Buy a 50-dollar shirt, "Save a Seal"
This is almost blasphemous. This woman inspires generations after generations of fashion enthusiasts, not to mention launching the careers of handfuls of influential designers, heck, she was basically the core of the punk movement, and she gets a joke for a wikipedia page.
Or maybe I'm too sensitive. Just thought that one of the most influential fashion designers of all time deserves better.
Twitter exchanges with my wife got me thinking: attending formal fashion school vs. starting up from scratch, pros and cons?
For me personally, I'm all for starting up from scratch. Example? Vivienne Westwood, and a weighty one at that. The woman basically started designing/making customize T-shirts in her thirties, after two kids. She always follows her gut feelings, she picks up inspirations from the things in front of her (street style, researches, visits to museums, etc) and goes from there. In my opinion that's true creativity. There's much more to her story but that's for another day. For now, starting from scratch = more space, resources and freedom to express.
Again, solely personal opinion, but so far I've seen nothing ground-breaking from big name brands as of late. Everything seems to be an either glamorized or simplified version of something from the season before. How much homage can you pay to a trend only 2 decades ago? Also without much reinvention or modernization. I can do as much for Halloween. This is from people with much credibility under their belt, folks "formally" trained, paid large sums of money to do this.
Creativity these days boils down to what fashion magazines deem trendy and sometimes in names only. If it's Marc Jacobs then it's the IT, must-have item. Whatever happens to revolutionizing the industry and taking fashion to a higher level. Does haute couture even exist as, well, haute couture anymore? Or can anyone hire monkeys as make up artists, put their models in potato bags and have them parade down the run way and call that the season's sensation?
Does a dress have to cost a fortune to be considered fashionably chic? Why do we pay so much money for a white T-shirt with LV printed across? Agree that big fashion houses guarantee quality, but what's quality if the latest "trend" turns out to be left over from 2 seasons ago? Ah, so do we call this "bringing [insert trend here] back" or "out of season"?
To not go off tangent any further, this humble one thinks that the run way of this generation looks like carbon copies of one another, each one more apparent than the last. Fashion designers can now call themselves stylists who can draw. Glossy magazines have made such a big deal out of what's popular and as a result, hopeful youngsters who set their eyes on the industry strive to be a part of brand names, to work with so-and-so. Well, step on those brakes kids, revolution doesn't come from the dazzling clone studios, the fire is ignited from your own kitchen, with your own pair of scissors and some basic T-shirts.
In other words, fashion design-specific schools are too expensive and the fact is they're not the best environment to nurture talents. For someone with a strong enough passion, even a piece of junk can turn into the greatest inspiration. Formality is just that, formality. I believe a drive, hard work and dedication -not the big echo the name of their school makes- will bring a person a long way.
To anyone who denies you your rightful place because you are a "no name"? Pst, "Your loss, pal."
Read at your own risk of loosing a brain cell or two due to faulty self-assertion.
Or maybe I'm too sensitive. Just thought that one of the most influential fashion designers of all time deserves better.
Twitter exchanges with my wife got me thinking: attending formal fashion school vs. starting up from scratch, pros and cons?
For me personally, I'm all for starting up from scratch. Example? Vivienne Westwood, and a weighty one at that. The woman basically started designing/making customize T-shirts in her thirties, after two kids. She always follows her gut feelings, she picks up inspirations from the things in front of her (street style, researches, visits to museums, etc) and goes from there. In my opinion that's true creativity. There's much more to her story but that's for another day. For now, starting from scratch = more space, resources and freedom to express.
Again, solely personal opinion, but so far I've seen nothing ground-breaking from big name brands as of late. Everything seems to be an either glamorized or simplified version of something from the season before. How much homage can you pay to a trend only 2 decades ago? Also without much reinvention or modernization. I can do as much for Halloween. This is from people with much credibility under their belt, folks "formally" trained, paid large sums of money to do this.
Creativity these days boils down to what fashion magazines deem trendy and sometimes in names only. If it's Marc Jacobs then it's the IT, must-have item. Whatever happens to revolutionizing the industry and taking fashion to a higher level. Does haute couture even exist as, well, haute couture anymore? Or can anyone hire monkeys as make up artists, put their models in potato bags and have them parade down the run way and call that the season's sensation?
Does a dress have to cost a fortune to be considered fashionably chic? Why do we pay so much money for a white T-shirt with LV printed across? Agree that big fashion houses guarantee quality, but what's quality if the latest "trend" turns out to be left over from 2 seasons ago? Ah, so do we call this "bringing [insert trend here] back" or "out of season"?
To not go off tangent any further, this humble one thinks that the run way of this generation looks like carbon copies of one another, each one more apparent than the last. Fashion designers can now call themselves stylists who can draw. Glossy magazines have made such a big deal out of what's popular and as a result, hopeful youngsters who set their eyes on the industry strive to be a part of brand names, to work with so-and-so. Well, step on those brakes kids, revolution doesn't come from the dazzling clone studios, the fire is ignited from your own kitchen, with your own pair of scissors and some basic T-shirts.
In other words, fashion design-specific schools are too expensive and the fact is they're not the best environment to nurture talents. For someone with a strong enough passion, even a piece of junk can turn into the greatest inspiration. Formality is just that, formality. I believe a drive, hard work and dedication -not the big echo the name of their school makes- will bring a person a long way.
To anyone who denies you your rightful place because you are a "no name"? Pst, "Your loss, pal."
Read at your own risk of loosing a brain cell or two due to faulty self-assertion.