Seeking Beauty

"You know quite well, deep within you, that there is only a single magic, a single power, a single salvation...and that is called loving. Well then, love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is only your aversion to it that hurts, nothing else."

 Hermann Hesse (1877-1962)

Ann Demeulemeester

Spring/Summer 2009

"I saw pictures of Hermann Hesse and I really liked the man.  He was so beautiful in his fragility, so old and so fragile and so rich in spirit that I had to do something with it!  I thought it would be beautiful to do a show where you have the fragility of the very young, and the fragility of the very old, and put them together.  The older you get, the wiser the clothes would be.  The young would be black and the older would be beautiful, shining and white, like an angel.  It was an experiment - I wanted to break the rule of the young and the beautiful.  I wanted to show the old and the beautiful.

The oldest model was 87!  I thought he was the most beautiful.  It was amazing to me how proud they were, they had so much dignity.  To be able to give them that made me so happy that day.  They were so much more proud than the young guys.  It was amazing to see their grace.  It was a real experience."

...

"I hope I add something that was not there.  The most beautiful compliments that I get from people is that I added something to their consciousness when they put on my clothes."

...

(Ann Demeulemeester in conversation with Dazed Digital)

I Need A Doctor ft. Skylar Grey & Eminem - Dr. Dre

xxxx

310311

Shadow

Never Forget You ft. John Legend - Lupe Fiasco

xxxx

For Living

Y's (Yohji Yamamoto)

Spring/Summer 2009

Yohji Yamamoto founded the Y's line before his own eponymous label, however as a mainly Japan-only project, Y's For Living is rarely seen or considered in the rest of the world.  A far more comprehensive line, with a range covering everything from clothing to furniture (just take a look around the webstore), you could come to think of it as Yohji's Muji.  Although oddly enough Yohji is actually on the advisory board for Muji, however it is not a widely broadcast fact - think of it as a fashion secret from me to you, although I believe I have mentioned it before.  In terms of clothing the aesthetic for Y's is far more accessible, and far more affordable, than Yohji's mainline work.  Whilst you can sometimes find pieces online here and there (I currently have my eye on a rather nice black mesh scarf for Summer), it is unfortunately mostly a Japanese affair even online.  Focusing on simple garments that are well constructed, they have an undeniable Yohji touch of elegance and ease that is suitable for everyday wear.

Outside of Japan Yohji's casual Coming Soon line, and for sportswear, the fantastic Y-3 collaboration with Adidas, seem to cover most bases (although I have to admit that Coming Soon has been rather a disappointment).  However I really do think a few Y's For Living full standalone stores outside of Japan would be both exciting and, perhaps more importantly, economically successful.  For a multitude of reasons prices for Japanese brands tend to require a substantial on-the-floor mark-up when sold outside of Japan to cover costs, however even accounting for such an increase in price, the full Y's range could still sell for cheaper than other secondary designer lines, not to mention the furniture.  Premium basics is an increasingly complicated market, and whilst I have a certain affinity for Damir Doma's Silent line of organic basics and Rick Owens' DRKSHDW jeans, Y's could most certainly fill a niche.

Simplicity in and of itself can belie the skill it requires, yet when done correctly it comes close to what Yohji has always said he would like to design - time.  Or to be more precise, a feeling of timelessness.  To live with clothing rather than to consume it.  Clothing that serves a function and becomes ingrained into your wardrobe and daily life.  In order to do that clothing needs to be simple, not in terms of construction or detail, but rather in terms of aesthetic and essence.  You want to be able to wear the garment itself, not a design or showpiece crafted in opposition to the garment or body.  Functionality is important, because clothing serves a purpose, and to fulfil that purpose is the truth of any garment - otherwise it risks being mere surface aesthetic and decoration.  Whilst there is space for those pieces within the wardrobe, that is not the idea behind Y's, or I believe, Yohji's work.  The relationship between wearer and idea, body and garment, designer and individual, is vital.

Pet Grief - The Radio Dept.

xxxx

280311

A good brew

If You Want To ft. Lupe Fiasco & Pharrell Williams - Travis Barker

xxxx

Silence

Miharayasuhiro

Spring/Summer 2011

Campaign Photographs

Model: Tomek Szczukiecki

'The Protagonist'

Fiasco Magazine

Model: Jaco van den Hoven

Photographers: Aline and Jacqueline Tappia

Stylist: Riccardo Linarello

(images via Homme Model)

"If fashion is clothes, then it is not indispensable.  But if fashion is a way of looking at our daily lives, then it is very important indeed." - Yohji Yamamoto

Colour blocking, buck shoes, Vibram Christy soles, fisherman sweaters, Breton stripes, deck shoes, those Pradas, camouflage prints, animal prints, Americana revival, chambray shirts, washed denim, chore coats, sweatpants dressed up, cuffed chinos, dropped crotches, midnight blue suits, linen everything, desert boots, long on top with the sides and back buzzed.  The list goes on and on.  Sometimes it is as if there is too much noise without anything actually being said.  And if there is, it is drowned out.  Everything needs to be new, everything needs to be exciting, but most of all - everything needs to make money.  Aesthetic expression is not free, it is subject to the whims of the market.  A designer who is unable to sell, is unable to design for very long.  You look at what is being sold and you wonder whether the people buying it really know what they are buying.   

