lumps and bumps

[from the incredible Comme Des Garçons SS97 collection]

no angel came

This week, fashion brand Rodarte (designer sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy) announced a collaboration with MAC cosmetics. In today's world of high fashion meets high street partnerships, this announcement seemed perfectly normal, and the line was a sure success given the popularity of other similar projects. Instead, the Mulleavy sisters are now being met with a ton of criticism given the inspiration of their cosmetic line (linked to their previous fashion collection) - a road trip across the US border into Mexico - and subsequently the names of some of the products - eg: 'Juarez' and 'Factory' are nailpolish shades in the collection. Many critics are calling this distasteful, given the many social problems in the impoverished areas that the Rodarte sisters were inspired by, as well as the fact that these are cosmetic products, and have essentially no meaning beyond that, so why weigh them down with such heavy issues? Is this really raising awareness? MAC are now backpedaling after the uproar online and assuring customers that some proceeds will go towards charities in the Juarez area.

Obviously fashion, and more widely, art, wouldn't be where it is today without people pushing boundaries and finding inspiration in the not-so-peaches-and-cream parts of life. But under what circumstances is one "allowed" to use tragedy and the suffering of others as crucial elements of one's art? Personally I don't think there should be any rules about where to source your inspiration from, but the execution must be flawless. If one is to use say, the horrible situation in Juarez as the stimulus point for a work, I think the answer lies in the result. Is the final product successful in conveying a message or raising awareness? Or does is come off as a weak attempt at social commentary? Or worse, is the inspiration being used solely as a means to make money? This is where it comes in handy to be critical and informed.

I feel a bit foolish making a post about something I am decidedly undecided about but still. By blabbering about it with myself, I hope to eventually come to a point where I have a concrete opinion on the wider issue. In this case, I can see both sides of the argument, and as much as I want to side with the 'artists', I feel as a makeup line, it really doesn't send any kind of message other than the commodification of a tragic situation. Unfortunately for the Mulleavy sisters, I think their intentions are irrelevant in this instance. Obviously they did not go into this thinking to mitigate the horrific rates of rapes, homicides and constant gang/drug related violence in the city of Juarez - it's very likely that they wanted to draw attention to these problems. But as I said, the end result speaks for itself and from where I stand, this is an oversight on their part that has come off as very ignorant and too flighty to send the right message.

pinhead

So yesterday I scored this AMAZING Romance Was Born 'Pinhead' jacket on sale at My Catwalk and received it today in the mail (next day delivery is a girl's best friend). The collar and most of the inner lining at the front are covered with safety pins, and the back is slightly longer and beautifully sheer. Holy wow. This and coffee with old high school friends have made an incredibly gloomy (note the rain-soaked, now frizzy hair) Friday turn wonderful.

omgwow

Seriously. When did Miranda Kerr learn how to model for something over than swimwear? This editorial has blown my mind.

sorry kirstie clements, but ...

... Illyria did it first.

notes on a scandal

So Royal Australian Fashion Week is over for another year, and once again I feel a slight disappointment. To preface this rant I'd like to say that yes I know, supporting local talent is important rah rah rah, but I think one needs to be picky and honest about what they like or dislike. Luckily blogging allows such honesty and I hope that there are others who feel comfortable expressing their actual opinions rather than saying that they loved everything which I'm sure isn't the case.

To be frank, I feel like some Australian designers take too liberally from the work of others, in some cases to the point of blatant reworking of another collection (usually from the previous international season). As someone who spends a lot of time looking at photos and videos of both local and international runway shows, this becomes clear pretty much every time RAFW comes around, and basically it fucking sucks. I'm not alone in picking up on this - Vogue Australia's Editor Kirstie Clements mentioned this problem in one of her Editor's Letters last year, and Alicia from Sea of Ghosts tweeted about it last month.

