Made in China

Images of H&M's contractor in Beijing taken from Modes China by Erik Bernhardsson

Over the course of the last few years, there has been an increasing amount of focus on the nation of China. Why? China has the largest luxury market. I've stressed this before in my posts and while sales may fall occasionally in China, the reality is that there are no luxury consumers in the world compared to the luxury consumers in China.

Recently I had the pleasure of reading a publication called Modes China, sent to me by it's author Erik Bernhardsson. Modes China promotes and highlights the social context surrounding the fashion industry within China through its interviews with internationally recognised designers such as ffiXXed as well as  students who are studying fashion design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) located in Beijing. It also gives a fascinating insight into H&M's contractor for their DIVIDED label.

While reading the book it became increasingly obvious that the politics in China do have an influence over the  fashion industry. If you didn't know, China is a communist country and from my understanding, they are a big believer in censorship and control - Facebook is blocked in China, only accessible by using proxy servers. When I attended an exchange program in 2011, upon meeting the principle of the school, one of the first things that we were told was that we were not allowed to speak about was politics - I felt as though this was extremely strange as it directly threatened the freedom of speech. Another example, is controversial Chinese artist who is notoriously critical of the Chinese government Ai Wei Wei, who was arrested in 2011 for no apparent reason. This censorship and conservative attitude displayed by the government would naturally extend to the education that aspiring designers would receive from schools such as CAFA.

The fashion industry as it exists in China today is branded by a white label with 3 words imprinted in black; Made in China. This is, perhaps, a metaphor for the industry itself. After all, the majority of China's infrastructure is built upon its ability to manufacture goods both within and outside of the fashion industry. It is an extremely clinical, precise, regulated and uniform environment and most of all, it's what western society and culture has made China out to be - one big factory. Think about it, many western companies outsource their production to China because it is far cheaper for their products to be produced there and an added bonus is that they have no direct liability for the workers welfare. So, if this is true, is there really room for designers in China to break this western mentality and become successful not only domestically but also internationally?

I am certainly not denying the fact that China has luxury designers who have attracted a niche of consumers, however the fact remains that these labels are simply nowhere near as popular as the western luxury labels. These western luxury labels will only stunt the growth of the fashion industry in China as shoppers choose to buy into the western luxury. Brands such as Christian Dior (who regularly now holds haute couture shows in China) hold a sense of tailored individuality brought about by the liberal and democratic values of traditional western society and that is something that the Chinese fashion industry cannot offer right now.




Also, thanks to Erik for sending me a copy of Modes China! I really did enjoy reading it!

Favourites: Comme des Garçons Series 5: Sherbet - Cinnamon

Perfume is one of those things that you buy a bottle then it gets lost in the back of your cupboard for months until you suddenly remember you bought that one bottle, unless you're one of those super minimalist people who can go buy on a few beauty products (I've got a lot of respect for all of you out there). But I seriously think I've found the perfect perfume.

I bought this perfume on a whim when I went to visit one of my favourite stores in Melbourne, Comme des Garçons Pocket - it's such a lovely establishment which makes you feel as though you belong to some super exclusive club. Anyway, I digress. I've never really paid much attention to CDG perfumes but this perfume is all kinds of deliciousness in a bottle. It's clean (but not in a generic way), spicy, citrus-y and cinnamon-ish, I've honestly never smelled anything like it. Oh and it's unisex.

Don't be scared by the name, it smells more of sherbet with a hint of cinnamon - trust me you won't be walking around smelling like baked goods.

It's the perfect introductory perfume to CDG if you aren't familiar with their other perfumes.

Also loving the minimalistic packaging.

Top notes:

Cinnamon, Cedar, Bergamot

Middle notes:

Carnation, Benzoin, Saffron

Base notes: 

Teak wood, Vetiver, White Musk

For those of you in Melbourne it retails for $69 at Comme des Garçons Pocket and $62 online at Mecca Cosmetica

What is couture?

Christian Lacroix at his last haute couture collection (Fall/Winter 2009)
Source: nymag.com

The relevance of couture over the years is slowly declining. Once upon a time, the schedules, aesthetics and trends of the ready-to-wear season to come, was dictated by the two couture seasons yet now it really is the complete opposite.

In many ways, couture nowadays is really only just used for marketing purposes. After all, how many of us can really afford a couture gown? However by attaching the 'couture' label to garments or brands, it encourages people to believe that they are a part of this fantasy and luxurious wealth in an economic climate which really isn't so great. So while couture is used as a marketing ploy more than anything else at the present time in fashion, what defines couture nowadays?

