Fashion Chat
Designer 101
Fashion Diary
Okay, I get it; you want to be a designer. Problem. You suck!
No fashion sense, no fashion background, and no fashion savvy. No problem. First, record a hit song, make sure you get your record label to hire you a stylist, and license your name to a perfume. Second, attend every designer show until one befriends you, let them dress you, and become the face of their campaign. Then finally, before anyone gets whiff that your act is farce, demand your stylist do you a solid, and knock-off everything you have every worn–Puff… you’re a designer!
Style 101
I am half-heartedly joking because it does seem to be the formula for every celebrity designer. Most celebrities are fashion victims with no real fashion credibility, besides having racked up frequent Face Time points with every designer. Tom Ford, Coco Chanel, and the late great Alexander McQueen are real designers; like master artist, designers interpret modern society and challenge social phenomenon with visual artistry. Mary Quant created the mini skirt as a reaction to the sixties youth and sexual freedom movement. Times were changing and fashion was at the forefront of that change. What’s J.Lo’s claim to fashion fame? A knock-off Juicy Couture tracksuit with her name on the butt, yes Ms. Lopez we know you want a do over with Kohls–still sucks!
J.Lo
Celebrity fashion highlights include, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who created two exciting fashion brands, The Row and Elizabeth & James, which pays homage to fashion’s elite. Sean John Combs, whom I am not a fan of, has done something interesting with his self-labeled collection; he has made it his own. Like Mary Quant, Sean John Combs has taken his past and present and blended it into something unique: Ghetto Fabulous. By coining Ghetto Fabulous, Combs has created a designer niche for himself, which is simply signature style. Signature style is what gives great designers creditability and movement beyond the pack. A Jacket, is a Jacket, until you have a story to tell about that jacket, the cut, the color, and the length all symbolize a narrative that is signature style.
Sean John
I am all for artist exploring new venues to showcase their talent, but when it is simply because your famous and you want to make money, fashion suffers.
Artist
Our current fashion crisis is not economic, but creative, as celebrities suck up all the fashion pages, new authentic designers are pushed to the back of the line. This creative chock-hold has suffocated fashion, as established designers start to cash out their chips. Thus, fashion die-hards, like myself, are left with very little to admire. Celebrities do help lift designer names into the spotlight, and interject wonderful personality into clothes, however I am not sure I want some actor’s name stitched into the back of my shirt.
RIP: Alexander McQueen.
McQueen
