25 November 2005

Fashion at the Intersection of Art and Commerce

One of the things that makes fashion particularly interesting is its position at the intersection of art and commerce. With one foot in the art world and the other solidly in the business world, there exists an inherent tension.

Unsurprisingly, the fear among the fashion community is that fashion is moving too far towards the side of commerce. Indeed, the last decade has seen the close of a number of haute couture houses, perhaps most notably that of Yves St. Laurent in 2002. But it's not just couture houses that are in danger. Teri Agins of the Wall Street Journal wrote in September:

"Mr. Lam has built a $4.8 million-a-year business but it has yet to reach the critical mass necessary to operate profitably and efficiently. Derek Lam Co. will lose money this year, as it has every year since it was formed in 2002, although Mr. Schlottmann declines to say how much.

Mr. Lam is part of a new generation of rising fashion stars struggling to follow the path to financial success blazed by American fashion icons such as Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, and Bill Blass. Handicapped by broad changes in retailing and manufacturing, these young designers are finding it difficult to capitalize on industry acclaim and turn a healthy profit."

Agins is right on the mark when she identifies the financial difficulties faced by designer ready to wear designers like Derek Lam. Lam's contemporaries--Zac Posen, Peter Som, and Behnaz Sarafpour, to name a few--are also feeling the tension between fashion as art and the need to make a buck.

Today's fashion marketplace is especially unfriendly to such designer ready to wear manufacturers. But why is this?

At the top of the fashion totem pole sits haute couture, where fashion as art reigns. With a steadily declining number of customers as patrons, couture is often "subsidized" by other divisions of a luxury house--fragrances, handbags, perhaps even ready to wear apparel. While couture isn't a great revenue generator, it can generate favorable PR, which intangibly helps other parts of a design house.

On the other edge of the market sits mass market fashion. Think of H&M, the Gap, Abercrombie and Fitch. Mall stores and the like that make their money on volume. However stylish their goods may be, they're primarily driven by commerce. At their core, they're not about a designer's artistic vision--they're about what will increase sales.

Between these two extremes lies designer ready to wear, the province of the up-and-coming fashion elite like Lam and Posen. Such designers are faced to walk the tightrope between art and commerce, and the end result all too often is failure. In the same WSJ article, Silas Chou, the former financial backer of Tommy Hilfiger who now backs Michael Kors, was quoted, "Out of all the 15 or so young designers, there will probably be just one that will make it and become a big name."

We don't pretend to have the answers here, and there are no established paths for upstart designers to follow, short of giving up (some) control of the company in exchange for outside money, which is in and of itself difficult to obtain.

Nevertheless, we do have hope for the future of fashion art, in spite of luxury conglomeration, regardless of the travails faced by developing designers, and in the face of the almighty dollar (or euro, RMB, or yen). Though intangible artistic merit is difficult to justify on a balance sheet, its value exists nonetheless...even if it's only in the hearts and minds of style philes like us.

23 November 2005

Our Thanksgiving Thanks

We're taking Thanksgiving Day off to be with our friends and families, but we'll be back on Friday to wrap up our Black Friday Blogging extravaganza with our take on fashion's unique spot at the intersection of art and commerce.

In the meantime, however, we wanted to thank you, our readers, for your continued patronage of our site. We sincerely hope that you enjoy what you find here, and we're working hard to make the site even better. And in that spirit, we welcome your comments, your ideas, and your musings.

Happy Thanksgiving, and see you on Friday!

With love,
Trisha and Susannah

Fashion as an Expression of Individuality

In our own biased opinion, we consider fashion to be the ultimate visual expression of one's self. Consciously or unconsciously, your fashion (or anti-fashion) choices determine how you present yourself to the world...and therefore contributes to how the world sees you.

We believe that your individuality comes through in three ways:
  • What garments you choose,
  • How you choose to combine these garments, and
  • How you wear that garment combination.
The first of the three is the most obvious and shouldn't require much explanation. If you favor glamour, you might consciously pick a dramatic top or a slinky skirt. Or if you favor conservatism, on the other hand, you might choose a high-necked top and/or neutral colors.

How you choose to combine garments gets a little more interesting. You might, for example, make a statement by combining a flirty, feminine skirt with a masculine, military-inspired jacket. Or combining flip flops with a jet black suit. How you combine garments sheds more insight into who you are, but at a less conscious level.

But how you wear that garment combination is perhaps the most telling of all. You might wear the flip flops + black suit combination with a side of confidence. Or you might wear it with a sense of indifference. We believe your attitude is your most important accessory, and it beats a status handbag, a bewitching pair of pumps, and a sparkly diamond necklace any day of the week. But to our point, because it is the most unconscious of your fashion choices, the attitude with which you wear your outfit offers the most genuine view into who you are.

21 November 2005

Why Fashion is Important to Me

On the most basic level, fashion is important to me because it makes me happy.

Among my interests are design and aesthetics, and fashion feeds both of these. I love line, silhouette, color, fabric, and construction. I love the look of a well-fitted garment. And I love combining garments to make a statement.

