Fashion Is Boring ... Have they Run Out of Ideas?

[DuTTyRoCK112]

i don't necessarily think every designer should be following the way of hussein chalayan or making pants with three legs, haha. but i am just so sick of the conservatism that i feel has plagued fashion lately. it seems that everyone now is either trying too hard or not enough. where is the art and originality of each designer? everyone seems to succumb to the trends and while i know it is strategic for business, it makes each designer lose their individuality when every collection in a season is so similiar. remember when everyone was doing their own thing, i mean you KNEW immediately the mark of a designer.

 

[gius]

Who has said ALL fashion is boring? I think we are only discussing the state of fashion NOW, which means 2007. Of course we should pick clothing that suits to our own aesthetic, but what if our aesthetic dream is to be moving forward? What if we are bored of what is being offered to us right now? I would have no problem dressing like they did in the Fifties, and being all elegance, quality materials and pillbox hats, but I can't do that because I don't like looking like I came out of a costume party.

How many designers produce anything that matches my aesthetic dreams? None at the moment. The likes of Ann Demeulemeester and Hussein Chalayan might make my life with fashion a little bit easier, but it still does not make me think fashion is going to a good direction. I crave the time of Dior and Balenciaga to come back, or then something completely new.

I wish I could sew and make my own clothes, but I can't. That's why I have to rely on people/factories who can do that. Those people are not matching my aesthetics, nor doing anything else than making everything look cheap and recycle trends.

Why can't we go back to time when it was important to dress appropriately and always remember quality?

So you mean when Dior and Balenciaga came out, they were new? When I think of them, I think of silhouettes. But aren't there new shapes now... there is a lot of these boxy and loose shapes at Marni and other brands this spring that I haven't seen much before in fashion--I always felt people go for clothes that were fitted closer to the body.
I guess if you have a specific aesthetic and have to buy your clothes, then if the shops don't meed your needs, you're simply just ...doomed Well, I guess you could always find a starting designer or a seamstress friend who will create clothes you design It would be interesting if you replied to Madhuri's question... From reading your post and then reading the last statement, I'm a bit confused by "dress appropriately." How can you dress appropriately if you want something new...actually now I don't know at all what I am asking.
Hey maybe Zazie has a similar taste...and I remember she was happy w/ some of the brands this season

 

[Whitelinen]

It would be interesting if you replied to Madhuri's question... From reading your post and then reading the last statement, I'm a bit confused by "dress appropriately." How can you dress appropriately if you want something new...actually now I don't know at all what I am asking.

That's a good question. I think you're right. Probably when fashion does start to move forward it will not be instantly liked.

 

[xmodel citizen]

from me for your comment - couldn't agree more. Why people log onto a fashion blog to complain that all fashion is boring is a mystery to me. I picked up two fashion/design magaizines at the weekend (Surface and Bon) and found the melding of fashion, design and photography mesmerising. Yes there are a lot of styles which are "in" but surely thats a good thing -it means people can play with different styles and mix them up and be individual? To say you find fashion boring is defeatist in my opinion - if you really love it you will find ways to make it inspire you.

So if you like something you just have to blindly follow it? If you're a musician, does that mean that you happily have to swallow every crap album that's put out? No. I love fashion, but in it's current state, I'm bored out of my mind. Everything is simple, wearable, feminine. No one wants to really push boundaries, because pushing boundaries doesn't sell to Mrs. X in X City.

People complain because they love fashion and they want to recapture those feelings and ideas that made them love it in the first place.

 

[kitten_77]

Who siad anything about blindly follow??? i think this debate is getting fairly heated and a bit b*tchy (to my mild amusement). The topic and difference of opinion is quite simple. My point is simply that for those who feel bored with fashion they should extent their source(s) of inspiration until they find something interesting. What is it about fashion that you find boring - whats been churned out on Net a Porter?!?!? Yes of course if you look at mainstream lines which are produced only with commercial success in mind then they are boring. Its the same with music. You can look at the charts and say "music is all the same, its been done before, its boring and commercial" but there are other sources of music musicians doing really interesting stuff and trying to push the boundaries. My point is simply that it is up to individuals to find inspiration in an alternative place - as opposed to just writing off the season (and therefore, by default all designers) as boring.

 

[Whitelinen]

^ But what if there are no interesting indie or as you said "non-mainstream" designers either? What if we crave for something new, for a revolution, and no one offers that to us? What then?

 

[gius]

^well i guess like i said, we have to make or get someone to make the clothes we want then but i remember, whitelinen, some time ago you posted in one of these threads that you don't even buy designer pieces...so that will leave you to these ordinary malls i suppose or thrift shops... and i don't see any possible hope in those places or maybe you just meant luxury labels which you don't buy.

but really, i'm so curious now, you want these 'new' clothes. if you had your wish, how would these new clothes look like ? what is different about them ? or do you know\

 

[Whitelinen]

I don't buy designer because I don't have the money to buy designer What I mean is that I probably wouldn't go crazy on Chanel (well, maybe one black 2.55), but there are a lot of other designers. Indie designers, non-mainstream designers are designers, no? I don't like malls or thrift shops either. I would be buying piles of Ann Demeulemeester, LIMI Feu, Yohji Yamamoto and Charles Anastase if I could afford them and if they were sold in my country.

I wish I could find someone to make my clothes... I have thought about the idea a lot more after this thread. Is there anyone who would want to be my couturiere?

