26 October 2010

On "19-Year-Old Fashion Wannabe Dimwits"

"Assuming the tag line on your left has now got me the attention of even the dumbest, most ignorant little 19-year-old fashion wannabe dimwits - let the hate mail begin - I'm going to tell you a story about the next generation of fashion: the young aspirers, force-fed with Tyra Banks philosophies and fashion Fata Morganas created by The Hills."
- Anders Christian Madsen, 'Paintings for the Blind', DANSK Magazine, 24

DANSK is without doubt my favorite magazine. While I love the shoots that they do, the styling they use, hell, even the adverts they include, the main reason I buy the magazine is Anders Christian Madsen. The man is a genius, hands down. Other larger publications like Vogue, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar feel so comparatively dull for me as a reader, which is perhaps one of many reasons for the unfortunate circumstances described in one of Madsen's articles in DANSK's F/W 2010 issue (titled 'Paintings for the Blind').

Madsen describes the article as "a feature which [...] carries a journalistic and socio-critical importance so vast that it really ought to appear in The New York Times. I even got quotes and stuff." As you notice, I too took the liberty of using quotes. Why, you ask? Well, for starters, Madsen is hilarious, and it would be punishable for me not to share his words with you, reader, directly from the source. Second, I attach enormous importance to the message of the article, despite the fact that in some ways, it implicates me personally.

In a nutshell, 'Paintings for the Blind' is a piece highlighting the dilution of the fashion industry in recent years. The water that's watering it all down? The new generation. The young, fame-hungry social climbers pounding on the highest of high society's doors because they want to be "in". They want to be in fashion, not because they feel it is an outlet for artistic expression, but because in high school they were told to get a career that they would enjoy. In the absence of any other skills (actually, that's too harsh - in the absence of recognition of any other skills) they decide to take their black belt in shopping and become a fashion designer, or a stylist, or a makeup artist, etc.

From some perspectives, this is an excellent idea. You know, "HOLLA, I get to do what I love ALL DAY and get paid big money for it! My life is so not average." And they are totally right, because we all dread growing up and finding ourselves in a Chandler Bing situation. Having a job that you love makes actually working a job much more tolerable than having one that you can't stand.

The problem with this, however, is that these people are getting into the industry with absolutely no knowledge of its history, let alone the present or the future. (Just so we're clear, knowing brand names like Calvin Klein, Chanel, Versace, and Burberry do not count as 'knowing' about fashion. That's the equivalent of saying you 'know' about football, but only being able to name David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and 'that guy who headbutted the other guy that one time...') Where fashion is influenced by the past and present, and works towards the future, a career in fashion requires much more than being able to find the best deal on designer jeans, or recognize the D&G logo. Well, at least it used to.

In recent years, there have been more publically embarrassing moments in fashion than the hiring of dolt interns. Among these, Lindsay Lohan at Ungaro (cringe). The celebrity take over of fashion - of everything, really - has been well publicized. Actors used to get into music, musicians used to get into acting, and both would then cowrite an autobiography of their inspired experiences. But lately, collections have been shown by anyone who's anyone, with Justin Timberlake, Victoria Beckham, Gwen Stefani, and Sienna Miller all grabbing a piece. Oh, did I mention the Olsen twins? (I shouldn't have to. Any day now, we'll find out they've bought the Russian mafia.) Now I'm not saying that as designers, celebrities are always a bad fit, but the ease with which they manage to insert themselves into businesses makes it appear very DIY, the issue being that it promotes the idea that background isn't a necessity when pursuing a career.

So you want to be a singer? Don't worry about it, we have AutoTune to fix your voice. Not a problem, Chantal Kreviazuk and Kara DioGuardi can write all your songs for you!

Okay, I know you really want to design a fashion line... Just tell the illustrators what you want, and they'll draw it. If you need any help, the fashion forecasters will tell you what's going to be in next season. OH or you could just redo what Philo did last season... Philo... Phoebe Philo... At Celine? She does minimalism..? No, don't Wiki it, I'll call someone up.

Maybe there are some people that are okay with the overwhelming lack of talent and knowledge in many of the newcomers to various fields, but I'm not. Would you want to be defended by a lawyer who had not studied the precedents for your case? It's not even that people present with this deficiency, it's that they don't show any desire to change it. It's all about the quick fix, and sitting down to read about the history of design is not considered a component under that umbrella. As Madsen laments, "Words certainly have a daunting effect on the youngsters - at least when they appear in large quantities." Where fashion is a visually-driven business, the argument can be made that perhaps simply looking at the pictures is sufficient. And maybe it would be, if you already have the cultural foundation to properly analyze what you are seeing. Looking at Jean Paul Gaultier's F/W 2010 collection at Hermes, to take an obvious example, did you note the inspiration taken from The Avengers? Did you understand the message of Hussein Chalayan's S/S 1998 collection? Do you know what is meant by words like utilitarian, minimal, and nautical?

