What do Friedrich Nietszche and Joan Rivers have in common? Not much, but their provocative criticisms carry influential weight in philosophy and fashion respectively. When Nietszche wrote "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him", he was referring to the abandonment of religion as a source of morality. So, what does the high priestess of fashion commentary, Joan Rivers, have to do with this conversation about God? Like God, (at least the Old Testament God), Joan Rivers put a critical eye on all of our physical accoutrements and laughed at us. She did this, of course, with a wink, nod and arched eyebrow of self-knowledge as she herself was adorned in gold, diamonds and other precious finery. So while I'm not going to dig too deep into what's going on inside us as Nietzsche might, I am going to talk a little bit about what we do with our exterior.
I don't completely embrace Joan Rivers sarcastic, and often offensive, view of the world, but I will say this: when Joan Rivers died, the brash, critical yet playful review of fashion went with her. I don't very well see Refinery29 or Vogue writing "it looked as if she had a terrible yeast infection and she was trying to air it out" about Angelina Jolie's leggy 2013 Oscars dress. While a lot of Rivers' commentary can be correctly deemed derogatory, it was boundary-pushing and over-the-top, thus allowing her to successfully drop seriousness at the door. I hope to embody Rivers' cheeky style as I review collections and collaborations that stood out to me this season.
I don't completely embrace Joan Rivers sarcastic, and often offensive, view of the world, but I will say this: when Joan Rivers died, the brash, critical yet playful review of fashion went with her. I don't very well see Refinery29 or Vogue writing "it looked as if she had a terrible yeast infection and she was trying to air it out" about Angelina Jolie's leggy 2013 Oscars dress. While a lot of Rivers' commentary can be correctly deemed derogatory, it was boundary-pushing and over-the-top, thus allowing her to successfully drop seriousness at the door. I hope to embody Rivers' cheeky style as I review collections and collaborations that stood out to me this season.
Vetements
I have a few questions for Vetements. You know your "Ready-to-Wear Spring 2017" collection? Yeah that one. What, pray-tell, makes you think that anyone is ready to wear this?
Okay, Vetements, I get it. I think. Casual-couture, abstract shapes, embracing the athleisure craze. Maybe you're even poking fun at said craze or rejecting the ready-to-wear-ness of typical Ready-to-Wear collections, I don't know. But I do know your collection is serving up major "I slept over at my friend's house in last night's clothes and am borrowing his/her sweats to walk home" vibes, and I hope that's on purpose-- but then again, I don't see my friends lending me any $1000 hoodies.
You do this a lot, Vetements; sell ridiculous garments to the richest of trend-mongers, who will proceed to rid their closets of the item once your new line comes out. You, my friends, are trend pushers. And I've got to hand it to you, it's working. I'll admit: I was tickled by your collaborating with Juicy Couture for the line. I reflected fondly (albeit horrified) on the countless Juicy jackets from my youth. Good move, capitalizing on millennial nostalgia and the formerly mentioned athleisure craze. It's true, that Juicy velour jumpsuit is right up my alley, and in an alternate universe where I have disposable income and the planet has boundless resources, I would buy it. And maybe a pair of your 90's-goth-core baggy pants, too.
But in this specific region of the space-time continuum, I'm only into this line in the way that I'm into Kylie Jenner--a self-loathing kind of "into it". In a similar vein to my wearing Juicy Couture jackets from 8th grade and calling it ironic or Retro JAP. See, Vetements, Juicy was MY thing. And you took that from me and put it on Kylie Jenner. And for that, I will never forgive you.
Louis Vuitton x Supreme Collab
I had a feeling Louis Vuitton was going commercial when they had that Snapchat filter during the holidays, but I never expected anything like this. Louis has made its full transformation into meme-ified hypebeast. This collection is tacky. Plain and simple, or in this case, irritating and tasteless. NYMag dubbed it "This season's most brilliant troll". I guess Louis Vuitton figured out the once-classic LV prints and checkered totes worn by sorority girls and rich MILFs alike have turned into a participation trophy for the wealthy (I have all this money, but I'm still basic) and wanted to up its cool factor. But they ended up trading one trophy for another. The red Supreme logo bags from the new collection are pure Instagram candy, along with the rest of the line. They might as well print "For every dollar you spend on Supreme x LV merch you receive 10 new followers and 100 likes" on the tag. One might notice a clear trend here: high end brands marrying their style with more casual companies (see above: Vetements) to come across as #relatable. Pour one out for LV.
miu miu resort 2017
Let me start by saying the concept of having a whole line dedicated to "resort wear" is the most bougie I've ever heard of. That being said, I would kill to attend whatever resort Miu Miu envisioned with this funkadelic collection. These multi-pattern pieces look like Clueless meets Magic School Bus couture, keeping with the nostalgia trend that has been taking over the runway. Rainbow bead necklaces and bedazzled bucket hats accompany the 80's/90's inspired looks. The playful rejection of subtlety could have been misconstrued, but Miu Miu pulled it off elegantly. Adoration aside, I'll speak for Joan Rivers and acknowledge that some of these garments could pass as very expensive scrubs or pajamas.
The fashion industry has been long dedicated to using their voice as a tool for shifting social norms and breaking the "rules". A comedically critical voice could be just what fashion needs in order to enact real change, not black-model-wearing-vegan-sweater change.