Yesterday afternoon while having coffee with another blogger from out of town, I kept thinking that I had three more events to attend before the day was over. Since last week, when NYFW began, my life has been more of a blur than a fully lived experience. I am two blog posts behind, no weekend bibliography and no post this Monday and that creates an underlying sense of letting myself and others down. In that moment I decided that after this very pleasant interlude I was just going home. NYFW is not even over and yes I am done.
Although exciting being invited to both see shows and participate in them, what came to me as I sat for a moment yesterday, was that the entire reason I began my project, which was to explore and research my love of clothes, my curiousity about the designers themselves and the process of garment making, is no longer fulfilled through this institution we call Fashion Week. When you are running from one show to the next, when clothes are passing before you in about 5 minutes and models are running offstage to change and go to the next show, there is no opportunity to really look at and touch the clothes or have a conversation with a designer about their inspiration and the logic behind what they decided to create. It made me remember how in the first year I started, before I was known enough to get invites, how I went to the market shows where I could indeed meet and talk with the designers and touch and feel and really see their clothes.
I have been thinking we are in a time where the institutions that we have in place are no longer able to do the job our current social revolution driven by technology needs them to do. They no longer can fulfill their most important functions. Fashion Week in the traditional way we have structured it seems to be one of them. For me the most important function of the show is to show the clothes, express the designer’s passion and the further elucidation of a brand story. With the advent of “season less collections”, “see now/buy now” and customization it is entirely possible to have a show anytime during the year and have it become a fully lived and appreciated experience. Social media is the conduit between brands and their buyers and even now fashion shows are experienced more through those channels as brands are live streaming at the same time they are having a show.
There are enough weeks in between the current calendar of fashion months where nothing surprising or new is happening that a few shows or presentations every few weeks that can be savored would indeed be a real “luxury”. Intimate presentations where one could engage in conversation with the designer as well as others that may appreciate the work would be a far better way to create the passion, pleasure and desire that animates ones wish for a certain garment. I usually become quite animated when there is a great deal of creative energy around me. When I stopped for a moment to have a real human experience I felt the exhaustion I usually feel that comes from an energy that is frenetic, directionless and obsessive. This drains, not fuels creativity.
So here is a moment during fashion week that truly took my breath away. This collaboration by Chloe X Halle and Benjamin Shine, was part of the 29Room Exhibition by Refinery29 and entitled “Harmony”. It celebrates the relationship of sisters and women’s connectivity, The music can only be heard through headphones so you get the contemplative view. Benjamin Shine is the same artist who collaborated with Maison Martin Margiela (John Galliano) for the Spring 2017 (see photo below) Collection.
To see and learn more about Benjamin Shine and his work with textiles watch this video.
Wow the video of his work is mesmerizing, beautiful and awe inspiring !
It was a wonderful moment for me. I immediately noticed his work with Margiela and have been a fan ever since.
Wow the video of his work is mesmerizing, beautiful and awe inspiring !
It was a wonderful moment for me. I immediately noticed his work with Margiela and have been a fan ever since.
To have the shows spread out over weeks or months would be ideal though difficult in the current system. Fashion week is followed by market week, when the store buyers go to the showrooms of designers to see the entire collection, particularly the more commercial pieces that may not have been in the show. Based on that appointment and the excitement generated by the show the order will be decided. Fashion week has evolved into a media frenzy. Shows are often judged on their entertainment value, celebrity attendees and exotic locations, further removing the focus from the clothes. It’s an interesting concept to show outside of fashion week, or to show as Azzedine Alaia does; only when he feels he has something to show.
http://www.primadarling.com
Yes so true. Though many designers I know are moving to e-commerce and not going to market in favor of being able to be more responsive to consumer need. Season less and transitional lines are gaining more traction and making it easier to do that.
To have the shows spread out over weeks or months would be ideal though difficult in the current system. Fashion week is followed by market week, when the store buyers go to the showrooms of designers to see the entire collection, particularly the more commercial pieces that may not have been in the show. Based on that appointment and the excitement generated by the show the order will be decided. Fashion week has evolved into a media frenzy. Shows are often judged on their entertainment value, celebrity attendees and exotic locations, further removing the focus from the clothes. It’s an interesting concept to show outside of fashion week, or to show as Azzedine Alaia does; only when he feels he has something to show.
http://www.primadarling.com
Yes so true. Though many designers I know are moving to e-commerce and not going to market in favor of being able to be more responsive to consumer need. Season less and transitional lines are gaining more traction and making it easier to do that.
It was my 6th year of shooting street style at NYFW and I was done by the end of day two. It’s not fun anymore. There are hundreds of photogs all taking the same shots of the latest street style darlings. I’m not sure what’s next for The Styleseer, but I’m ready for a new direction.
SS2016 was the season that I knew I needed a sabbatical from NYFW so I haven’t . Street style at fashion weeks is a completely different thing than street style on regular weeks and I realized that as much as I loved doing it I was just tired, too. Fashion week is different – it used to be a time to meet up with my friends from all over the world. At this point, I’ve missed three and I feel recovered and I will probably go back next season but it was good to take a break and just shoot photos for the joy of it and wear clothes for the joy of it, too. There’s always a risk when you step away – I don’t know if I’ll have the same list of photo buyers when I go back – but I don’t know if it really matters to me much any more. I’ve spent time sewing and fixing up an old house and traveling for fun, not work, and so on.
First sentence correction: …so I haven’t been back since that season.
Believe me these kinds of activities will give you renewed creativity and everything changes so fast now you can easily jump into something new.
Good for you! If you want to brainstorm let me know!
It was my 6th year of shooting street style at NYFW and I was done by the end of day two. It’s not fun anymore. There are hundreds of photogs all taking the same shots of the latest street style darlings. I’m not sure what’s next for The Styleseer, but I’m ready for a new direction.
SS2016 was the season that I knew I needed a sabbatical from NYFW so I haven’t . Street style at fashion weeks is a completely different thing than street style on regular weeks and I realized that as much as I loved doing it I was just tired, too. Fashion week is different – it used to be a time to meet up with my friends from all over the world. At this point, I’ve missed three and I feel recovered and I will probably go back next season but it was good to take a break and just shoot photos for the joy of it and wear clothes for the joy of it, too. There’s always a risk when you step away – I don’t know if I’ll have the same list of photo buyers when I go back – but I don’t know if it really matters to me much any more. I’ve spent time sewing and fixing up an old house and traveling for fun, not work, and so on.
First sentence correction: …so I haven’t been back since that season.
Believe me these kinds of activities will give you renewed creativity and everything changes so fast now you can easily jump into something new.
Good for you! If you want to brainstorm let me know!
"an energy that is frenetic, directionless and obsessive. This drains, not fuels creativity. " Oh, I so get this! It’s one of the reasons I didn’t try to get to NYFW this year, and what has generally been making fashion feel so overwhelming lately. I hope you have a chance to rest and restore your creative energies.
(BTW, wasn’t able to watch the video, says "no longer available.")
Who wants to feel that way? Positive energy extends life.
"an energy that is frenetic, directionless and obsessive. This drains, not fuels creativity. " Oh, I so get this! It’s one of the reasons I didn’t try to get to NYFW this year, and what has generally been making fashion feel so overwhelming lately. I hope you have a chance to rest and restore your creative energies.
(BTW, wasn’t able to watch the video, says "no longer available.")
Who wants to feel that way? Positive energy extends life.