Pink Rock Candy – Top fashion trends, news and shopping of 2010

In the fashion industry, there are a few simple truths: something better is always around the corner, money matters, and a famous face or name can get you anything— actually, this is true of most things in life.

Oddly, in fashion, these truths are terribly kept secrets, like Uncle Jim-Bob’s problem with the bottle (no, I don’t have an Uncle Jim-Bob).

Those in high-fashion, who consider themselves “style crusaders” will denounce the word trends and say they are true to themselves, only wearing classic pieces. However, the $300 leather leggings they’re sporting say otherwise. Magazine editors will gasp at the notion that their editorial integrity is even slightly compromised by the magazine’s advertising profits, but we all know the truth. However, the dirtiest secret of all is the most obvious— celebrities rule.

There was recently an article on NY Magazine’s Cut Blog— Has Reality TV Made Rachel Zoe More High-Fashion?— detailing Rachel Zoe’s ability to walk the line between elitist high-fashion and celeb-centric low-brow duds, but in this day and age, if you can’t balance the high and low brow, you’ll get nowhere.

Fifty years ago, celebrities were intangible. They were the epitome of class and maybe even decadence. They were high-fashion in every sense of the word. Today, celebrities are accessible. They strive to seem like your best friend. They have to make you feel as if you can relate, or we, the general public, bitch and tear them apart for being secretive and snooty.

What does this have to do with fashion?

There are a lot of things I struggle with in life, one of which is so-called personal style. I’ve gone back and forth with myself and you lovely readers about the topic.

I initially believed I was in the process of finding my style, like it was some mythical beast hidden in the far realms of boutiques, vintage stores, and shopping malls. I like many monarchs in search of riches from the new world, dedicated much money to this quest, only to be left with mountains of clothes I don’t particularly want to wear.

Then, I focused my search by constantly looking at street style blogs. I wanted to know how these admirable people would wear the same type of items I already own. I quickly lost interest after realizing: I will never be the girl who can wear layers like the homeless, monster platform shoes are not for me, and my idea of a short skirt is cut an inch or two above my knees.

My inherent sartorial sense has yet to reveal itself like a phoenix rising from the ashes, so instead of wasting more money on needless clothes and more time scouring street style websites, I’ve decided to work off of intuition.

I’ve been told I’m quite perceptive when it comes to people making me a good judge of character, so why can the same insight work with my clothing choices. I’m challenging myself to face the seedy, seductive world of clothing racks, jewelry counters, and shelves of shoes with blinders on, only wearing what makes me feel the best and not caring who’s wearing what or how much it costs.

I’m officially kicking my obsessive search for style to the curb and am just going to wear what feels right.

“To rebel is to home in on who you are… Few people can do it in a constructive way.…All of today’s fashion icons were once rule breakers,” cites WWD of Nina Garcia’s speech at FIT’s graduation.

Rebel…Rebel? How is it possible to rebel when fashion is at a point when forecasters have chalked trends up to “anything goes.” Is it still possible to rebel when gone are the days of underground fashion zines, replaced by blogs written by anyone with the ability to string words together? Everyone is in their own meta-rebellion, so how can any one person truly do anything inventive?

Designers try to create their own sartorial aesthetic, but 3 months later the same look is splayed across the backs of millions of teenage girls with an expendable budget and a penchant for fast fashion. Is originality dead/dying?

A renaissance can only come about after a revolution— hence the meaning of the word, “rebirth” in French.

It seems to me, after a lifetime of regurgitated trends and celeb-driven culture, the fashion industry needs a bit of a renaissance. Who will lead it and what it will look like is beyond me, but I’m ready. It’s high time Generation Y make it’s mark on fashion, and not simply for being the generation who revamped trends from almost every decade in the 20th century.

It may also be time for a mini-media revolution. Of course, traditional media is already having trouble with the onset of digital media, but digital media needs to ruffle some feathers in it’s own hen house as well. There isn’t one formula or optimum number of readers to create a successful blog. The only thing I, and most readers, ask for is the truth.

By truth, I don’t simply mean accuracy, though that is important, but also your raw, unadulterated opinion. If something you tried ruined your life, let us know, and if it was the best product you’ve ever used, we want to hear that too. Realize, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs regurgitating the same story. If you must write about the same thing everyone else is writing about, make it your own, show us your voice. The ability to write in a biased fashion is the beauty and curse of digital media, but if done well, the world will be your oyster.

Though Garcia’s words may seem futile, her call to arms is a necessary one, and hopefully, a fashion rebellion will be seen in the near future. The uprising begins with us!

The effect of the internet on the fashion industry has been on my mind since I read Donna Karan’s comments during an interview with Valerie Steele, director of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

“We need fashion shows, but that’s industry, it’s not for the general public. All the communication has to stop. It doesn’t go out on the wire, it doesn’t go out on the Internet, it doesn’t get out for the manufacturers to copy the designs. I mean, we’re killing our own industry… There’s too much information going out there. We have to learn the word restriction,” said Karan via Fashionologie.

