's identity, but I think that's the way we need to try to imagine things if the goal is to stop feeding clout and the advertising tech machines that effectively own the clout.

[darkpyramid]

I think these days subculture/counterculture is just setting itself up for failure by having a 'visible movement', they always become subordinate to massively profitable advertising and data industries. The internet hasn't killed counterculture, but it's more difficult to see and find because the goal is to avoid feeding the social media machine. These days there's no mandatory link to your identity like there was for a GG Allin or Kurt Cobain.

And I think that's where the problem for fashion lies for internet-era countercultural potential - how do you split fashion from identity, when it's something that someone has to wear? And don't tell me Margiela, he doesn't count - his anonymity became his identity, and we all know what he looks like anyways.

I can't imagine fashion or clothes being separate from someone's identity, but I think that's the way we need to try to imagine things if the goal is to stop feeding clout and the advertising tech machines that effectively own the clout.

Even me can't imagine clothes being separate from someone's identity and here's why the word "trend" damage every thing in the fashion industry

For me i always find my self in dark, any and every single detail in my life is dark, i'm dark artist ,painter
photographer ,even my sculpture artwork covered by dark theme ,in my life even go to my work (construction sites )dressing in black and deep gray

I search where my identity in brands and found it in BBS,CCP,A1923 and some luxury brands meet my darker harder artisanal leather look

That's the correct way you go with fashion ,when you search your identity through brands and took what's only meet your soul but current days people search through brands to create their identity

that's problem, big problem

[Faust]

I would be curious to hear from all the parties that cried that identity has become just another form of consumerism now that all the meaning has been erased from fashion and consumerism has been unbridled on unprecedented scale. Why sell Dr. Martens to punk kids when you can sell them to everyone?

[darkpyramid]

I would be curious to hear from all the parties that cried that identity has become just another form of consumerism now that all the meaning has been erased from fashion and consumerism has been unbridled on unprecedented scale. Why sell Dr. Martens to punk kids when you can sell them to everyone?

'another form of consumerism' exactly true ,Boris Bidjan Saberi create his second line 11 to follow the same steps Rick Owens did but who the hell told Mr.Boris that following Rick Owens steps will lead him to gain success !! i really wonder !

it may works for Rick but that doesn't mean by all logic methods it could work for Boris ,then the result ?
big problems hit Boris business just because he later think in profits more than art

That's why i respected Deepti too much because of respecting her methods ,yeah she suffer financial problems due to weak marketing experience but she truly converted her self to benchmark of art and creation

art never ever meet consumerism ,the two words will never fall in friendship

why i give Boris as example ,because his run in fashion industry is stunning ,new and simply amazing
but year after year and show after show the same thing and again the same thing then creating 11 just for sake of money ,all that damage his image finally

If you asked Boris why to create 11 ? and what is the relation between the dark art culture and skateboard culture ? this make no sense to me ? he will give you Rick Owens as success example in creating main and second line brands
and if you asked him again so why no thing new for years he will give you Carol as success example in masterpiece limited creations ?

But Rick and Carol are not the same ,extremely different schools ,the first have to created new things every runway every year to keep his success running and the second have to sit in the shadows no runways ,no campaigns to make his limited creations worth by exclusive factor

Boris didn't make his thoughts accompany with logic just because of the criminal word effect " consumerism "

How much this word damage many good things in our life

[Monologue]

I would be curious to hear from all the parties that cried that identity has become just another form of consumerism now that all the meaning has been erased from fashion and consumerism has been unbridled on unprecedented scale. Why sell Dr. Martens to punk kids when you can sell them to everyone?

What is there even left to say? Consumerism has been decried so much, all of its criticisms are either naturalised as an "unfortunate reality" or brushed off in favour of convenience and practicality. The solution to it gets further and further as the industry machine continues... I am still waiting and thinking about it myself.

That's the correct way you go with fashion ,when you search your identity through brands and took what's only meet your soul but current days people search through brands to create their identity

Good point; I prefer when someone's identity is well-established before finding fashion. It is often painfully obvious and off-putting when the clothes form the identity rather than enhance it.

[Faust]

I think the only thing left to do is to close yourself off from everything and be guided by yourself and a close, tested group of peers whose opinions you value. Which is kind of what this forum has always been about, to be honest.