SiennaInLondon
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iluvjeisa said:Oh, I still think that Gemma can be "the face of globalization" in the 00s, without coming from a hip city. I'm not saying that she will ever be as iconic as Kate - Kate is the best fashion icon since Twiggy...
Ahh Twiggy see. That is my point. Twiggy was loved by the fashion world adn she represented a movement beyond that -the whole Mod vs. Rockers culture as well as the aesthetic of 60s Britain. Tie that in with a certain four lads from Liverpool, and her immortality was assured. I definately think London is a better breeding ground for an icon than Perth because the other political/musical/fashion/whatever trends are more likely to go global from there and develop into a particular movement like Britpop/New Labour was.
Mutterlein said:I feel as though you guys are giving Kate more credit than she deserves. She was a model not a political activist or life saving doctor. I agree that Gemma is the new Kate but not in the ways everyone is arguing. I don't think Gemme represents a new rock and roll attitude or whatever laurels you guys are giving to Kate. To me she is the face of the new generation, new designers, new sensibilities, new ideas. She is THE model for that. I look at Kate and as great as she is she's not representive of the progressive aspects of fashion...that was 10 years ago for her. Look at her in the Dior and Chanel ads...they reek of the 90's.
Ok so Kate is no longer relevant, she doesn't need to be. Her place in history is assured. However Gemma isn't relevant enough either. A model can never be. Your right she wasn't an activist or a doctor. Kate was great but not due to her own manoevering or management or intelligence. It was luck admittedly. Her British/imperfect/pure face happened to be the right look for the time. Liam Gallagher and Tony Blair and Supergrass and The Prodigy and all the British flag wavers at the time did the rest for her. Not to mention that the flags being waved were for a country that had had a similar movement in the 60s with the Beatles and other British bands. Many people across the world fell in with britpop because it felt nostalgic, it felt like Beatlemania all over again. Then there is the obsession many Americans have with England, then there was colonialism which made a whole bunch of other countries join in the party.... I could go on forever. It was a convergence
Gemma is a beautiful girl. I love looking at her face and seeing her skinny 5ft10" frame making the clothes look perfect. However, no matter how beautiful she is, if another convergance doesn't happen, she can't be an icon. Yes she is the face of new designers and new ideas but that limits her to the fashion world. An iconic model must straddle the fashion world AND the real world like Kate Moss does. Gemma is only about fashion, Adriana Lima is only about the real world. Neither is Kate Moss.
Mutterlein said:When I was looking at a spread Gemma did with Nick Knight for the october issue of I-D it really made me fall in love with her. She looked so contemporary and so right. As a young person getting into the the fashion world I can associate more with her than with Kate.
I think you are letting your own nostalgia get in the way of the argument. Of course you will have a special love for Gemma if she was the face when you first realised that high fashion was for you. I am the same. I have a special love for Chrystelle Augustin and Sunniva Stordhal and Esther Canadas because the were the faces when I first fell into fashion in the late 90s when I was about 13. I fell out of it since then before falling back into it permanently which makes that time seem even more magical. However much as they meant a lot to me, Chrystelle and co weren't icons. Most people don't know who they are now.

Thanks a lot! *Karma*
Such travesty! The alien has invaded!

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