If you haven’t read today’s Guardian interview with Stella McCartney, you’re missing out.
Anyone who even thinks they might want to work in fashion really, really needs to read the article. Especially those who think they might want to hang on to their sense of ethics.
So, you read my first entry in this post series, and you want to know more? Good. A well-informed designer is much better prepared for the realities of the fashion world.
If you’ve already started studying design or seeking on-the-job training (or have already done both), congratulations – you are off to a good start.
Now, here’s a bit of advice you may or may not have already received (but stay with me): Study the greats. Study not only what they are doing now and what they have done in the past, but take the time to note what they are NOT doing.
Sound counterintuitive? Maybe it is. But you will thank me later.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing some variation of what some other designer has already done. But, you must remember that it is a TRAP, and is best avoided to ensure your survival.
Remember the designer-denim glut a few years ago? Everyone wanted to be the next Seven or Rock & Republic, but consumers only need so many pairs of jeans, and few people have huge closets full of $300-per-pair denim (they do exist, but believe me, there are not THAT many of them!). The same principle applies here.
Many designers have gone into the field because they couldn’t find what they wanted anywhere and thus had to create their own apparel, then decided to make it available to other people. If this describes you, by all means do what you want, but find some way to set yourself apart, and diversify your label a little if you can.
For example, Stella McCartney. (Technically, Stella’s vegetarian, not vegan, but stay with me.) What does she do? Well-cut women’s trousers, drapey dresses and tops, and impeccable Italian-made heels so high some of them even frighten ME. And she does them all very well (there’s a reason Gucci finances her label, you know – they don’t do that for just anyone).
What does she NOT do? Menswear, clothing sized over a US women’s 8/10 (hello, Stella? The average American woman is a size 14 and the average British woman isn’t much smaller; don’t you want to make more money?), beautiful-but-reasonably-sensible shoes, and dresses/tops that actually look good on someone with cleavage. Some smart and talented vegan designer really should jump in and fill the gaps she’s leaving; they could make a lot of money if they do it right.
Think I’m just making this up? Keep reading.
Way back in the early 20th century, the fussy couture houses of Worth and Poiret ruled Paris fashion with beautiful designs and iron fists. At first, Paul Poiret sniffily dismissed young upstart Coco Chanel – what was she thinking, making shapeless short dresses, and from jersey (a fabric then only used for men’s underwear) of all things?
She was paying attention to the modern woman. Poiret was not. Chanel’s sleek designs allowed women to abandon uncomfortable corsets and move easily, which became of far greater importance than Poiret’s over-the-top opulence when Europe found itself at war. (World War One meant more women had to work to support their families, and many volunteered for the war effort. Because corsets could hamper mobility and were often boned with much-needed steel, most women happily gave them up in favor of less restricting modern undergarments).
Today, the house of Chanel is still around, and Coco’s influence is still everywhere. Poiret’s house closed in 1929 (the leftover clothes were sold by the kilo as rags!), and he was long forgotten by the time of his death.
Interestingly, Chanel’s understated simplicity in turn opened the door for her archrival, Elsa Schiaparelli, known for such whimsical creations as Surrealist embroidery, lobsters printed on evening gowns, and hats shaped like shoes.
Look at what they’re NOT doing…and step in to fill a gap.
Stumped? Okay, fine, I’ll even give you a couple of ideas.
There are only a few companies making organic suits, let alone well-cut ones made entirely without animal products. (You may have to apprentice to a tailor for a few years if you would like to break into suits, but please just grit your teeth and do it. You can’t buy that kind of experience, and you MUST understand how clothes hang on real human bodies if you want to make a good suit.) And a lot of vegan men greatly resent having to wear (eew! ick! heat-retaining!) polyester.
While there are now several designers making eco-friendly wedding and formal gowns, they often tend toward silk or silk blends, and it’s not that unusual for them to look like beaded nightgowns. Why not look into making formal or bridal wear from other Earth-friendly materials like ingeo (a beautiful corn fiber that resembles silk)? Come up with something beautiful, and I’ll order one myself.
One of the first things Betsey Johnson learned as a young designer was that she could make whatever she wanted, as long as it sold. Be who you are and make what you want, but PLEASE keep in mind that if you are doing the exact same thing someone else is already doing very well, store buyers and consumers are likely to completely ignore you.
If, however, you are doing what you want, AND doing something else no one else is doing well, you’re much more likely to pique their curiosity.
