Fashion in Society

This week I had the privilege of hearing David Wolfe, a leading fashion authority, talk about fashion and its relevance to everyday life. While I support fashion as art, I also definitely believe fashion should be accessible. One particularly noteworthy quote of Mr. Wolfe was the following:

“Fashion is always a reflection of the society that wears it.”

That said, I decided to go through my personal archive of photos and pull those images I thought showed diverse fashion from all around the globe. Some of my peers come from India, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and the good old U-S of A among other countries.

Networking for Aspiring Designers

For budding designers trying to break into the fashion industry—not an easy task by any means—exposure and timing is crucial. Fashion expos, social networking, and word-of-mouth advertising are just a few of the things that must be taken advantage of. If a designer is especially fortunate, he or she may have the opportunity to showcase his or her work in a professional show. This happens to be the case of some local student designers I spoke to. Thanks to a generous grant, ten fashion students at Syracuse University have the opportunity to go to get their work presented at a professional runway show in New York City. I can only imagine the excitement…and tension. That’s ten out of forty-five students, and everyone wants to go! “It’s like the pink elephant in the room,” said one student, “everyone knows about it, but nobody wants to say anything.”

Of course this opportunity would be a dream come true for any aspiring designer. And why shouldn’t it? It’s an opportunity to advertise to all the right people. Take a look at these facts from NYC’s Fashion Week, and these are just a few benefits:
• More than 60 shows take place in Bryant Park.
• The average show length is 17 minutes.
• About 14,000 people attend the shows daily.
• More than 100,000 people will pass through over the eight-day period.
• More than 3,000 members of the press are registered.
• Five hundred volunteers will devote more than 4,000 hours of help during Fashion Week. [Daily News, 2007]

The Fashion Industry can be such a hard field to break into. Fashion itself is very subjective and there’s already so much out there in the market, a designer really has to have a unique style to set his or herself apart. But even with a good style, networking is key! It’s important for aspiring designers to take advantage of opportunities whenever and wherever they can. It can pay off in very big and unexpected ways!

Finding Your Style

It seems fair to say that most artists put a little piece of themselves in their work. It gives their work a sort of authenticity and personal seal. Some of these personal touches may reflect the creator’s personal values, religious views, or ethnic culture. Whatever it may be, this personal touch adds validity and depth to the creation. When it comes to fashion, designers need to take into consideration not only things like their location and intended target group, but they need to think about how to make their style unique among the competition. In today’s society with so much to choose from, (eg. grunge, couture, vintage), creating a personal signature isn’t always the easiest thing to come by.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to Ayaka, an aspiring fashion designer at Syracuse University who is still getting a handle on her personal style. A native of Japan, Ayaka is often looking at the latest Japanese fashion trends and styles. When I asked if her designs reflected her culture in any way Ayaka’s response was, “I don’t know. I’m still looking for my style…maybe it has some influence, but I can definitely say I like most of Japanese designers compared to, like, American designers…” In time, as her collection matures, I’m sure that Ayaka will find her style.

Personal style isn’t always as obvious as we’d expect. In my own experience, I’ve found my personal fashion style in traveling to many different countries and taking a piece of that’s country’s fashion culture with me. Of course, that may be an unrealistic expectation for many people, but the fact of the matter is an artist can draw their own unique style from anywhere or anything. The best inspiration can come from places where we don’t even look. As artists, we just need to be ready to run with it!