How Big Should Fashion Be?
Ive also noticed Bottega Veneta dressing more rappersMigos at this weekends BET Awards, for example, and they put Scott on the cover of their most recent zine. Fashions relationship with celebrity isnt by nature problematic: it seems mostly good that Jay Z wears and invests in Rhude, and Harry Styles wears Bode, and Travis Scott buys those out-there A-Cold-Wall warcore vests. In fact, the designers who are thriving right now are the ones who are thinking small and personal, and who are in the process of fundamentally rewriting the role of the fashion designer. Hedonism has always been in Jonathan Andersons Loewe DNAhes a cute guy who grew up partying in Ibiza, after allbut this was pleasure-seeking in its purest form. The power pink of his gauzy knits and little space boots practically yelled at you to put them on, especially as shot by David Sims, who casted a pugilistic mechanic peeking out of a circus tent and mulleted hunk in big shorts and tube socks and other awesomely strange faces who blurred the line between sideshow freaks and skatepark fixtures. Like JW, it was gnarly, but more daddy. Anderson, like other designers who also show womenswear, suggested hed probably return to the shows in September, though he said he already felt anxiety thinking about the backstage scrum. He is now not only a designer but an image director and a bookmaker and a worldbuilder, creating the clothing he wants to see in a David Sims photograph. This new multimedia has become a crucial and likely permanent way for brands to talk to their customersfashion designers are now creative directors, magazine editors, priests, style guides, and life coaches. Some designers believe the change is less about the clothes than their audience. Thom Browne got extra ambitious with his collection video this time around, making a 30 minute mini-epic about a long distance runner in the American West. The point was less actual clothinghes showing mens with his womens in a live show in New York this fallthan the mood of the brand, as he put it. Matthew Williams, who presented a positively gorgeous video for an unusually Californian 1017 Alyx 9SM collection, told me the biggest change hes seen this past year is in the appetite for video. Weve always made films for Alyx, he said, but the industry, buyers and customers are much more open to looking at fashion film as a way of presenting. Theyre really watching these videos. Ive noticed that when I go to, say, Dover Street, groups of twenty-somethings move from section to section like pilgrims on some kind of religious journey, checking in on the various collections and genuflecting. Theyre not even there to buy anythingthe knowledge, and now all these books, videos, and content, are just as much products as the clothes themselves. People are taking the time to embrace and watch and really look and feel, as Williams put it. Courtesy of Lemaire. Courtesy of Lemaire. Courtesy of Lemaire. So with all that in mind, seeing something that just grooves is a relief to the eye and mind. No crisis herewe know exactly what were doing. Both Lemaire and Herms are brands that always stick to their guns. This can be held against you if youre a novelty act, but if youre a designer like Christopher Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran, or Hermss Vronique Nichanian, consistency is a sign of integrity. When every brand is trying to reinvent itself, return to some other era, or get Cactus Jack to send you, there is an extremely satisfying serenity in clothing, like Lemaires, that is designed for the grounded sophisticate, and like that of Hermes, which makes objects for living well. Lemaire in particular lacked a certain crispness this season, but in a very good waythese were the simple cottons and khakis that a brand like Banana Republic is trying to take mass with just a few drops of fashion. Not too much. And Herms, one of the only brands in the world with a sense of humor, showed a bit of that with very cool big shorts and tie-dyed sweaters. It was blissfully hype-free.