food for thought.

No matter how hard others may try to convince me, I believe that good design is art, whether it is manifested in a painting, the choreography of a ballet, the architecture of a building, the orchestration of music, or a collection of clothes by a fashion designer. The added bonus of clothes, however, is that you get to wear them! With the exception of the Van Gogh shoes, when do we ever get to carry art with us throughout the day, imbibing it with bits and pieces of our life and absorbing its intoxicatingly beautiful spirit in return? This is the reason fashion is so interesting and important to me. I love good design, and my favorite way to express this love is through my style of dress. Unfortunately, this can lead to those who are unfamiliar with me to cast aspersions on my intelligence, priorities, and dreams for the future. But I suppose that is the price one has to pay in our highly cynical and judgmental society. I just try to do the best with what I've been given, and be the best self I can possibly be.

My interest in the fashion community does often prompt people to ask me who my favorite designer is. Whenever I am asked this question, I invariably name Alber Elbaz. There are so many talented people out there, it is hard for me to choose just one. But I truly, truly love Alber. I love that he doesn't take fashion super seriously - while I love to look at the impeccably-groomed glamazons that stalk moodily around Paris in their 6-inch heels, smoking and waiting to be photographed by Scott Schuman, I could never dream of becoming one of them - and I love his beautiful aesthetic sense. I love his ability to design serious clothes that retain a secret playfulness. And I love Alber! I mean, look at him:

I would dress like that if I could...bow ties are the best! I also think it's hilarious that he grew so tired of people pronouncing his name as "Albert" that he legally removed the "t" from the end.
And it's hard not to adore a man that has the ability to create things like this:





He truly embodies what I find most attractive about fashion: the power to create who you want to be, have fun, express yourself, and never look back. I believe these are values that are universally agreed upon as positive entities to uphold. Why is it, then, that when they are applied to fashion, they come under attack? Materialism and shallow meretriciousness are inapplicable to people who are truly stylish; as long as they look and feel fabulous, the enlightened and self-actualized (and therefore, most worthy of admiration) do not care whether their clothes came from Karl Lagerfeld's atelier or the $2 bin at their favorite thrift store. And in regard to the high prices of the haute fashion industry: yes, designer clothes are expensive. Yes, the people who create them are (in most cases) highly paid. But no body blinked an eye when artist Damien Hirst put a dead calf in a tank of formaldehyde and sold it for over 15 million dollars as "sculpture". There is a double standard, and fashion always comes out with the short end of the stick. What I'm trying so hard to articulate is this: fashion design is art, art deserves respect, and people should think twice before dismissing the stylish as shallow bimbos with little to contribute to society. Just think about it. And thank you for listening!