Fashion - a question of reinvention?

[*sayan]

On the surface fashion is cyclical, However FASHION stands for clothes with a soul. The soul is not cyclical. What i mean, for example, Yohji might use the crinoline, the hourglass or other historical shapes, but what matters today, in regards to his work, is not that reference, but the fact he can imput his soul in his work. Yohji will only be for now. There was never in the past anything comparable, nor in the future. So yes , it is cyclical, unless one takes the time to feel.

 

[gruhche]

Very interesting thread, gruhche!

When you say you're talking about Chanel "still making most of its money selling the bag, the jacket and the perfume that were launched half a century ago....", I kind of see this as a matter of branding. In other words, Chick-fil-A is still making millions off of their classic Chick-fil-A chicken sandwhich. May sound like a silly comparison, but it's true. (By the way, anyone ever had their Chicken mini's for breakfast? They are sooo yummy. But they really are nothing more than chopped up Chick-fil-A chicken sandwhiches, LOL!!)

Some of the products people may feel a business keeps reinventing and reselling to their customers as a different product are being reinvented because the product is necessary to keep (the company's branding was built upon it and their client-base demands it), but the packaging (for instance) may need updating to give it a more "up-to-date"/current look.

I hope what I am saying makes sense...I may be back with more comments/clarification later...

It does make sense and I thought about that too! But then what's fashion really, when we talk about the big fashion houses, it's all about making those sales. So branding and marketing techniques very much influence what we perceive as fashionable and continue to wear. My idea was, that in term of a "look" or a "fit", it's all been thoroughly explored, so what designers/brands/houses do to stay relevant is reinvent, same old stuff with a little styling trick here and there. So that's where the jacket reference applies. As with the parfume and the bag, they don't re-invent the product as much as the image behind it. Someone put it very nicely, it's old stuff in a new context.

Now.. hope that made sense too

 

[gius]

sayan has a very lovely and very good point

 

[jhaime]

I think the main factors here are references & the perceived context they operate within...however, you also have to include socio-cultural parametres or constraints designers must work within...economics is another contributing & imposing, abundant factor. I think with fashion, it's such a diverse spectrum. You can't analyse literally with fashion...it's a basis of opinion, influenced by a multitude of variables...

 

[Miss Galliano]

nice question !

 

[ultramarine]

I think there are originals in the fash world ... I mean .. following the Chanel example, the jacket, perfume nor bag existed before Gabrielle did em .. didnt she? And has someone made that laser bolero Chalayan did before him?

I know there are designers who are like on a vortex or maelstrom picking up things from everywhere and reworking them a bit -or none if youre MJ- and then selling them ... depends on the designer ... and I crave original, tho I dont mind some more "classic" stuff like Goyard's

 

[chloehandbags]

On the surface fashion is cyclical, However FASHION stands for clothes with a soul. The soul is not cyclical. What i mean, for example, Yohji might use the crinoline, the hourglass or other historical shapes, but what matters today, in regards to his work, is not that reference, but the fact he can imput his soul in his work. Yohji will only be for now. There was never in the past anything comparable, nor in the future. So yes , it is cyclical, unless one takes the time to feel.

Yes, good point.

The talent and personal input of the designers is, of course, not cyclical (more's the pity, in many cases, as I have a feeling that many of the R-T-W designers of the past were of superior skill to those of the present).

 

[chloehandbags]

I say the eighties was the last decade that profoundly changed and moved fashion.

Actually, I think the '80s was very much a vintage and antique inspired decade.

It was almost like a new Victorian age (not that I think there is anything wrong with that).

From Greco-Roman, to Renaissance, to Edwardiana, to Art Deco, to 1940s, 1950s and 1960s inspired looks; the '80s had it all (not necessarily in that order!).