In short, couture really is just attention to detail. From the types of fabrics and materials used, to the way in which they are sewn onto the garment and the way the garment fits, to the ateliers and artisans, couture is the world in which the significance of the garments are in it's intricacies.

Since Raf Simons presented his couture collections under his new position at Christian Dior, many have voiced their opinions against the collections, rejecting them as being true 'couture.' Raf Simons is a simple designer, he studied architecture, a world where more is more and less is less - it is more or less the same as the world of couture. While Raf Simons controversial designs may have appeared rather boring with bar jackets reminiscent of Dior's New Look the couture appeal of his designs lay not in the embellishment but the tailoring involved in creating the perfect suit jacket and not in the use of embellishment or theatrical nature as in the case of Christian Dior under John Galliano. While Raf Simons is typically a designer of the less is less concept, designers such as Elie Saab have based their whole appeal on the concept of more is more. Their attention to detail is much less subtle and perhaps more significant as their garments are heavily embellished and adorned with intricate lace.

One label which really does act as an intermediary between these two concepts is Maison Martin Margiela. Their fall 2013 collection consisted of an odd mix of eclectic styles, textures and fabrics yet could still be labelled as artisanal or couture. Once the masked models used to represent anonymity and while it still may, MMM has been revolutionary in using this anonymity as a platform to still be able to embellish and represent an identity yet still retain anonymity. While the collection mixed anything from boyfriend jeans to a top constructed entirely from agate slices, this collection truly represents the balance of between the overly embellished to the simplistic garments of couture.

Whether a designer chooses to create a collection where more is more or take a more simplistic approach or perhaps even merge the two, haute couture is not something which can simply be defined by a word or two, nor a sentence. It is well and truly up to the designers and their creative teams to govern the influence, past, present and future of couture.

Fashions' Borrowing Culture

Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibition at the MET Museum
Source: rubiamala.com

Cultural influence in the fashion industry is all too well known these days and the debate over cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation is something which has always been at the forefront of the fashion industry. In many ways, this borrowing of inspiration is much the same.

Over the years the fashion industry and many creative directors and designers have drawn influences and inspirations from many cultures, subcultures, genres, movements and ideas from all over the world. All the great designers have done it, without inspiration a collection by any great designer would be as flat and as dull as a plain white piece of paper (although that itself can be quite avant garde and conceptual in the case of Maison Martin Margiela). Although designers list anything from countries to paintings to muses as inspiration for collections. Collections can be inspired by a subculture i.e. late 90's to early 00's Raf Simons collections that were inspired by youth subculture and military uniformity, or even a country and it's culture as Chanel's Pre-Fall 2012 collection which was inspired by India.

Of course it's not wrong to borrow ideas and then interpret them in an original way however it is a somewhat degrading when these ideas are borrowed and then it's origins are not acknowledged or challenged.

A quote that has stuck to me since I originally saw it was when Grace Coddington famously remarked at the MET ball this year: "I'd like to see some real punks in here, some real street punks. But I doubt they were invited." This is really a perfect example of the fashion industry's borrowing of inspiration from a subculture but really never acknowledging the true origins of the inspiration.

It is not uncommon for designers to borrow ideas or draw inspiration from subcultures such as punk however fashion always maintains a frou-frou reputation of being perfected and proper even when drawing inspiration from something as raw and anti-materalistic punk fashion. When an idea is borrowed, i.e. the punk subculture, and then popularised by an industry known for commercialisation the question becomes is the fashion industry effectively selling out this subculture? While the commercialisation of fashion carries negative connotations, insinuating things such as mass-marketed fashion or Bangladesh sweatshops - the commercialisation of fashion is one that has both advantages and disadvantages.  On one hand, the commercialisation of fashion allows fashion for all and perhaps even people to buy into these subcultures or ideas, however it also carries the burden of resulting in sweatshops.

In all honesty, the fashion industry really can be segregated into two types of designers, the designers who churn out pretty clothes season after season and those who attempt to break down social biases, promote movements and ideas and do so much more than just design clothes.

When designers such as Vivienne Westwood known for her punk influenced collections or Rick Owens expresses an interest in monochromatic aesthetics which are uncomfortable and out of the norm, it forces the viewer to question culture and especially, popular culture. Through their designs, designers like these, are able to break down our biases towards those subcultures or ideas which we devalue and ask the question of why. Why it is that we have those particular biases towards such things, and the influential factors behind such biases.

Inspiration is subjective however, our interpretation of the subject is objective. What I mean is this, when a garment is shown on the runway, however once our opinion forms of the garment, whether it be good or bad, our interpretation of the subject then becomes objective to us.

It's important to be inspired and influenced by culture and ideas however, more than that, its important to be able to voice an opinion, especially in the face of fashion where judgement governs all.