As for what the new,innovative clothes should be, I don't know. I am not innovative, at least on clothes. But something new, something that does not recycle from past trends. It's hard for any designer to come up with something like that though, I think.

 

[gius]

Ah that makes sense...
Hmm the designers you mentioned, they definitely have their own styles--I don't know about saying they are all innovative though, especially Anastase. I guess their work is just more design and experimentation rather than reviving vintage styles and so on. They each have their own look.

Reviving vintage style I guess this is what you mean by recycling past trends? Sometimes though, they give it a more contemporary look or reference an established style (like an ethnic style) and simplify, make it more contemporary... is this part of recycling trends?

 

[Whitelinen]

No, I wasn't saying Anastase (or any of the other designers I mentioned) are innovative, it was just a thought of what I would want to buy in regards of buying designer

I think all that you mention is recycled style, but even all the "new ideas" every season (minimalism, futurism etc) are recycled. No one comes up with new ideas anymore, they just take too much influence from past decades instead of discovering something that is mostly new. It is possibly not possible to not be influenced by past at all, but right now all fashion is inspired solely by the past.

 

[gius]

i was thinking that too... it's also maybe impossible not to find references in fashion design to past styles. the only way though to be sure is to ask the designer personally if they meant for it to reference minimalism, etc
i like the designers you mentioned. it might be fun to be your couturier, --i remember asyoulikeit does designs for people, but i never see her here anymore (her style might be different though). and,i'm only starting to make clothes for myself now..though if your designs are quite simple.. oh! that would be interesting--i would have to make a portfolio first

 

[kitten_77]

i think new designers like Gareth Pugh and Christopher Kane in the UK are innovating. Although i agree with the person who posted on the first page to say that more should be done to support new innovative designers - I read an interview with Gareth Pugh recently and he was still pretty much living in a squat. But at least these people are putting a fresh face on fashion. WhiteLinen - would you not consider altering your clothes to make them more individual? I'm not big into sewing myself but i think if i were as disillusioned as you seem to be i would start messing with my clothes to personalise them and make them more to my taste. What is it you would like to see from designers? I mean at the end of the day fashion is constrained by a number of factors (unlike, say, an art installation which can take any shape or form) including the fact that it has to fit a person and -unless you're a model- it should flatter the wearer. Also, i guess theres a limit to how many necklines can be invented etc. So for me innovation comes now from textiles or shapes and mixing stuff up.

 

[Whitelinen]

I think I already answered in my post above. I don't know what should be the new thing - I would be a designer then - but I want something new, exciting, scary and fresh. Something that is mostly based on new ideas.

Why do we say there is nothing left to be discovered? Is that a fact? I think it is just the way we think, not a fact.

 

[kitten_77]

hmm the real problem, i think is that creativity is constrained by commercial success - what shops demand or what will sell. I guess its the same in any artistic form - i remember being in an art gallery before, it was owned by someone i knew... and they were telling an artist to produce small pictures for an upcoming show cause they sell better. Sad really - i thought to myself if i were an artist i would be disillusioned. Maybe commercialism will reach a critical mass and then people will stop looking at big brands and big names and go back to buying direct from small designers. I know in Australia there seems to be a realy strong independant fashion insustry. Thats a good model in my opinion but im not a fashion "insider" so i could be off the mark in my assumptions! But when i was living in london i remember going down to Brighton for a weekend and being blown away by the clothes being sold at stalls in a market there. For me this is one reason why i love London - there is a great market tradition and designers can start off selling like this.

 

[Whitelinen]

Yes, it is sad that you can't do anything today if it doesn't sell

 

[Lena]

i find fashion flat, for the last few seasons and the market is a mess too

it must be all about economy, but 'fashion' seems too safe and boring, if it wasnt for the young street fashion, subculture(s) and the very young generation of unknown local designers, i wouldnt be interested any more

excuses but mainstream luxe has never been more predictable

 

[taz]

maybe because there is no one who would excite the fashion scene anymore, someone with a powerful impact, a trend setter.
before it was Dior with his new look, then Yves came & after years JPG & Lacroix came into the fashion scene & in the 90's there was Galliano & now i think
Tom Ford is missing?? even if not everyone likes him, but he used to shock the fashion scene from time to time.

 

[kus]

i blame antwerp six.
should have stuck to original plan of four and a half.

 

[The_Ida]

I wish I could find someone to make my clothes... I have thought about the idea a lot more after this thread. Is there anyone who would want to be my couturiere?

As for what the new,innovative clothes should be, I don't know. I am not innovative, at least on clothes. But something new, something that does not recycle from past trends. It's hard for any designer to come up with something like that though, I think.

For weeks I have been thinking about what to do with 6 metres of silk that my mother got me. I browsed style.com and NAP over and over again. And then I realized that it just doesn't work. When I had a closer look I found that everything was the same done again and again. And then I was confused. I actually had to think about what I like instead of what some random editor likes or what some trend agency claims we'll be wearing next season. It's surprisingly hard to figure out what works for me. I need to keep away from magazines and high street stores and everything trendified for a long time. I don't want others to dictate what I should think of a certain garnment.

Honestly, I think the trendification (is that a word? ) of fashion is the problem. It's not hard for a designer to come up with something new, but everything needs to fit in to some kind of trend to get noticed at all.

 

[couturex]

I don't know, I think it's fun... we get to take styles from different decades, so there is so much you can do. And it's easy to change your look. Yesterday I wore this really chic outfit in all black, and today i'm wearing a Ralph Lauren polo and a mini skirt. So I think it can be fun