Fashion talk from Horyn's Blog

4.October 27th,200810:09 pm

As I said in my blog, nowadays the success of a runway show can be measured by the number of critics posted on the net. This is a new generation of public, critics and consumers, the mass media have changed the whole industry, and even though the influence by the great pillars –Wintour, Menkes, Sozzani- is still going strong, the true discussion force in fashion is being played in the fashionblogs –‘On the runway by Cathy Horyn’, ‘the sartorialist’, ‘International Herald Tribune fashion blogs’ etc.- Thanks to style.com, WWD and the photographer’s diaries, everyone gets to play. And yes, I think it’s really important and healthy that common people like me gets included in the whole discussion.So having said that, I think it’s pretty obvious that Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein was right on the money. Everyone thought it was beautiful, even if it wasn’t groundbreaking enough for some people. But the true star of the whole season is by far the Marc Jacobs show. I remember have seeing a comment about it on every music, design or party blog.Some bloggers made political comments after seeing the show; others were talking about 1968 and Yves Saint Laurent. The clothes and accessories were beautiful and I think that this show deserves to be number one on every list. Especially for the way it was presented and the relationship with today’s US situation. Some where even calling it ‘the first show of the century’ for me the s.2007 Prada show is the one who deserved the title.
http://octopus-in-the-waist.blogspot.com/
— Posted by octopus

9.October 28th,200810:36 am
...Octopus, I agree that good collections bring numerous interpretations. But that’s not always the best sign. Sometimes it can be just hype. Anyway, my test, even my own personal test would be: what after a certain period of time, say two three months, even sooner, immediately comes into your mind, and stays there. Be it good or bad.
Best,
— Posted by Marko

17.October 28th,20089:35 pm
Love the Marko and Octopus comments they make it sound so academic…
I guess O. loves YSL a lot, because the two shows he’s calling the first of the century are basically honoring his work
For me as far as it goes this year’s top shows include: Jill Sander, Marc Jacobs, Rodarte and Chanel
And I got to give a big shout out to all the Spanish talking readers of this blog –Rebels, Octopus, me, etc. lol!
I guess we are in lack of a fine discussion blog in our language… and fashion magazines too, so sad to read Vogue Mexico recycling American and UK articles… it’s great we all can read in one or two other languages but of course it is way more difficult for us to make a point while posting
Kisses
— Posted by Sarah

19.October 29th,20087:53 am
Sarah, what happens with the Vogue franchise is really strange and the sort of hierarchy/social ranking we have in everyday life.We have the Queenbee in America, the luxurious courtesans (some are more obedient, some are more rebellious, I admit)in France, Italy, UK, Russia and then the “working class”, a.k.a., Brazil, Mexico, India, etc.Judegabbard is right about Vogue Russia but Alyona D. has autonomy due to the powerforce of selling 200,000 copies per month. If she isn´t interested in creating full identity to her mag then it´s up to her tho I suspect she has higher flights in mind, at least for her own career.I don´t know if this is about imposition or laziness (from the part of editors/owners) but what I DO know is that those magazines say nothing to me, with the exception of Vogue France, and I just don´t read them.
Saludos!
— Posted by Augustuzs Neto

For the whole disscution:
http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/

Fashion, as Roland Barthes said, is one massive phenomenon, collective imitation of a regular innovation. In other words: everyone’s business, the opposite to us, as pseudo fashion critics, art thinkers, film aficionados, and probably melomaniacs. We are in a way the new dandies at least in the way we express here our thoughts. There for we are rebels, it is not fashion what we see, but something more in the clothes. That’s why it is so great to discuss the top 5 or 10 collections.
In fact we are having other type of discussions here, about history, art, shape, innovation, etc.

But as Marko said, it is in a way –as rebels- our obligation to go beyond reflection. As I pointed out in my blog, and older post, it is quite remarkable to see such an historic collection as Marc Jacob’s in this particular economic and political moment in the whole world. If the democrats wins, Barack will be in line with other politicians as Spain’s Zapatero and Brazil’s Lula da Silva, and her wife will be actually in style-line with France’s Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner . This year was the 40th anniversary of the 68 and the death of Yves, and in the way Jacobs portrayed this whole American/Parisian story, in the collections to come we will see a reflection of the times.

But staying in this type of analysis is to do a Wintourish scrutiny –nothing wrong with that- but I believe that the best way to understand and critic fashion shows is thru history. Menkes-ish probably, but I think we are moving that way… Lagerfeld-Vermont-Hitchcock-horror film-Rodarte fall 2008- and once again back to Karl.