FUTURE(S)
HOOT SPRING 22
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38 Filler pages by Pedro Damasceno and Journey AI
A Letter from the Editors Dear Reader, In this first full issue of the newly re-established Hoot we are turning our attention to the concept of the future. Futures can be complex and vague. Throughout our shoots, we held to the theme of futures as a reimagination of the past. We view elements of the old in a more transformational way. In doing so, we see different students’ perspectives on how fashion itself will continue to change and evolve while holding on to remnants of yesterday. It would be difficult to engage with the future without recognizing the fear that may accompany it– both for our personal uncertainty of what is yet to come alongside the anxiety surrounding the importance of the legacy we leave behind. When faced with a world that is becoming inhabitable, we rely on alternative pathways for tomorrow to beckon us towards the optimism embedded in our livelihoods, communities, and planet. As style evolves in the realm of fashion, we can evolve towards a sustainable horizon. The future of fashion lies in the past. Imagine a piece of clothing that once belonged to your grandparent, passed down to your parents, and now belongs to you. This act of inheriting clothing creates a piece informed by your story, sustaining history, resources, and culture. In looking to the past we can create an exciting and new future where the old and the new marry to make something beautiful and entirely new. We display a series of scenes where antiquated elements hybridize with the unknown to introduce creative perspectives into the world of style. Inbetween these projects, AI generated art visualizes hyperpop encounters and finger painting with a future generation. We hope that these pages can influence, inform and inspire your interpretation of the future as you flip through this special edition of Hoot.
love,
Erin Ikeuchi & Emma Nisonson
Sinofuturism, Designing the Bridge Between Past and Future an essay by Sophie Moore
Stepping foot in Shanghai, one would not be able to recognize the city from how it was only a year prior. In a matter of months, new skyscrapers, construction projects, cafes, restaurants, malls emerge from concrete and glass, the only anchors of constancy being the residential neighborhoods from Shanghai’s era of international settlement and the glamorous Bund lining the Huangpu River. The city epitomizes China’s unprecedented, rapid, though unequal growth–a neon city rocket-launching itself into the future / In recent years, the Chinese design world has seen the emergence of distinctly futuristic elements in art, architecture, and design. Think sleek, organic lines and silhouettes, greenery sprouting from glass balconies, eclectic melanges of colors, textures, and fabrics. Photographers shooting for fashion magazines frequently employ traditionally unorthodox editing techniques–fantastical shapes, chrome finishes, and hyper-saturated contrasts are not uncommon to find on the cover of China Vogue and other fashion magazines. Though a cohesive identification of such trends as “ futurism ” has not quite yet emerged on the mainland, it is clear that many designers and artists credit their influences to futurist ideals. So what exactly is futurism, particularly futurism in the eyes of Chinese designers? (01) / Futurism first emerged in the early 1900s in Italy and Russia, with an emphasis on the new technology, architecture, science, and youth culture. Technological advancement and industrialization planted a fascination with a distant cultural future that Europe seemed to be just on the cusp of. Later in the 1900s we see the emergence of a distinct “ Afrofuturism ” movement in the United States that explored an intersection of the African diaspora’s estrangement from their ancestral homelands, and the technology as an exploration of this alienation but also as a hypothetical means to self-determination. Sinofuturism is already proving to be a movement that expresses the former’s anticipation for a hyper-technologized future, but also, more implicitly, an attempt to connect with the culture lost to twentieth century authoritarian cultural equalization (02) / As China stepped out of the dynastic era with the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the nation was forced to come to terms with the chaos of the international community that they were now a part of. Yet, in a matter of decades, plagued with a civil war and violent political power grab, China fell into yet another era of isolation and repression. It was not until the late 1970s that a new, economically-strengthened society emerged from the Cultural Revolution and, once again, reopened itself to the rest of the world. Simply put, economic development skyrocketed as China found itself on the front end of benefiting from a rapidly globalizing world economy, and as a result, technological innovation and an economic bubble propelled the nation to being the world’s current second largest economy (03) / Many parallels exist between today’s China, as it is perceived in the world’s imagination, and Japan in the 1980s and ‘90s, particularly because the concentration of futurist, cyberpunk, and y2k aesthetics became part of the mainstream artistic zeitgeist. However, many of the big productions and titles that came out of this era (Blade Runner and Akira come to mind)