Obviously complete originality is impossible - Chuck Palahniuk's oft quoted 'Nothing of me is original, I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known' line has informed my entire generation of that fact - but there is a line between being inspired by something and essentially using it. Last year there were blatant rip-offs of Balmain, Chloe and Givenchy. This year I can see many elements of recent Prada, McQueen and Marc Jacobs shows. Is this even conscious copying? Are Australian designers really that starved for ideas? Where is has the innovation gone? These are questions that a lot of people are asking themselves, and I think the only way to have them answered is for a change to happen.

Unfortunately this kind of thing goes on all the time; it happens overseas too (and this is independent to the trickle-down effect that we all know and love, I'm talking about "designers", not chain stores of any kind) but RAFW being a relatively small event which follows the international collections, it's all the more concentrated and pronounced.

You might be asking yourself, who am I to criticise? I feel like I'm justifying myself here but it's okay, no, important to be critical. If there's anything I have learnt at university, it is that every judgement is valid, at least to an extent. If I can make a critical assessment of Nietzsche for an essay, why not apply the same discerning eye to the big guns of the Australian fashion circuit for my personal blog?

I'm not saying that there isn't talent in the Australian fashion world - there is, and barrels of it. The wealth of potential is precisely why I would like to see more honesty in the designs and vision coming out of things like RAFW. This, I'm sure, would have nothing but positive effects on sales, credibility, and each label's fashion legacy.

On a more upbeat note, I love a lot of Australian designers for what they create, and I think these are the ones that should be supported most, by both the press and consumers. In my opinion, Arnsdorf, Karla Spetic, Romance Was Born and Dion Lee are leading the pack. Hopefully over the next few days I'll have time to post my favourite looks (a much needed burst of positivity to balance out this post, haha). Until then, you can see all the collections on the Vogue Australia website.

plato's atlantis

Oh you know, just hanging out in Paris wearing an Alexander McQueen dress.
By which I mean, HOLY SHIT. I ACTUALLY OWN THIS THING NOW!? SO AMAZING.
When I saw a rack of McQueen clothes hanging in the Printemps Department Store here, I just knew it would be so special (actually, bittersweet) to own a piece of this fashion history. The dress is gorgeous - better picture on its way once I get back home - and one of those things you want to have on display rather than wear for fear of damaging it. Either way, it's obviously a keeper.

Anyhow it's my last day in Paris today (the worst part about coming to Paris is leaving it, I've had an incredible time). I'm leaving for London tonight, staying for three days and then heading home. I love traveling and all but I can't wait to sleep in my own bed! Not long to go now.

what my winter is going to look like

All of these are from the Viktor&Rolf pre-fall collection.
New York Fashion Week is on at the moment and I'm trying to find coherent and non-boring collections to post about. It's proving to be difficult so stay tuned, if only to see the really horrible/funny looks I intend on posting.

all i want for christmas

Cardigan by Karla Spetic.

overdue eye candy

les amants

beautiful dirty rich

In celebration of next year's Lady GaGa Australian Tour being announced (and tickets going on sale this Friday!), I bring you a short ramble on how much I love this woman, and some photos because her fabulosity surpasses the capacity of words.

Really I just wanted to say that all the haters are batshit crazy and wrong (I mean, I guess she's offputting and irritating if you're not into her thing, but .. come on! The fact that she's garnered such a strong reaction is her exact point). How anyone can fault a woman looking 100% comfortable doing an interview in a Jean Charles de Castelbajac outfit after somehow performing 'Poker Face' as a jazzy serenade at the keyboard using her feet is beyond me. Call it blind, stupid, nonsensical, excessive adoration if you will, but I can't get over her. Case(s) in point, for your viewing pleasure:













And let's not forget how stunning the video for 'Paparazzi' is.



My favourite part is her dancing as a cripple. IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD.
Oh and the Boudicca jumpsuit with the ruffles. I've been googling that all week and haven't found an answer as to whether or not the black ruffles were her stylist's addition. Someone help me out here.