Moschino Reminds Us What Fashion Is (And Is Not), In Leadup to Milan Fashion Week Spring 2016
Remember when fashion wasn’t all about corporate sponsorship and celebrity cameos? We don’t. But if we did, it would probably look something like this Moschino video.*
(*Note: Innocent, isolated us. We didn’t realize when posting this that the girl in the video is Katy Perry, someone we know almost nothing about. Which may render our key thesis — that fashion should be fun, and fashion, above being yet another medium for pandering to the celebrity-obsessed for a dollar — meaningless. Except we still believe this video could have been done with a non-famous model model, and been just as wonderful. But it also does show that celebrity and fashion are not mutually exclusive. And that’s a good thing, too. See our story with Kendall Jenner further down the homepage, who has become a good model. Now our regularly scheduled story continues ….)
Okay, maybe we aren’t venerable enough to have been part of the fashion scene of the swinging ’60s, pattern-tastic ’70s, blaring ’80s or the supermodel heyday of the 1990s (where larger-than-life icons like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, Iman, Helena Christensen, Tyra Banks, Tatjana Patitz and Eva Herzigova — among others — were, somehow, everyday).
But we have seen plenty of old issues of Vogue, which can really rock your world. Vogue Italia, in particular, has published issues that have either beautifully blurred the line between fashion and art (in a way that reminds us that fashion is, at its core, art), or created content that needs some creating.
Vogue Italia has published issues that have either beautifully blurred the line between fashion and art, or created content that needs some creating.
If you don’t know what we’re talking about, we’d love to introduce you to the disturbing wonder of Steven Meisel’s 2005 shoot, “Makeover Madness.” It gets weirder than these pictures, so hold onto your hat. You can see the full picture set here.
Makeover Madness
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Another “must see” issue of Vogue Italia is the “Black Issue” — another incredible series of images from Steven Meisel. Vogue Italia has always been a staunch champion of the rather obvious idea that “black is beautiful.” There’s even a black section of their website to this day. The real pity is that the fashion industry needs reminding that black models exist at all.
The real pity is that the fashion industry needs reminding that black models exist at all.
The Black Issue
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But back to the point at hand. There’s entirely too much “playing it safe” happening in fashion. These days, if you want real color and fun, you still have to go to Europe, where money isn’t quite king.
These days, if you want real color and fun, you still have to go to Europe, where money isn’t quite king.
Fashion is art. Fashion is fun. It can be silly, serious, glorious and profane. If it’s not smashing boundaries, it’s only doing half its job.
If fashion isn’t smashing boundaries, it’s only doing half its job.
Let’s never forget that.
With love,
FWO