are either pessimistic criticisms of technology enabling a hyper-militarized capitalist government to exploit the common man, or simply Orientalist depictions of a cold, robotic East Asia that threatens to overtake what’s left of Western moral virtue. Today’s Chinese ( “ sino ” ) futurism does not seem to exhibit such clear-cut tropes in its trends. Distinctly Chinese, a sense of national and cultural pride is tangible in mainstream Sinofuturist aesthetics. Chen Man, perhaps China’s most notable fashion photographer, is notable for photographing Western celebrities in styles that combine futurist and Eastern styles, almost as a celebration of how far China has advanced. The first time I met my friend, Jiajie “ Vivian ” Lyu, I was taken aback by how her personal style married distinctly Eastern elements and esoteric, blocky, and futuristic statement pieces. As a stylist and photographer at Parsons School of Design, she credits growing up in China and “ being born in 2000, on the cusp of the retro and the futuristic “ as the reason for why Chinese culture and futurism are inseparable in her work. For Vivian and many other young Chinese designers today, Sinofuturism is an opportunity to reunite the celebration of traditional Chinese aesthetics that were suppressed for much of the past century, with the accelerating growth of urban, modern society (04) / Most of the Sinofuturism emerging in the Chinese markets today is in the realm of art and fashion that is directly accessible to everyday consumers. The statement clothing items you can buy with one click on Taobao, the chrome jewelry promoted by influencers on social media, the office buildings’ glass curves that dot the skyline–Chinese futurism, in its current early stage, is still a representation of great optimism for the nation’s future, a hope embodied in the improvement in quality of life of the average citizen. Not even half a century ago, the vast majority of Chinese people were living in abject poverty, most farmers still practicing subsistence agriculture. Now, hardly a generation later, the wealthiest in the nation lead lives that their parents could not even dream of. The question of sustainability within China’s rapid-moving trend market is something that has, rightfully so, arisen as a concern. The consumer market in mainland China is driven by the state-run economy which has produced such unprecedented economic growth in the span of a few decades that the market for high-end goods and cutting-edge trends are constantly changing, leading to massive investment in fast-fashion and online retail softwares like Taobao (05)/ There is an inherent contradiction faced by nations like China that are embracing futurism. With the problematic Orientalist roots of East Asian futurism, the already concerning levels of pollution being emitted by a country the size of China, it is up to Chinese designers and consumers alike to change the narrative to be more sustainable, both culturally and environmentally. Margaret Zhang, Editor-in-Chief of China Vogue, in the first issue of 2022 highlights her team’s commitment to “ not only improve [their] own practices as an editorial team in the fashion industry, but also as individuals. ” Sinofuturism can only remain salient for as long as China has a future, one in which China’s culture is not absorbed by globalization’s compression of time-space and homogenization of regional features, and one in which the future is not overcome by irreversible environmental damage. If approached tactfully, Sinofuturism can be a vehicle to inspire such ethical progress; but, in the hands of unbridled capitalism, it may face the fate that so many other movements have faced and become yet another cash-grab for the reigning economic heavyweights. Perhaps this tentative optimism is best illustrated by China Vogue’s January 2022 issue slogan, in the motherland’s language: 心生万物 共续未来, or, “ The will of the heart births multitudes, advancing into a shared future ”
DIRECTOR Olivia Treynor PHOTOGRAPHER Olivia Wein MODELS Jade Kennedy, Mariel Prevost & Samantha Rosen
STYLISTS Cynthia Chen,
Isabella Korunda, Olivia Shaw & Ines Perez MAKEUP ARTISTS Isabella Korunda, Samantha Rosen & Mason Harper PRODUCER Udonne Eke-Okoro WARDROBE Ella Mae, Stylists’ own MEDIEVAL CONSULTANT Molly Forrester SPECIAL THANKS Noelle Texiera, Maeve Cunningham & Nick Gershberg of the Barnard Greenhouse
when i play techno in my headphones that swallow my skull columbia university is my dance floor
teaching art in public school and now the children love Hilma Af Klimt and fingerpaint the new mural across the street
DIRECTOR & PRODUCER Mia Cucufate PHOTOGRAPHER Vielka R. Ebadan MODELS Madeliene Madsen, Rita Nguyen & G. Ismael Perez STYLISTS Cianna Boayue, Mia Cucufate, Isabela Garzon & Tamara Sarpong
MAKEUP ARTISTS Rita Nguyen & Leila Tarabein HAIR STYLIST Madeleine Madsen NAIL ARTIST Leah Overstreet SPECIAL THANKS K. Magnusdottir McComish & Olivia Treynor
EDITORI am 10 years old, forcing my family to watch another fashion documentary during our Saturday movie night. This time, we are watching “The September Issue”, which documents the behind-the-scenes process of putting together the September issue of American Vogue. My eyes are glued to the screen, intently studying the world of fashion, filled with dark stares, uncomfortable clothing, and unabashed exclusivity. Three minutes into the documentary, a new character emerges. At a meeting with a makeupfree, sweatshirt-wearing Vera Wang sits Andre Leon Talley in a full suit, fur throw, and dark sunglasses. He is unlike anyone I had ever seen before. Like most of us, Andre makes small talk with his work colleagues by discussing the weather. But unlike most, Andre has a very distinctive way of discussing even the most mundane of topics. “First of all, it has been a very bleak week this far,” Talley exclaims to Wang, “It’s been bleak-street over here in America.” Wang tries to give Talley a high five, but he continues, “You know what, it’s a famine of beauty! My eyes are starving for beauty!”