Fashion is my way of expressing to the world that I am me. I love that one day, I can "be" preppy, the next day sophisticated, the next day plain, and the next day glamourous. It's the easiest thing to change about your appearance. Plus it's non-invasive...a double plus on my list.

I find it intrinsically pleasing to dress up--and I dress for myself, first and foremost.

An added benefit, however, is the visual first impression that you give to others. It's been said that first impressions are mainly visual--that is, they depend less on what you say and more on how you visually present yourself. While I don't like this, my experience has shown this to be all too accurate.

Even when I'm shopping, for instance, I get radically different treatment from salespeople. If I'm dressed in flip flops, jeans, and a t-shirt, I often have to hunt salespeople down in order to make a purchase. If, on the other hand, I'm dressed in heels, a slim pencil skirt, and a nice top, I often can't shop in peace, receiving multiple offers for help.

Your thoughts? How does fashion make an impression on your life?

Trisha

20 November 2005

Black Friday Blogging: Style Intelligence Archives

We hunted through our archives for relevant articles on fashion, consumption, individuality, and the importance of fashion in our lives. For your reading pleasure, we present:
Enjoy!

Black Friday Bloggers

Julie of Almost Girl invited us to join a "Black Friday" Blogging event. We're pleased to participate.

Check back this week for our thoughts on why fashion is important to us, fashion as art and commerce, and fashion and individuality.

19 November 2005

Profiles in Style | Megan and Tyson


Names:
Megan and Tyson
Found: Patiently waiting outside H&M Powell, well within the first hundred people in line.
Arrived at H&M: "6am, but our friends got here at 4am."
At H&M for: Stella McCartney, of course. Megan: "The jumper and the jeans." Tyson: "The men's dress shirt that was transformed into a dress."
Personal style: Megan: "I just throw on whatever's clean, whatever's comfortable." Adds Tyson: "I'm all about comfortable."
Last Words: Tyson: "No Uggs, no pajamas, no LV pochettes, no knit Uggs, no Jessica Simpson, no Ashlee Simpson, no ruffled miniskirts."

Thanks, Tyson. Couldn't have said it better ourselves.

H&M SF Grand Opening Madness

Arrived at H&M Powell at 9am this morning to scope out the scene. Pure craziness. The line, as expected, snaked around the block, even zigzagging back and forth over on Geary.

We're not line people, so we just ended up hitting up H&M Post later that day once the line had died down to a mere half-block. Saw some interesting items (mostly left only in Large sizes), but we saw a good amount of the merchandise a couple of months ago on our NYC/Boston "working vacations."

What will Trisha be wearing to the office next week? A particularly cute grayed jersey blazer with clipped seams ($29.90).

Our good friend Goldie made a comment about the expectant crowd: "The people waiting fall under one of three categories: (1) The Uber-trendy people who decked themselves out for the grand opening, (2) The Blah people who dressed very plainly, and (3) The Frighteningly dressed people whose outfits didn't quite make it."

To see a particularly uniquely dressed example from Category 1, check back in a bit for another episode of "Profiles in Style!"

18 November 2005

H&M SF Grand Opening Giveaway

H&M LogoIn case you hadn't already heard, H&M San Francisco is giving 20% off to the first 200 customers at either store along with a free limited edition T-shirt.

However, to be in that lucky 400, we figure that we'd either (1) have to drag ourselves out of bed pre-dawn to line up, or (2) sell our souls to the fashion devil (A.Wintour?).

We'll be there...but closer to 10am. We enjoy our beauty sleep.

Friday Fashion Hotlist | 11.18.05

Issue XVII of the Friday Fashion Hotlist: a weekly compilation of the cutest and coolest stuff Style Intelligence Report saw out there this week.

This week, in honor of tomorrow's grand opening of H&M's first West Coast store in San Francisco, we present to you comfortable, stylish shoes for our all-time favorite sport: shopping.

Between standing for hours on end in line and speed shopping the venerably cheap chic racks at H&M, shopping might as well be a sport. In any case, we bet that the fashionistas around the Stella McCartney displays will be engaging in some sort of contact sport by the time the clothes are gone.


For women...
Adidas Okapi Shoe
Adidas Okapi Shoe | $64.95 at Nordstrom
Stylish, functional, and comfortable--what's not to love about this shoe?

And for men...
Prada Car Shoe
Prada Car Shoe | $304 at Bluefly
Love the two tone white and tan, with the green accents. And the side grommets give this casual shoe a dose of extra flair.

17 November 2005

Home Shopping: Best of Crate and Barrel

In the spirit of the holiday redecorating season, we present our top picks for home accents from Crate and Barrel. Perfect for a quick pick-me-up for your home!

Ricci Room Divider | $599 at Crate and Barrel

Oleander Centerpiece Bowl | $149 at Crate and Barrel

Lagoon Vases | $19.95-$26.95 at Crate and Barrel

Long Rectangular Curved Wood Tray | $34.95 at Crate and Barrel

Kali Square Tray | $59.95 at Crate and Barrel

Jasper Vase | $38.99 at Crate and Barrel

Zeno Vase | $59.95 at Crate and Barrel

Buri Rope Balls | $5.95-$7.95 at Crate and Barrel