As a fashion blogger, I can’t honestly recommend a complete internet blackout or blacklist. However, during the last fashion season, I found myself feeling overly inundated with fashion events. Countless designers chose to livestream their fashion shows while photographs of most of the other shows were available for all to see on various websites soon after the shows finished.

“There is no excitement about anything anymore as everything is available immediately and all the time— you don’t have to wait for anything… I think it’s too fast and too fake,” said Isabel Marant in an interview with Grazia UK.

Though the idea of democratizing fashion seems wonderful, fashion is anything but a democracy, and as an industry, it has thrived this way for many years.

Livestreaming Fashion Shows

This season, anyone who was willing, could watch livestreams of fashion shows from design houses big and small. During New York Fashion Week alone, some of the shows whose invites are most sought after, were shown online while happening simultaneously in some hip NYC location.

For lesser known labels or brands who tend to have a mass appeal and price point, making the streaming the fashion shows live online is a wonderful way to garner publicity and potentially reach a new consumer. However, in my opinion, there is a time and a place for incorporating such digital media tactics in a pr plan, and with some brands, the access doesn’t work with it’s mission statement and that inclusiveness shouldn’t be forced simply because everyone else is doing it.

The image of many luxury brands is built on exclusivity. By using such tactics as livestreaming, it seems like a contradiction in values when the fashion show is available to anyone who is willing to watch at the same time as the invited fashion elite.

That being said, I’m not yet part of said fashion elite, and the first time I was able to stream a fashion show online, I was elated.

Post-show Internet Coverage

Though, I’m not yet convinced of the merits of livestreaming for all brands, I do believe on having websites and/or blogs cover a fashion show after the event— this coverage can be from someone who has attended the show or simply seen photos or edited videos used for review/commentary purposes.

Having images of fashion shows online soon after the show occurs does make it possible fast-fashion retailers to copy designs, but being completely exclusionary toward a newer form of media and those consumers who are interested in digitally following the work of their favorite designers and brands could prove detrimental to an industry already struggling because of a weak economy.

Also, for fashion pr, embracing social media aids in the evaluation of fashion show post coverage. Fashion week is something that unites all fashion blogs and simply going through a brands fashion week online press hits will help pr practitioners find new sources interested in their client’s brand while making it easy to evaluate the credibility, based on fashion knowledge and willingness to gain such knowledge, of a blog. Without some access, this post-show coverage wouldn’t be possible.

Like most things, accessibility is a double-edged sword, but will this newfound inclusiveness in fashion be its ruin? Only time will tell, but perhaps fashion, for once, should follow Aristotle’s Golden Mean and live between the extremes. Everything doesn’t always have to be all or nothing.

Talk Back: What are your ideas of including the public while maintaining a sense of exclusivity and prestige within the industry?

Today, I wore one of my new Twinkle by Wenlan Spring 2010 pieces. I tweeted about it, but the picture was , in my very self-critical opinion, horrendous.

I’ve loved the ‘Oil and Water’ print since I saw it being made— a lot of Wenlan’s prints are created by the design team and then sent to a fabric manufacturer. There’s something about the busy nature of the print that easily gets me through a gray day like today.

You can’t see the back, but it’s made of black and white striped fine gauge knit, adding an extra bit of pizazz without needing sequins, studs, chains, grommets, or any other glimmering details. It is the lack of necessity for such pieces of flare that make me love Twinkle as much as I do.

On a completely different but strangely connected note, there was an article on Fashionista about telling the world you’re wearing a sample.

“I’ve spotted at least three people proudly sporting their ‘Sample’ label. At ThreeAsFour’s show at Milk, a man took off his jacket to reveal a sample label pinned inside; a model threw a tantrum in sample-stamped shoes, and while waiting in line for Hakaan I noticed ‘Sample’ written across the back of of a woman’s army jacket in Sharpie,” writes Britt Aboutaleb.

It’s a known fact in the fashion industry many people wear loaned samples. It is also known that just  as many people, including models and interns, get “paid” in samples instead of cold hard cash. I’m not exempt from this process. While working at Twinkle, I had a clothing allowance and was able to convert my hundreds of labored hours into something similar to Twinkle Bucks to purchase samples or order pieces from the new season. This tunic is one of the many pieces I ordered using my allowance from Twinkle.

The question on Fashionista was whether it is “cool” to publicize that you’re wearing a sample?

In my opinion, there is no need to do so. It isn’t as if you’re sharing a great sale tip with a friend. I don’t think it’s a gold star on my shopping record to say I’m wearing a sample. I’d also like to note, I only used my allowance on items I would have actually purchased, not simply because I was jonesing for a Twinkle sample.

Samples are everywhere, and you aren’t in an exclusive club or making a unique sartorial statement simply because you’re wearing one. Think about it, a sample sale is called a SAMPLE sale for a reason, and there are hundreds of them each season. Not to mention, those hundreds of sample sales are attended by hundreds of people. I see no novelty in said situation.

That being said, I, obviously, have nothing against samples and will continue to wear them and trade labor for them as I see fit, but I won’t be leaving the sample tag in, sorry!

What’s your take on showing the world you’re wearing a sample?

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