Now get out there and start brainstorming!
I’ve long preferred W Magazine over rival Vogue, and not just for “Countess Esterhazy’s” tongue-in-cheek ‘Last Laugh’ column. (Give it up, John Fairchild, everyone knows it’s you.)
Pick up just about any issue of American Vogue from the past two decades and you’ll see animal-skin overload – editor Anna Wintour has some kind of sick obsession with fur, leather, and various exotic skins. (Good thing I have a strong stomach, since I read every fashion magazine that Huntington Central Library receives.) Sure, you’ll see fur, leather, etc. in the pages of W, but thankfully not to the same extent as Vogue.
This month, W has an exclusive online-only slideshow of what they deem “The Best Vegan-Friendly Accessories.” Yay! Sure, I’d love it if they actually ran it in the print version, but hey – baby steps. There was a time when no one was making nice veg-friendly apparel, and now there are a slew of manufacturers doing just that.
It’s not a terribly long list – eleven accessories, one set of all-synthetic makeup brushes, and the upcoming Babycakes cookbook – but it’s a very nice start. W featured items from some of the greats – Matt & Nat, NeuAura, MINK, Olsen Haus, and (of course) the great Stella McCartney – who are long overdue for greater recognition.
My only gripe? The inclusion of accessories from Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs. Both designers are longtime fur users. Surely I’m not alone in believing it’s incredibly hypocritical for ethical vegetarians and vegans to support designers who are heartless enough to use real fur?
Granted, the writer of the piece probably isn’t even vegetarian and probably didn’t put quite as much thought into it as an ethical veg*n would have, but come ON.
Believe it or not, a very close friend of mine (who is also vegan) lives for Dior and Marc Jacobs – and sees nothing wrong with buying whatever accidentally-vegan goods they produce.
“You do know they still use real fur in some of their clothes, right?” I once asked, my left eyebrow slightly raised.
“But a lot of their clothes are totally animal-free!” she chirped in the giddy, bubbly way that only she can pull off.
On this topic, we have to agree to disagree. She may be okay with it, but how many of us are? I’d wager it’s not the majority.
In any case, my thanks to W for giving some great stylish veg-friendly brands some well-deserved attention.
“I assume you watch Project Runway?” an older lady asked me in the cereal aisle of Trader Joe’s. She’d been admiring my leopard-print coat.
“Actually, no,” I replied. “I don’t have cable.” And, truthfully, even if I could afford cable I would still have no desire to re-live the stress of fashion design school all over again. It’s nowhere near as easy as it looks on TV.
I have never seen a single second of Project Runway, but that doesn’t mean the show is completely off my radar. I’m a big Ugly Betty fan, so of course I’ve seen Christian Siriano’s famous guest spot with Nina Garcia along for the ride, and Tim Gunn’s two cameos as a Fashion TV reporter. This article in the LA Times’ style section caught my eye (and, evidently, that of everyone else who finally realized the insanity of the It Bag phenomenon), and more recently my brother gave me Tim’s book, “A Guide to Quality, Taste, and Style” for my birthday. (The book, for the record, is excellent. I’m still not certain why my brother felt I need it, but I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t know where to begin with their wardrobe.)
Now, Tim Gunn has made an exclusive video with PETA to encourage fur-loving fashion designers to see the light and have some mercy. This comes just a few months after Stella McCartney not only did a fur exposé for PETA but sent copies of the video to designers who still use fur. The fashion world is an insular world – it makes perfect sense for the anti-fur movement within that world to become increasingly vocal.
On a personal note, even fashion majors have to take a public-speaking course (at least in California colleges). For my persuasive-speech assignment, I argued against the use of fur in fashion. I got an A, and a stack of enthusiastic reviews from my classmates. (The only one who didn’t agree with me was exactly the sort of person with no qualms about seeing dead animals as fashion accessories – ill-mannered, stuck-up, spoiled. Ironically, she couldn’t really afford fur and made do with an angora hat, even in the summer. Fortunately for the bunnies, financial issues forced her withdrawal from school.)
Between the vast improvements in textile technology over the years and the wide variety of faux furs on the market (I personally prefer fakes that don’t look scarily real), there is no excuse for cruel fashion. Cheers to Tim for helping shed some light on the subject. No word yet on what Nina Garcia (whose book “The One Hundred: A Guide to the Stylish Pieces Every Woman Must Own” lists exotic-skin bags and fur among the ‘must-haves’) has to say about this.
