softgrey
flaunt the imperfection
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What are the differences between the locales?
Fashion weeks are filled with glamour and celebrities, but they are, essentially, trade shows, opportunities for manufacturers to present their wares to buyers. Each country that is a serious producer of fashion has its own fashion week. Today, in addition to New York, London, Milan, and Paris, fashion weeks are held in Tokyo, São Paulo, and Moscow.
For a long time, the four major fashion capitals had identifiable styles. Milan was known for streamlined clothes and industrial might. (Giorgio Armani is an example of the first; the now-defunct Genny Group, which produced Genny and Byblos, in addition to other labels, is an example of the latter.) Paris "owned" extravagant femininity (the applied decoration of Christian Lacroix or Valentino) and the experimental (Yohji Yamamoto, Commes des Garcons). London meant social commentary on the one hand (Vivienne Westwood's punk) and ladylike fashion on the other (Jean Muir). And New York was known for sportswear (the interchangeable separates of Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan).
In the early '90s, though, designers began to be plucked from their home countries to design big-name collections abroad. (Oscar de la Renta, a New York designer, once also designed for Balmain, in Paris. Gianfranco Ferre, from Milan, once designed for the French Christian Dior. Marc Jacobs, whose own business is based in New York, now also designs Louis Vuitton, in Paris.) Today, when Brit Jonathan Saunders shows in New York and American Rick Owens shows in Paris, national distinctions are all but irrelevant, though I'd argue that, at their best, the collections do reflect those core aesthetics.
by Josh Patner
slate.com
Fashion weeks are filled with glamour and celebrities, but they are, essentially, trade shows, opportunities for manufacturers to present their wares to buyers. Each country that is a serious producer of fashion has its own fashion week. Today, in addition to New York, London, Milan, and Paris, fashion weeks are held in Tokyo, São Paulo, and Moscow.
For a long time, the four major fashion capitals had identifiable styles. Milan was known for streamlined clothes and industrial might. (Giorgio Armani is an example of the first; the now-defunct Genny Group, which produced Genny and Byblos, in addition to other labels, is an example of the latter.) Paris "owned" extravagant femininity (the applied decoration of Christian Lacroix or Valentino) and the experimental (Yohji Yamamoto, Commes des Garcons). London meant social commentary on the one hand (Vivienne Westwood's punk) and ladylike fashion on the other (Jean Muir). And New York was known for sportswear (the interchangeable separates of Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan).
In the early '90s, though, designers began to be plucked from their home countries to design big-name collections abroad. (Oscar de la Renta, a New York designer, once also designed for Balmain, in Paris. Gianfranco Ferre, from Milan, once designed for the French Christian Dior. Marc Jacobs, whose own business is based in New York, now also designs Louis Vuitton, in Paris.) Today, when Brit Jonathan Saunders shows in New York and American Rick Owens shows in Paris, national distinctions are all but irrelevant, though I'd argue that, at their best, the collections do reflect those core aesthetics.
by Josh Patner
slate.com
Last edited by a moderator:
)....but when you mention that, I immediately thought of Rodarte, who clearly stand out amongst the sportswear of New York and it has served them very well and in many ways worked to their advantage. Would most people have noticed them had the started showing amongst the hustle and bustle of Paris's Balenciaga, YSL, Dior, Chanel, Lanvin, Galliano, McQueen, Givenchy, JPG, etc. (not that they would have been overlooked because of talent, but they probably would have been so buried under all the established designers they would have been hard to catch)?
