Smells Like Grunge Again

[pandera]

i can't belive they credited nirvana with it..

[LolitaLuxe]

Originally posted by HBoogie@Sep 30th, 2003 - 10:46 am
Grunge was all greys and navy blues with an occasional red-and-black lumberjack flannel thrown in, definitely not this colorful.

People still layer things, and people are still sloppy, but overall clothes are tighter, the silouhette is MUCH less baggy than it was in the early to mid 90s.

i disagree. "grunge" was a term made up by the media. there wasnt a signature color palette or silouette to the "grunge" look. there were staples such as layering and flannel like you mentioned, but there was plenty of variety. nirvana never wore baggy clothes. there were many youth subcultures at this time that came after / during "grunge" usually blending in with each other. so i dont agree with saying "grunge" had a particular color pallete and silouette. for example, skate style in the 90's dramaticly changed embracing hip hop adding over sized jeans with graphic t shirts. but baggy was never specifically "grunge" but kids starting meshing styles .... "grunge" to me covered a wide spectrum- riot grrls wore jackie O shades and capri pants, many women in bands considered grunge wore vintage clothes, baby doll dresses , round toe mary janes, baby barrettes [ that rave girls later embraced] sonic youth were considered "grunge" in the 90's they wore retro T's , cords,and other clothes from the 70's and 80's - a style and influence that is heavy in all marc collections. during the nineties i wore many, many retro styles from the 80's and 70's. not just flannel, and chiffon dresses with boots. marc jacobs as a person could be considered very "grunge". just look at him. his fave band is sonic youth. he was the first to put "grunge" on the catwalk with that infamous perry ellis incedent. i dont think "grunge" will ever come back. kurt cobain who is blamed for kick starting this was basically the second coming of punk rock. everythng from his music to attitude was just spitting in conformity's eye. untill it ironically became conformity. "grunge" was much much more than just flannel. it was a big youth culture movement that no longer exists. like punk rock it barged in with fury and died abruptly. after its "demise" other music / fashion styles came about. still different but everything started meshing. the marc line carries the feeling of youth subculture not just what is qoute unquote "grunge" . i feel kim gordon said it best:
" marc jabobs designs american sportswear, except the sport is rocknroll."

[pandera]

All Cobain did was essentially regergitate other people's ideas

[Spacemiu]

Amaizngly put Lolita

[dancingellecat]

What is grunge, who wears grunge? I know about it, but it's mixed and I'm not quite sure...I hear Kate Moss and MK are grunge...but I am confused.

whoa ninja

[monacocouture]

Grunge is-or was- a huge cultural movement that swept through the country in the early 90's. It was largely made famous by bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains. It wasnt only the music of grunge that made a statement, it was also the bands' getups. Kurt Cobain with his fuzzy mohair sweater, ripped dirty jeans, unwashed hair, huge flannel shirts and working boots-was perhaps the most copied. He inspired a collection that Marc Jacobs designed for Perry Ellis in, what was it? 92 or 93? Also on the runway were babydoll dress made infamous by rockers like Courtney Love (who referred to her style as Kinderwhore) Now I happened to HATE high-fashion grunge. I think Marc looked like a moron and a poser, other people however cant get enough of it. No, Mary kate Olsen and Kate Moss ARENT grunge. Even though they go out of their way to look laid back and off the wall, there is someone behind the scenes putting ALOT of effort into those outfits! All in all, grunge is dead. The whole commercial aspect behind it was always lame to me. It was never more than just the music for me, not $500 flannel coats from Marc Jacobs!

[softgrey]

monacocouture...that was a briliant summation of the entire grunge movement...
BRAVA...!!!...

welcome to the fashion spot...

[monacocouture]

*blushes* thanks!

[sssanguine]

Grunge Movement happened first in Seattle with the popularity of those bands and moved on to the fashion world in what is more popularly known as "Heroin Chic". Yes, Kate Moss then was grunge, when she first came out onto the scene. The very minimal makeup, thin/stringy hair, slouchy sillhouettes, the very waifish look, cardigan sweaters, doc martens. Heroin Chic is the high fashion term for grunge, I suppose. For men, the grunge look can be simplified into pretty much "lumberjack" wear, they wanted to differentiate themselves from glamourous rock stars and metal heads with their fancy leather jackets and flashy costumes. They were about being anti-fame, anti-fashion, anti-star.

Then, as with anything in this society, it blew up and became a huge trend and everyone started doing it, and then of course, it died!

[kimair]

this thread seems more appropriate in trend spotting...

and welcome to tFS, sssanguine, monacococouture and dancingellecat!

[Spacemiu]

Grunge is great, although personally i'm not into the flanel shirts.


Courtney's style absolutely rocks

[jennifer~]

Grunge 'in fashion'...

[travolta]

hi dancingellecat. if you want to know more about grunge you should check out
http://www.sassy-magazine.com/ there are lots of "grunge" looks, as well as bands and other early 90's cultural icons

[brian]

do any of you have pictures from the 1993(?) perry ellis grunge show that got marc jacobs fired??

