why fashion designers don't wear the clothes they design

[eugenius]

but I have seen Hedi wearing his own stuff and Raf Simons dons his work too.

Wait, youve actually SEEN Raf Simons?

But yes, Hedi wears his own stuff..and Karl wears Hedi's stuff as well (which I cant blame the man; I mean, have you seen Karl's mens line?)

 

[calexico]

I think alot of designers designing for an established house don't always like what they are producing. Remember, Marc Jacobs got fired from Perry Ellis for designing what he thought was relevant. Backers/investors don't want whats relevant for alot of the older houses, they want what will sell. If it happens to fit into youth culture at the same time, well, that is just a bonus. I would take a job designing for St. John if they paid well enough, but I know that I couldn't wear what they would want me to design, that's for sure!

Just a theory...

i think i agree with this...
this was sort of what i was trying to get at i suppose...
that there is a divide between who you are and what you design...
that often, even under your own label, you are working under the forces of something much more powerful
as a result, the form of self-expression is not as pure as it should be...
tainted by money, marketing, etc...

 

[droogist]

i'm not so sure i think it could be because they're "bored" of what they designed...think of musicians. they practice a song and sing it over and over, but they still sing it at concerts, maybe even year after year.

though singing and designing are two different things...i wouldn't know what the reason could be because i'm neiter

Well, speaking as a musician who also makes clothes, I find the analogy a little inaccurate...when musicians perform in public, they do so largely for the benefit of the audience, not themselves. When those same musicians go home and throw on some music, chances are pretty slim that the record they choose will be one of their own. I sure as hell don't sit around listening to my own stuff over and over again for recreational purposes...ok, I do know people who do that, but they tend to be fairly insufferable as human beings.

I'd attribute the lack of desire to wear clothing you've designed to a similar impulse. I wouldn't call it "boredom" per se...it's just that when you make something, it's usually for someone else. It's the same with many creative fields. Most painters don't ring their walls with their own paintings. Most sculptors don't fill their houses with their own sculptures. That being said, there are practical reasons for a designer to wear his or her own clothing - promotion is one, and frugality is another (i.e. it's a good way to save on your wardrobe budget ). But I think designing what you like and designing with yourself in mind are two different things.

 

[Scott]

A few friends in Antwerp have told me of Raf,TrophyBrown. I assume he would anyway since a tremendous part of his aesthetic is his own self and the kind of culture that surrounded him growing up.

 

[faust]

Wait, youve actually SEEN Raf Simons?

There are pictures in the Raf Simons S/S 06 or F/W 05 thread, I believe.

The most obvious has been stated, many designers are men designing women's clothes, and aside from Galliano, whom I wouldn't be surprised seeing wearing what he designs for Dior himself, I don't see how that would work.
Although I'm sure some of our members wouldn't mind seeing, well, for example, Olivier Theysekens in a Rochas gown... Besides, may be those designers wear the clothes in the privacy of their own homes .

And yes, there are some designers who wear their own designs.

 

[travis_nw8]

it may sound flip- but most of the designers can't fit or suit the clothes they design. they design for there ideal- the person they want to be perhaps...

 

[Deleted member 7575]

it may sound flip- but most of the designers can't fit or suit the clothes they design. they design for there ideal- the person they want to be perhaps...

When asked what he was going to wear for the 2004 fall seson by ID magazine Helmut Lang replied "whatever samples I can fit in to"

I think designers more or less tend to wear their own clothes when appropriate. Hedi does wear Dior Homme but it is usually just basics like jeans and a jacket. Galliano on the other hand tends to wear his own clothes with a bit more zeal. I've seen Nicholas Ghesquire in a lacoste shirt, but perhaps he does wear Balenciaga Homme.

 

[seeing_double]

...I think it would be boring. Looking at the same clothes ALLLLL the time. If I was designing clothing I would need a break from it once in a while.