There is too much anxiety around the idea of being 'in fashion'.  You worry about that and you lose sense of your own style, but more importantly, you lose sense of yourself.  You see people dressed in impersonal uniforms, clothing that does not reflect them but rather the latest hot trend, all in the guise of fashion.  People worrying about wearing what everyone else is wearing.  The term fashion anxiety was used to describe that nervous energy the crowd has outside a fashion show - it is the fear that what they are wearing now will soon no longer be relevant.  Thoughtful spending is replaced by flash consumerism.  Something bought today only to be replaced tomorrow.  You see all those different faces, but dressed in the exact same thing - changing day-to-day, absolutely terrified that one day they will slip up and be left behind - no longer in fashion.   

I want to react and engage on a personal level.  It needs to be visceral, emotional, and intimate.  Give me shape, silhouette and texture.  Give me something subtle, something intricate, something thoughtful, something personal.  I have to see something in that garment that goes beyond the garment.  A feeling, an understanding, a sense of self.  Forget about trends, forget about what is hot, forget about what is 'in'.  Find what speaks to you, what moves you, what you love.  Forget about fashion, think about style.  Forget about what they are wearing, think about what you are wearing.  What do you want to wear?  It is a simple question, but one that many people never seem to be able to answer.    

Take a step back.  It is far more simple than we are led to believe.  Wear something that makes you smile.  Wear something that makes you feel like you.  Wear something that fits.  Wear something appropriate to the situation.  There - you did it.  I'll come and join you.

P.S.  Not sure what the images have to do with what I wrote, but I really like them.  Plus it gives people who don't really read my posts something to comment on.  My sincerest apologies for not being able to catch up with all of your wonderful blogs and emails, my health has been pretty erratic as of late.  I will try to get around to it as soon as I possibly can.  Mad love.

Man On The Moon - Kid Cudi

xxxx

260311

"Bet you can't guess what it is!"

Artsy Remix ft. The Grouch - edIT

xxxx

Combining Opposites

InAisce

"Ashen Tundra, Frozen Roads"

Autumn/Winter 2011

Jona has gone from strength to strength over the past few seasons, and the latest Autumn/Winter 2011 collection was by far the best offering to date.  I thought I would share the lookbook photographs, but for a better look at the fabrics and details, check out the backstage photographs by Adam over at Le 21ème Arrondissement.  I keep meaning to write a full review, but sometimes words just seem to get in the way.

Suffice to say that I thought the womenswear trumped the menswear, although admittedly he did carry over some menswear pieces from past collections for the women.  I suppose it provides a far more easy and carefree take on unisex clothing, without the in-your-face androgyny of a designer such as Rad Hourani.  Indeed the menswear pieces seem to fit just right, blending seamlessly with the womenswear offerings - I guess one could think of Hedi-era Dior Homme, which was produced in smaller sizes with female customers in mind.  Similarly Ann Demeulemeester's pieces are often far more unisex than one would initially think (I happen to fit into women's IT38 trousers quite well).  Jona's tailoring was impeccable, and I look forward to handling the pieces in person.  Whilst the Spring/Summer offerings that are currently in store are nice, they are that little bit short of blowing me away, however I have a feeling that this collection just might...

I absolutely love both these look, although I would prefer some of Ann's riding boots, or even the back-lace boots, on the menswear look, and some of Yohji's flats for the womenswear look.  I was actually watching Wim Wenders' documentary Notebook on Cities and Clothes once again yesterday (I tend to watch it whenever I am feeling drained and in need of inspiration), and was struck by something Yohji said - He can do nothing for women in high heels and silk stockings with a seam running up the back, because they remind him of those women he used to have to cut dresses for when he worked at his mother's dressmaking shop.  Just like Yohji, I think there is something incredibly beautiful and simple about a long skirt worn with flats or a pair of lace-ups.  It is that sliver of bare ankle between the shoe and the hem of the skirt.  Sometimes less really is more.

In the menswear look I suppose it is the shape and silhouette that I enjoy - the sharply defined tailoring.  Yet paradoxically, or perhaps it is quite fitting, in the womenswear I find the volume and draping, that teases with its reveal, to be the most alluring aspect.  I like the juxtaposition of strength and fragility between the looks.  I think I have found myself over the past few months seeking that sense of strength more and more - although I do try to keep the balance.  Indeed I like the fact that the jacket on the menswear look is styled over a simple long sleeve.  The stacked sleeves and stretch fabric covers the body in a quite soft and sensual manner.  In a way it reminds me of Rick Owens, in that you get the semi-sheer tops and unashamed fragility, which is then paired with the monumentality and power of a sculpted and tailored jacket.  There is no tension between the two, but rather two interweaving threads that perfectly encapsulate an experience. 

