The Circus of Fashion

Before Valentino F/W 2013 photographed by Adam Katz Sinding of Le 21 Eme 

“Blog is such a dirty word,” Leandra Medine aka the Man Repeller said it and I agree. When I started “blogging” it was around February/March of this year, I had little to no experience in writing about fashion. It was at this time the now infamously contentious article, “the Circus of Fashion” by Suzy Menkes surfaced. At the time I didn’t want to write about this issue because I felt I had no place. I had no authority nor credibility to write about the article and you could even argue that to this day and forth until I receive formal education in relation to fashion writing, I have no place and serve no purpose in the fashion industry. However, as the year ends and a new one begins, I feel as though I have matured both in words and my opinions of the fashion industry. The Circus of Fashion was an exceptional piece as it forced people to discuss the changing nature of the fashion industry and more importantly, the role of “bloggers” in fashion. The Circus of Fashion started a conversation that was well overdue.

You cannot deny that the Circus of Fashion serves up the brutal truth about the changing ways of the fashion industry. So brushing off Menkes as a “hater” of sorts would be juvenile and even disrespectful. The article surrounds the issue that in fashion there are indeed, show-offs – those who dress for the attention or the genuinely stylish. I think whilst this may be true to an extent, applying these two labels to the fashion industry directly opposes the liberal doctrine of fashion. I have said it before and I will say it again, fashion is supposed to be liberal. It shouldn’t be governed by laws or rules or regulations. No one should be able to say how low the hem of your skirt should be (here’s looking at you high school) or that you can’t wear jeans and runners together (yes I went there). Fashion serves a purpose for everyone, whether you’re aware of it or not, you are in fact a part of the fashion industry even if you don’t consider yourself “fashionable.” In any case, the genuinely “stylish” as Menkes refers to them may in fact be the show-offs.  So what is style? Can you see it? Can you feel it? How do you describe it?

Style is a social and psychic concept. Social because we do not constitute ourselves on our own, we rely on our social interaction with others to form opinions, theories and ideas. However social concepts do not instigate themselves by their own accord, they are a consequence of the interplay between the subject and the world around them. Thus the psychic concept is a sub-concept of the social one, analysing the social concept to create a psychic one in which our ideal sense of style is born. Therefore, the concept of style is really one of individual as well as communal accord and I don’t believe it’s up to anyone, even Menkes, to dictate the definition of “stylish”. Furthermore, you can equate the concept of style and the stylish with the “show offs”. Most of those labelled as “show offs” are just serving up their bespoke definition of style in perhaps a more flamboyant fashion than those serving up the “understated chic”. I don’t believe that flamboyancy should be equated with the label of a “show off”, it carries negative connotations and therefore allows room for misinterpretation. Especially when those given the label of a “show off” are underserving of it, which points to another issue associated with the Circus of Fashion, respect.

Like it or not, the fashion media/press now includes bloggers. Be it Susie Bubble or Bryanboy, these people carry more influence in fashion than celebrities now.  And you have them to thank for the top tier fashion labels’ presence on social media. Brands no longer want to be exclusive but want to appear accessible to a wider audience. Democracy. Digital media, through sites such as Style.com, NowFashion, bloggers and more make it possible for anyone to peek inside the enigmatic world of the fashion industry. But now too many bloggers are toting around their Céline Luggage bags as if there’s no tomorrow and have created a false interpretation of the industry of fashion bloggers. While it is most certainly true that bloggers receive gifts, trips to exotic locations paid for by the brand they’re campaigning and much more, it’s rare that bloggers are paid based on their merit over social media influence. I remember a while ago one of my friends asked me when I was going to start making money from my blog and honestly I was quite shocked. There was this expectation that I had to start profiting from my blog. I’ll be transparent, I’ve been contacted already by companies to become an advertiser and even allow companies to write posts on my blog but I’ve said no. The role of the fashion media is not to represent the paid views of others but be respected as a reputable opinion or source. And now we’ve come full circle back to respect.

So what are bloggers? Are they journalists? Editors? Creative directors? Stylists? In order to discuss the idea of respect in relation to bloggers, personal branding plays an important role in the development of respect. How they portray themselves and how this image and/or brand is perceived by others. Professionalism has always been at the forefront of reputable fashion media. However, professionalism is usually compared to formality. Depending on how a blogger brands themselves, you’ll usually see that blogs suffer from formality – that is however not to say that blogs suffer in the field of professionalism. You can be professional and not formal. Blogs have been long characterised as informal, to appear more accessible and approachable to everyone and anyone. They often represent raw and unedited opinions, which is really a scary thought in an industry where image and reputation is everything. Perhaps that is why the fashion media has been unwelcoming to bloggers. Although bloggers may be informal and professional, and may not hold the title of an “Editor in Chief” or “Journalist”, bloggers deserve the same respect as the rest of the fashion media and not to be minority who are scrutinized by fellow members of the fashion media.

Yet this issue lies not entirely at the hands of those reputable members of the fashion media, but also with bloggers themselves. Both the amateur and the veteran bloggers are to blame for the standards, expectations, misunderstandings and inaccurate representation of bloggers.

It’s time we all took time out to reflect on our personal brands and images we are trying to create in order to destroy this fun-house image of the fashion mob. Myself included.

This will be my last post for 2013 but I will be back in 2014 with a new blog layout, logo and title as this space continues its endeavour to bridge the gap between fashion as an industry, medium of creative expression and intellectual force. Whilst many things may change in this space during the coming months, this space will always represent my voice within the fashion industry.