 

[masquerade]

oh...i like this topic...




my comment...
most designers couldn't afford to buy their own designs if they had to...

this reminds me of an article on marc jacobs i read a while ago. he mentioned that he had bought some of his shirts, and would more if they werent so expensive.

 

[haruki]

Could it be because the fashion world is so full of bitchy fashion queens and maybe the designers get sick of having to defend their choice of outfits? There is probably much less snickering and talking behind the back if the designer sticks to jeans and a t-shirt. Galiano and Slimane get talked about on TFS all the time for their fashiony outfits for instance. The fashion queens here even bad mouth Marc Jacobs for what he wears, and his outfits are pretty normal.

 

[ultramarine]

Hum .. we have this saying en español ... "casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo" .. roughly translated means "in the house of a blacksmith, a wooden knife" .. it means that generally there's an irony of what you do for a living when applied to you ... I'll stick with the folk's wisdom

 

[Diorling]

In reference to John Galliano I think he wears his own line for self-promotion purposes, just like Miuccia who is always in Prada. It makes good business sense, when the limelight is on you why wear the competition?

I wonder what Galliano wears in real life, I want to say tracksuit (made of silk and hand embroidered of course)...

 

[fashionista-ta]

this reminds me of an article on marc jacobs i read a while ago. he mentioned that he had bought some of his shirts, and would more if they werent so expensive.

Now that's funny He needs to remember that when writing his next contract. Personally I never buy designer (not even bridge or contemporary) for just a basic shirt, but I know things are a bit different for guys ...

 

[Guessgirl96]

The Marc Jacobs comment makes me wonder how much these designers get paid. I'd think with his main and contemporary lines, and LV, that he'd make more than enough to buy his own things. Dont the major designers make somewhere in the 7 digits?

Also I think it makes sence that designers would be able to get their own clothes free, or at least a big discount

 

[msminicooper]

The Marc Jacobs comment makes me wonder how much these designers get paid. I'd think with his main and contemporary lines, and LV, that he'd make more than enough to buy his own things. Dont the major designers make somewhere in the 7 digits?

Also I think it makes sence that designers would be able to get their own clothes free, or at least a big discount

I am sure Marc Jacobs was just joking when he made that comment!

 

[JATE]

I think that there is alot of truth in the fact that designers have to feel a since of seperation from their own designs. After all it is there work! Designers work so hard on their designs and they stress over producing that at the end of the day who would want to keep all of that on by wearing the actual clothes. I have always thought that designers are just that, not models! They design clothes for the fashion world and put their clothes in production on runways and galleries. Can you imagine some of the designers taking extra time to make clothing in their own personal sizes anyway? Aside from all of that some designers are just too "da bomb" to even wear their own line and wear it with as much haute as the models do on the runway in their clothes....that is why Ralph Lauren can come out at the end of the show of Fashion Week New York in bland stone wash jeans, a vintage blue and white stripe tee and a dark wash denim button front shirt tucked into his pants topped off with a cowshind belt. He can do that...the man has an empire!

 

[JATE]

Hey you....sorry I am picking on you real quick..but how do I get my picture to pop up on all of my posts...its on my profile but not my posts.

 

[tuomas]

Some big designers also dictate what their assistant designers and interns are allowed to wear. Hedi Slimane is notoriously strict on that. If you work at Dior Homme HQ, you're only allowed to wear the most neutral DH stuff in black, gray, navy and a few different shades of denim...quite a bootcamp

 

[manolocraver]

Fashion desgners don't wear their own clothes 'cause they don't want to be associated to their trademark style. In other cases, maybe the material used are cheap and they are too embarrased to wear them. Just look at JLo, she never wear her own clothes, although she had her own line.

http://malaysia-shopper-craze.blogspot.com/

 

[*sayan]

fashion designers work all day everyday. no time to wear clothes for parading, and when they do have a moment of public appearence; most of them dress up. but theyr everyday life is just wayy too busy to feel like wearing a fancy outfit.