an essay by Orlie May-
André Leon Talley spent the 73 years of his life searching for beauty. As a six foot seven Black man with a wide frame and electrifying, boisterous laugh, this obsession and longing for beauty translates into everything he did. Talley grew up in Durham, North Carolina and was raised by his grandmother, a maid for the nearby Duke University. The racism that Talley experienced growing up amidst the Jim Crow era motivated him to look for places of escape in literature, clothing, and magazines. Talley stumbled across his first issue of Vogue in the Durham public library and was soon taken down a rabbit hole of imagination. Still, Talley knew the escapism that he found in Vogue was unable to shield him from the day to day reality of being a Black man in America. As Talley recalled in the documentary “The Gospel According to André,” after attending church one sunday afternoon as a teen, white Duke university students threw rocks at him for crossing their campus in order to buy a copy of Vogue at the local newsstand.
White
ATLARGE
In school, Talley was the flamboyant closeted queer, and despite being bullied for his eclectic style, he studied hard and earned a scholarship to Brown University’s graduate program. Once he arrived at Brown, he finally found a place to dress as exquisitely as his heart desired amongst the community of art students across the street at the Rhode Island School of Design. With a diploma in French literacy and a mind filled with bombastic references to bygone high societies, he was overeducated and eager, ready to break into the industry in New York City. Talley became an unpaid volunteer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute under Diana Vreeland, the infamous and powerful editor who managed American Vogue for many decades in the 20th century. As the story goes, the fashion industry titan noticed André at work, called him into her room, and decided to take
him under her wing. In 1983, André landed his first job at Vogue, which he remained professionally tethered to for the rest of his life. Looking at André’s life as someone who was born without access, weath, white privilege, to someone who supposedly played tennis in a diamond-encrusted Piaget watch and dined at Karl Lagerfeld’s vacation home at the height of his career, one might be tempted to think that André’s life plays out like a modern day fairy tale. However, anyone equipped with even the most basic critical thinking skills from a Barnard education will be able to see that this narrative is simply a fantasy, ignoring the presence that racism and capitalism play in the fashion industry and American culture at large.
For someone whose life was defined by work, Talley’s career brought a lifestyle of in close proximity to material beauty, rather than the more substantive, soul sustaining beauty he was ultimately searching for. As Talley recalled in an interview with Terry Gross in 2017, “I live in a giltplated hell.” To reach his level of influence in fashion, Talley had to devote his entire adult life to his career. He never fell in love. He never had a long-term relationship. Further, he was never properly compensated for all of his hard work. He was paid significantly less than his white counterparts, and despite working his way into some of the most coveted rooms, parties, and runway shows, he was always working under the shadow of someone else in power. From Diana Vreeland to Anna Wintour, André was tossed around by fashion’s most coveted players but never allowed to lead any major creative projects of his own. (Later in his life, Talley would refer to his relationship with Anna Wintour to be “parasitic”, as she had even admitted that André knew far more about fashion history than she did and yet he always remained her number two.)
Talley did what he could to bring a Black creative voice to fashion, most notably flipping racial hierarchies in a 1996 Vanity Fair cover shoot of Gone With The Wind where Black people embodied wealth and power, white people were employed as their servants, and Naomi Campbell was recast as Scarlett O’Hara. However, once he earned a reputation as a major gatekeeper in the world of fashion, he undoubtedly relished in the lavish elitism of fashion’s most exclusive circles rather than outwardly pushing for ways to dismantle its snobbish nature. (Then again, nobody else was, either.) Talley spent his career conforming to the systemic limitations of fashion, but all of his hard work did not earn him the reputation and respect in the industry that he deserved. In recent years, Vogue decided to move in a new direction and cut ties with Talley, whose many roles were replaced by newer, younger, social media savvy characters who offered clicks and views rather than historical and technical expertise to Vogue publications. Talley died alone in a White Plains hospital earlier this year, having just settled publicized eviction charges and having been dismissed and discarded by the very institutions he upheld for most of his life.