I would happily wear the womenswear look above.  I have been particularly keen to try the shorts and leggings combination for a while now (not to mention leggings underneath a pair of those destroyed Undercover jeans).  However I think I shall need to find a pair of cropped trousers rather than shorts, just like this look, because I have extremely thin legs to work around.  I am thankfully quite tall though, so hopefully I can make it work without the risk of visually stunting myself - cropped trousers are quite the minefield if not properly tackled.

You wear the hers, I'll wear the his.

Scott Mescudi vs. The World ft. Cee-Lo - Kid Cudi

xxxx

240311

Maintenance

Camel - Flying Lotus

xxxx

Feeling A Collection

Kazuyuki Kumagai's Attachment

Spring/Summer 2009

"...there can be little doubt of the fact that touch is regarded as an unimportant sense by most Occidental writers on aesthetic theory."

- Frances W. Herring, 'Touch: The Neglected Sense'

The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (Vol. 7, No. 3)

Fashion is by its very nature expressly related to the haptic perceptions of the individual.  I see the garment, I touch the garment, I try on the garment, I get a feel for the garment, I move in the garment.  It is one of the most intimate relationships that you can possibly foster with a material object - it is your second skin, your armour, and to go down the emotive route fully, a material extension of yourself (whether representative of who you feel you are, or who you feel you would like to be).  Of course material culture and fashion is based as much around the social implications and perceptions of the garment in question, however that personal connection is vital - a garment is incomplete without a body.  Discussions about fashion tend, for an understandable reason, to shy away from the personal and intimate associations of actually wearing a garment, instead focusing around imagery, whether that be of individual garments or of garments being worn (either by model or mannequin).

The reason for this disconnect is understandable in that for the most parts discussions are focused around aesthetic expression rather than the physical and emotional experience of actually wearing fashion.  That is not to even mention the difficulty in trying to express through language, and without the garment at hand for the other party to feel and try on, that intimate connection.  The disconnect has always interested me, because although I can try to explain to you, for example, why I love clothing by Ann Demeulemeester, part of what I could never possibly convey is the way the fabric feels against my skin.  I can never quite describe the sensation of moving around in one of her shirts, of how her choice to move the shoulder seams ever so slightly forward entirely changes how you move and feel.  Similarly I could never quite convey the way that a certain Rick Owens angora sweater feels, not only physically, but how it makes me feel when I try it on - a feeling just as much about the feel of the fabric as of the look of the garment.

To provide an analogy, to me it is like trying to describe a painting, or at least you response to a painting, to someone who has never seen it.  To discuss certain garments and the reasons I like the work of certain designers in such a way requires an understanding of that intimate moment where you touch the fabrics and try on the piece.  I suppose it is very the same when one talks of the emotional impact of a work of art, and yet that emotional impact to fashion can sometimes be subjugated by commentators, or seen as somehow not relevant or important.  Yet with something that you choose to wear and choose to express yourself with, I can not see what could be more important than that visceral and emotive response, which is often based exactly on the way the garment feels and makes you feel.  But then again I suppose there is always a disconnect between language and anything related to the senses - how do I describe the experience of music, or art, or fashion?

The Spring/Summer 2009 collection from Kazuyuki Kumagai's Attachment was a collection that very much required the personal and intimate connection of touching and trying on the garments in order to really understand it fully.  Of course I would argue that all fashion ideally requires such, but it is virtually impossible.  Fashion is disseminated through images, for we live in a world where most people experience fashion through the image of a garment (usually on a celebrity or model) rather than seeing the garment in a physical context.  Fashion relies on the image to draw in the consumer - for the most parts they need to be attracted to an image before they find the garment and encounter it in a physical context.  However what happens when that initial image is misleading? 

The official runway photographs of the Spring/Summer 2009 collection for Attachment are particularly interesting in this case for the exact reason that they were not actually very good.  The photographs were overexposed, stark and washed out - there was a lack of contrast and depth.  The photographs were very harsh and this stood in contrast to the nature and physical aesthetic of the collection.  As such many people actually skipped straight past the collection at first.  However once other photographs surfaced, shooting in a far softer manner and with better consideration for lighting, the clothing was far more exciting and appealing - mainly to the sense of touch.  It was the textures of the fabrics that really took pride of place, and it was that which lead to people wanting to hunt down a stockist and get a feel for the collection.  A designer should always design around the fabric, but having to then convey the intimate information of how that fabric feels and drapes on the body through images is inherently problematic.

As per usual I suppose the only thing you can say is - get out there and look at the collections you like when they hit the stores.  Touch the garments, try on the garments, get a feel for the garments.  That feeling is just as important, if not more, than how it makes you look (if you feel good in the garment you will always look that much better).   

Compare the vast difference in the way the outfit looks in the photograph above compared to that of below.

I am actually in hospital today, so I suppose I shall be considering the feel and texture of hospital sheets and gowns.  The coarseness of the fabrics, no doubt due to repeated washing at high temperatures, is a unique sensory experience all of its own - it brings emotions and memories to the mind quite unique to that physical sensation of touch.

We Looked Like Giants - Death Cab For Cutie

xxxx