[travolta]

The man who invented grunge finds inspiration at street Level. The people I'm most inspired by you can’t judge by their clothing. The guys who really have style don't even know it. Design is not some great high art form,” asserts Marc Jacobs. “I’m actually a bit suspicious of men who follow fashion too closely.”

The first time I met Jacobs was at a party back in the 1980s. A friend hurried me over to him and thrust my hand into his. “You have to meet my friend Marc,” she cooed. “He does the most wonderful knits.” We had barely exchanged hellos before Fern Mallis, then-executive director at the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), snatched him away. He flashed an “I’m sorry” sort of smile before disappearing into a sea of faces. I should have known then that his ascent would be as fast and frenzied as the swarm of people around us. Earlier this year I watched him collect his latest in a long line of awards, Menswear Designer of the Year from CFDA, looking not much different than when he was simply a shy friend of a friend who was doing the “most wonderful knits.”

“I learned to knit from my grandmother. She loved to knit in front of the TV before going shopping for panty hose at Saks Fifth Avenue or cosmetics at Lord & Taylor or wherever,” Jacobs recalls. “Anyway, I used to design sweaters. Then, when it came time to do my senior project at Parsons, I designed these three really oversized, very heavy, hand-knit sweaters. Barbara Weiser, who was one of the buyers at Charivari saw them and wanted to produce a limited edition for the stores. They were photographed all over. That was sort of the beginning of my career. I met my [business] partner, Robert Duffy — who I'm still with — at that same Parsons fashion show. He was working for a Seventh Avenue company and convinced them to hire me straight out of school. In that first collection I continued to do the chunky, hand-knit sweaters, but with a smiley face.”

Even back then, the hyper-energetic Jacobs, who drinks pints of coffee and smokes piles of cigarettes each day, had a spirit for fun that set him apart from the sacrosanct fashion crowd. After graduating from Parsons School of Design and a short stint designing for Reuben Thomas, Jacobs and Duffy launched the first Marc Jacobs Collection in 1986. That very next year, Jacobs became the youngest designer ever to win the prestigious CFDA Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent. Two years later, Jacobs accepted a job with Ellis.

But like so many things that begin so well, his time there ended badly. Jacobs’ Spring-Summer 1993 women’s collection featured over-sized flannel shirts, slouchy sweaters and chunky army boots paired with floral vintage-looking dresses. It would quickly be labeled “Grunge” and Jacobs would go down in history as the man who invented it. And while the press made it an overnight editorial sensation, it was an equally swift commercial disaster with the public. Soon after, Perry Ellis released Jacobs from his contract and discontinued the designer's line. But no matter how unsuccessful the line was, few deny its impact.

“It’s my favorite,” Jacobs asserts without hesitation. “I liked the idea of making some visual noise through clothing. I found a two-dollar flannel shirt on St. Mark’s Place and I sent it off to Italy and had it made into a $300-a-yard plaid silk. It was like the Elsa Perretti crystal tumbler at Tiffany that was inspired by a paper Dixie Cup. I love to take things that are everyday and comforting and make them into the most luxurious things in the world. But I didn't set out to be some hellion,” he continues. “There was this new kind of beauty that was starting to be recognized. Girls like Kate Moss—this idea of the shoe-gazer, this person who couldn't look up, who's sort of insecure. And I’ve always felt like that, that I never fit in. But that’s sort of empowering too.”

If Jacobs felt at all insecure about his departure from Perry Ellis, he didn’t let it show. He viewed it as a welcome break and promised to return with a bang. And in 1997, the bang was heard round the world as Jacobs reemerged at Louis Vuitton. In Vuitton, he saw a world of possibilities and moved the staid luxury goods company into a coveted fashion label. He would go on to win another CFDA award later that year and was named Best Fashion Designer of the Year by VH1 in 1998. His association with the powerhouse brand also yielded him one more prize, a line of his own. He currently designs men’s and women’s clothing, accessories, and shoes for Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs Collection and his newest line, Marc by Marc Jacobs.

“My style for Marc Jacobs is more American sportswear, casual yet stylish,” he explains. “When designing for Vuitton, it becomes more ‘in your face’ and continental. I just think of the people who would wear them.”

And they not only wear them, they covet them. Just as logo fever had reached feverish heights, Jacobs solicited bad boy Stephen Sprouse to cover the beloved Vuitton logo with graffiti. The resulting line of bags became a fashion obsession and sold out in the blink of an eye.

But Jacobs doesn’t like to talk about his commercial successes. “I just want things to be really good. I mean, well made. And well done. I don’t know what’s commercial! It’s wrong to approach it like that,” he asserts. “If people like something it becomes the season’s hot trend. In the end, it’s the consumer who decides. I don’t decide. I’m constantly in a state of shock that I’m in the place that I am,” he continues. “Do you know what I mean? I’m not the world’s biggest optimist. I think of myself as being very realistic, but I definitely drift toward...pessimism.” He laughs. “And melancholy sometimes.”

Nick Steele


www.metrosource.com/ current/article_marcjacob...