^ Yes with Brioni. There’s a reason why Giorgio Armani didn’t want Pilati to succeed him as the brand's designer, even though Pilati is one of his favorite younger designers. Pilati has lost the sparks and spoiled himself for such a long time.
And I think the street edge Lola is talking about doesn't come from any particular designer's background. Rei Kawakubo comes from a very prestigious family and she graduated with a degree in literature. Armani had an extremely difficult childhood and he had to work as a window dresser before changing fashion with the kind of classy that came out of nowhere. I think Hedi can dress street because he's obsessed with garage rock, youth, rebellion etc but you know what, it's still about the polished, orchestrated energies of bored Parisien rich kids. Hedi may use the sand and desert vibes of California to make his works look less aristocratic, but imo, his aesthetic is still very European, which is different from the rustic sensibilities of a Los Angeles designer like Rick Owens.
What I mean is, Stefano Pilati could have designed techwear/semi-outdoor clothes and collaborating with Salomon or Kith to get a more authentic street vibes, but he simply didn't want to abandon that inherent bourgeois style that people usually associate him with. Just because you don't see something from them doesn't mean they can't do it.
I don’t think it has to do with a background but it’s has to do with total alignment.
Stefano is what he designs. Whether he aspired to be that or was that from the start don’t matter.
Tbh when I heard about him moving to Berlin, I though it was a joke. Maybe he needed adventure, maybe it was a midlife crisis…Maybe he wanted to re-invent himself.
Come on after every fashion week, he was going to party at Le Baron.
You don’t need to move to Berlin, when you live in Paris, to discover or be close to subcultures. He could have moved to the 18th/19th arrondissement for that.
All and all, no matter how he tries, he is still the very bourgeois man he was. It’s in his design sensibility, it’s in his taste, it’s not something that he has to force himself to be.
Armani, Prada, YSL, Zegna…His career choices were intentional and just be listing those names, you have a clear understanding of his POV.
The street edge is from what I realized, the element of distinction that allows a designer to have a strong voice in the very closeted box that shaped their influences. Mugler and Alaia were somehow quite similar in the beginning. One had a street edge, the other was pure fantasy. One had a cult following and became a designer’s designer and the other while influential mostly resonates when there’s a nostalgia or a resurgence of his aesthetic.
But that doesn’t mean that Stefano wasn’t at one point good or influential. I strongly believe that Phoebe looked at Stefano’s work for Celine in the early days. It was just too close to the subject to miss it. Stefano was doing La bourgeoise in a fresh way and when you are trying to reinvent the bourgeoise wardrobe, it’s a nice base to start with.
A lot of great touching points from you there, as per usual!
I've recently spent quite a bit of time in libraries to look at a few monography / fashion exhibition catalogues for research purposes - It strikes me that the category of 'auteur fashion designers' that used to form a large part of the fashion industry, is fading - And with that, the way we look at fashion.
I was really shaped by the designers who shaped the 1990ies, with their very specific universes and paces to pursue their artistry - From the Japanese to the 1st and 2nd wave of Belgians, as well as those that would go through the tutelage of the late Louise Wilson, CSM's MA course professor. With so few designers today choosing the path of independence, fashion brands with ever shorter creative vacancies leave little space for designers to write cohesive chapters in their careers.
What you mentioned about Pilati is very much true - Besides his many tattoos, his choice of Berlin associates and all that, he always remained the bourgie designer with an air of posh snobbery. I had the chance to meet him a few times in Berlin - His artistic disconnect was something that also reflected in his persona.
Perhaps if he committed to an Italian heritage maison, he could have a revival of some sort. I don't see him returning to the big womenswear stage, but who knows - He could be great at Ferragamo, Brioni, Trussardi, etc.
Thank you my dear.
I think the business of fashion has killed the possibility for designers to envision a career path as auteurs.
You end up being caught up about questions of profitability, fashion conversation instead of building a body of work.
The reason him holding on so much on Nicolas Ghesquiere is because I see an auteur trying to exist, to stand out, to make his voice heard and maybe intentionally ruffling feathers at the biggest brand in luxury.
Balenciaga became profitable 8 years after he took over. Margiela thrived out of uncertainty for the entirety of Martin’s tenure. We talk about Yohji who only had a resurgence in the last decade after a weird period of uncertainty with a new generation (while being a trendsetter 20 years ago with Y-3)…etc.
There are always exceptions like Rick Owens but even then, you have a decade of hardships in the shadows and then when you have the spotlights, you are facing the pressure of building a business, maintaining a creative freedom and integrity and have a coherent evolution.
I like a lot of designers today but I think auteurs were a construction of the 80’s/90’s. Most of the designers who grew up dreaming of Tom Ford, John Galliano and all those glamorous success stories don’t have the drive and the success cannot produce them anymore.
The path to independence today seems so difficult in the current environment. Phoebe Philo needs to have the backing of LVMH, Tom Ford was lucky to have acquired Art to sell to fund his womenswear, some people like Sacai had the chance to have the CDG infrastructure to help, Alaia was lucky to have Prada come at some point help.
Why would Olivier T endure all the hardships of being an independent designer in this system after such a long career when probably doing special orders and costumes for entertainers probably can fulfill his creativity and his livelihood?
I feel like there are new roads to independence but I don’t think that being an auteur in fashion, being able to experiment, to push yourself creatively as an independent force can be done today again.
About Stefano, I will give it to him…Maybe he didn’t know any better. You have worked for some big influential people, at some esteemed brands and then how can you see Bally or Trussardi as viable perspective even more 10 years ago.
There was maybe an ego and also maybe from the owners of those brands the idea that some of those designers might hard to get.
It can make things harder when maybe the brands we think we should get don’t contact us.
And Kering diffused the kind of « difficult » word around too so it didn’t help.
Today we see things with a lot more philosophy and brands are willing to spend an extra cash for those talents but can you imagine Stefano Pilati from Zegna and YSL taking over Trussardi after Milan Vukmirovic? Ahahaha
I’m sure his ego alone said STOP! Ahaha