For his name to appear in Vogue, Talley had to navigate not only the dark stares, uncomfortable clothing, and unabashed exclusivity of fashion, but also the unchartered territories of exclusion and oppression that plague access and entry into the industry for marginalized groups. His path created a unique clearing for people of color in an uphill mountain one must climb to get to the top of the fashion hierarchy. Rather than in a copy of Vogue magazine someone might find collecting dust in a public library, it will be in this group of people that Talley’s legacy will ultimately persist.
Looking back at “The September Issue‘’ documentary, in the moments before Talley is introduced, a young Ghanian-British man in thick black glasses mumbles over the phone that Anna Wintour is not satisfied with the photos of an upcoming Vogue spread. While he is not mentioned in the documentary, he is Edward Enninful, who, 8 years later, became the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue, breaking racial barriers and reaching new heights that Talley was not able to achieve in his own decades-long career. In a tribute to Talley posted on instagram, Edward worte, “R.I.P dearest André. Without you, there would be no me. Thank you for paving the way.”
ANDRÉ LEONTALLEY
urban cowboy wasteland
DIRECTOR & PHOTOGRAPHER Kendall Bartel MODELS Sydney Bambardekar, Vasco Graça, Kofi Meighan & Anne Sappenfield
STYLISTS Natalie Bawkin, Claire Easton & Arden Pochna PRODUCERS Claire Easton & Emma Nisonson
MAKEUP ARTIST Arden Pochna WARDROBE Claire Easton
CLOTHING Vivienne Westwood, Save the Queen, Basketcase Gallery, No Savior NYC, Stylists’ own
SPECIAL THANKS Maya Bluthenthal, Maura Mulholland & Ash’aa Khan
no one at this party knows i’m wearing Rick Owens geobaskets rn
when i get my Miu Miu skirt i will have a big heart and great vibes
personality in your pocket
DIRECTOR Celeste Ramirez PHOTOGRAPHER Haley Cao PRODUCER Oscar Ortiz MODELS Ashe Lewis, Oscar Ortiz & Mariame Sissoko
DIGITAL EDITORS Joyce Jiang & Oscar Ortiz
STYLISTS Ashe Lewis, Oscar Ortiz, Mariame Sissoko & Celeste Ramirez
MAKEUP ARTIST Khushi Bisht SPECIAL THANKS Jennifer Guizar,
Cristina Herrera, Barbara Whitehurst & Barnard Mujeres
the charli xcx concert just smelled like vape juice and poppers
i got covid at kind regards
dream house
blending the bedroom & the body
DIRECTOR & PRODUCER Erin Ikeuchi PHOTOGRAPHER Jane Mok MODELS Justice Rossman & Samia STYLIST Noelle Nafus MAKEUP ARTIST Gianna Bianchi CLOTHING Hope Vaughan
growing beets on the roof under two moons and we hear a saxophone playing jazz notes
bring me optimism in a cup painted by Masayasu Uchida
Editorial Board
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Erin Ikeuchi & Emma Nisonson COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Olivia Treynor DESIGN DIRECTOR Claire Easton ART DIRECTOR Lauren Onelum TREASURER Mia Cucufate MANAGING EDITOR Beiren Zhu WEB DIRECTOR Joyce Jiang SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Tamara Sarpong EVENTS DIRECTOR Barbara Whitehurst
Contributors Anne Sappenfield Arden Pochna Ashe Lewis Ash’aa Khan Barnard Mujeres Celeste Ramirez Cianna Boayue Cristina Herrera Cynthia Chen Ella Mae Gianna Bianchi Haley Cao Hope Vaughan Henry Abrams Ines Perez Isabela Garzon Isabella Korunda Jade Kennedy
Jane Mok Molly Forrester Jennifer Guizar Natalie Bawkin Journey AI Nick Gershberg Justice Rossman Noelle Nafus K. MagnusdottirNoelle Texeira McComish Olivia Shaw Kendall Bartel Olivia Wein Khushi Bisht Orlie May-White Kofi Meighan Oscar Ortiz Leah Overstreet Pedro Damasceno Leila Tarabein Rita Nguyen Madeleine Madsen Samantha Rosen Maeve Cunningham Samia Mariame Sissoko Sophie Moore Mariel Prevost Sydney Bambardekar Mason Harper Udonne Eke-Okoro Maura Mulholland Vasco Graça Maya Bluthenthal Vielka R. Ebadan
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