In order to think intelligently about fashion, to be able to look at something and understand what its purpose is, a certain degree of background is necessary. If you are not culturally informed, or are not educated in the jargon, this becomes increasingly difficult, and forces you to depend on others, thereby limiting them as well. You might scoff at this and say "Who bloody cares what the 'purpose' of it is... It's clothing! It looks nice, so you wear it, end of story" and that's all well and good if you're a corporate heavyweight, or a scientist, or a farmer. But if you are a member of the fashion industry, it is important.

Allow me to use an analogy. Those who read books often do so because they simply enjoy reading. Others are too lazy to read the book, so they go watch the movie instead. These two are equivalent to those who consume fashion on the surface level: if I like it, it's good. Then there are scholars, who read books and analyze them. They look for themes, motifs, and symbols, and all that stuff that you hated English class for. They write essays about the books, developing grandiose philosophies of life entirely based on the author's decision to use the word 'azure' instead of 'blue'. To the average person, things like word choice seem insignificant, and unworthy of much attention, but to the scholar, these small and insignificant things can be quite the opposite. The scholar is the equivalent of those who consume fashion on the semantic level: what does this piece/outfit/collection mean? If the difference still doesn't ring clear, please refer to that scene in The Devil Wears Prada.

In no way am I claiming to be a fashion genius. On the contrary, I only really became interested in fashion three years ago, and while I've learned a lot since then, I'm still not Tavi Gevinson. But I do read. I read DANSK, I read Vogue. I read foreign magazines, and get excited on the occasions when I remember enough of the language to actually understand it. I read books about the industry, I watch the fashion shows, I look at the evolutions of designers' styles over time. When lectures are less than entertaining, I sketch designs for my own yet-to-be-created collections, which I learn how to realize by reading about garment construction and design. Even though I'm not an all-knowing fashion guru, I respect the fact that knowledge is an integral part of the industry, and that is why I seek it out. So in the event that I some day apply for internship at DANSK, or Balmain, or wherever, I might be able to mount the legitimate claim that I would be an asset.

I suppose my point here is that fashion perceives itself as art. It's not materialistic, it's not just a bunch of people honing their own vanity, it's a sphere of intelligent, creative expression. Whether people outside fashion agree or disagree with this perception is of little or no consequence. So to all my fellow "19-year-old fashion wannabe dimwits," if you want to be in fashion, take it seriously and do the research. Or at least read the job description.

Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford

PS: DANSK Magazine is NOT looking for interns. In case you were one of the many who emailed them in response to the fake intern listing in the S/S 2010 issue.

19 October 2010

Confessions of a Slacker

It is to my complete and utter regret that I've been slacking in my contributions to the blog over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, this is one of many necessary sacrifices a university student has to make during the dreaded midterm exam period...


Thanks to the vigilance of a kind Danish reader, my attention has also been drawn to the absence of significant portions of my fashion week coverage. This includes posts from the tail end of New York and Paris, and all posts from London and Milan. I am baffled as to why they are not showing up, and I do not have the time to recreate them from scratch at the present time. Once exams settle down, I assure you this problem will be taken care of as quickly and efficiently as possible! Until then though, I would encourage you to check out style.com, style.it, and vogue.fr for the majority of the shows.


I hope everyone who was following fashion weeks enjoyed themselves, there were a lot of exquisite collections this season, and I will be doing a rundown of the top trends as soon as I've redone the mysteriously absent posts. What You Should Be Listening To will also have a new entry within the week.


I would also like to add to the Focus On... feature. Freja Beha Erichsen was the subject of investigation at the beginning of September, and judging by the view count on that one post, it was (and remains) extremely popular with readers. I'm not nearly vain enough to attribute this entirely to my literary talents, but I can only assume that there must be some reason for many of you returning again and again :). I've received one or two suggestions for new topics in the Focus On... feature, but I would love to get a better idea of what you all want to read about! Feel free to comment on this post, or fire off an email to notsoswedish.gmail.com. Topics that are most popular will be given higher authority, but I'll try to get to all of them at one point or another!


Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford

10 October 2010

Vicious, You Hit Me With A Flower

So it's been over a month since my last music post... story of how busy I've been lately that I've been replaying the same tracks over and over. I'll be doing a post on fashion week soundtracks in time, but until then, this is what I've been listening to:


1. Lou Reed - Vicious - 1973 (single) 


No introduction should be necessary for the main songwriter of the Velvet Underground (you might remember him, he was the singing fellow with the guitar most of the time?). But for those of you who are a little rusty on your music history, the Velvet Underground were formed on the Lower East Side in NYC, and went on to become one of the most influential rock groups this side of the 1950s. They were also associated with Mr. Andy Warhol himself, who managed and promoted the band.


'Vicious' was the third single from Lou Reed's second record, Transformer (the first was self-titled, which is really only justifiable if you're that good, in my opinion). The record was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, so you know it's a good one (and if that doesn't convince you, Transformer is on numerous 'Greatest Albums of All Time' lists). The song, which I am/always have been in love with is quite literally about someone who is completely and utterly vicious. Okay, maybe not in a serial-killer-with-a-knife type vicious, but so vicious that they'd "hit [you] with a flower". Apparently, the line comes from the afore mentioned Warhol, who told Reed to write about someone who would do that sort of thing back before Reed quit the Velvet Underground. Whatever, it's a rad track. And in case anybody was wondering what the Gill Ford equivalents of Tom Cruise's 'Old Time Rock 'n Roll' are... 'Vicious' is one of them. (Expect more in the future. Gill Ford is a proud supporter of dancing in underwear and knee highs.)


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2. Primal Scream feat. Kate Moss - Some Velvet Morning - 2003 (single)
Okay, so I rewatched Balmain F/W 2010 a few weeks ago on Youtube, and Primal Scream's cover of the 1967 Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra song was part of the soundtrack the user had put over the original audio. I must admit, I had completely forgotten about Kate Moss's endeavours into music, this song included (which was, incidentally, her first time singing on a professional basis). The original is a classic, but if you're into the whole electro/house type stuff, this is a great cover.


Primal Scream are an alternative rock group from Glasgow (I know I was pushing some Glaswegian music last time, but you've gotta give credit where it's due). In 1992 I was only just starting to comprehend words, but people of older generations might remember the song 'Movin' On Up', which was fairly successful in America. Record-wise, Primal Scream has done pretty well in the UK, though singles haven't been quite on par, oddly enough. The cover of 'Some Velvet Morning' was originally released on the band's Evil Heat record in 2002, but was then rereleased as a single from their greatest hits compliation Dirty Hits in 2003.


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3. Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry - 2007 (single)
I'll finish off with another single, this one from an excellent indie rock band, which everyone should check out when they get the chance. 'Hang Me Up To Dry' is the third single off the Cold War Kids' first record, Robbers & Cowards (which is fantastic... seriously, go buy it). Looking into the deeper meaning of the song isn't required to enjoy the beat and riff of it, and there is definitely more than one interpretation of the lyrics. General consensus though? The poor boy has been torn limb from body by some girl and he just wants her to let him alone. At the same time, there's a sense that the two are addicted to the relationship: she can't stop hurting him, and he inevitably keeps going back to her afterwards, leading to one of those vicious circles that we all love to see on primetime television. I would encourage you all to have a look at the music video for the song as well.


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Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford

1 October 2010

I Could Rob You If I Want To

September 30th, 2010


Balenciaga


  
   
  

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Zac Posen


  
  
  

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Manish Arora


  
  
  

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Ann Demeulemeester


  
  
  

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Sharon Wauchob


  
  
  

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Balmain


  
  
  

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Barbara Bui


  
  
  

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Rick Owens


  
  
  

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Lutz


  
  
  

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A.F. Vandevorst


  
  
  

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Nina Ricci


  
  
  

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Excellent day today, with Balenciaga opening strong with a drove of newbies and some of the biggest supers of them all (among them, Gisele, Stella, Caroline, and Amber). Ghesquière even gave five-months-preggers Miranda Kerr a walk out. I really took to the fencing theme at Demeulmeester, but what I was really waiting for was a long awaited dose of Balmainia. Daria opened the show (but of course), which was oh so very punk (which makes me wonder if the Think Punk editorial in Vogue Paris' October issue might be a tip of the hat to Mr. Decarnin?). Models were decked out in red, black, and white, with little holding the clothes together but safety pins. Carmen Kass showed up with her hair in an adorable pixie cut, which dropped my jaw (but seriously, it's Carmen Kass, she can pull off anything). Rick Owens put out a great showing as well, with a collection more structured and rigid than usual, but no less genius for the fact.


Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford

Photos courtesy of style.com, elleuk.com