W27 – SPRING 2022
Fashion Politics by Rebecca Yoo (ITM, ‘23)
Did anyone forget that one time Supreme released a brick as part of their collection? Because I haven’t forgotten about it since 2016. How does a block of deco sell for $1000+ upon release and who the hell is acknowledging the value of the brick by actually purchasing it? Or what about the banana taped on the wall for Art Basel in 2019? Well it’s selling for a soft $120,000 each banana and is currently showing at the Guggenheim. Yea, you heard that right. Some Italian artist took someone else’s spot by taping a banana to the wall and titling it “The Comedian.” Did the decaying piece of art deserve what the New York Times describes, “the Mona Lisa-like attention”? It’s like drawing a mustache on the legendary Mona Lisa. Oh wait, someone already did that. His name is Marcel Duchamp. He’s the one who scribbled the mustache on the Mona Lisa, and challenges work that seemingly has no value and questions the concept of “good art.” Duchamp was also notable for anonymously submitting a rotated urinal for an exhibition. The masses rejected such work. I mean I can’t deny, I probably would have too. How can someone sign “R. Mutt” on a urinal, call it the “Fountain,” and say, “Ah-ha! This, right here, is a piece of art!” You might as well tape a banana on it and call it “The Comedian Too.” But, whether you believe it or not, Duchamp influenced the sphere in which we acknowledge art. Duchamp taught a revolution in which we interpret art, not by seeing, but by
conceptually THINKING. Andrew Weinstein, professor of Art History at FIT, hails Duchamp “as the grandfather, the foundational figure for all of modern art.” We can thank the urinal’s spirit of rebellion for some of our greatest artists, Andy Warhol to name one, but also trickling down to inspire the fashion figures we know today. Raf Simons introduces minimalism in the 90s gaudy world of Versace. Almost a decade later, Supreme introduces high-quality casual skate wear meant to actually last. And, Virgil Abloh (R.I.P. Virgil was here) introduces a longer and looser-fit tailoring in the ‘18 menswear of Louis Vuitton. Abloh told Vox that his, “generation was interested in fashion [but] weren’t supposed to be there.” They never met European standards. Emerging designers break the status quo and rebel with an iconographic sensibility to their work. Steven Pressfield writes in his book, “The War of Art”, that an artist’s “job in this lifetime is not to shape [themselves] into some ideal [they] imagine [they] ought to be, but to find out who [they] already are and become it.” At a time when European high fashion houses have traditionally dictated style and trend for decades, streetwear brands forged their entry anyway. Not only did they break down the barriers of entry, but expanded the fashion industry into a new competing sector called luxury streetwear. Evidently, Off-White now surpasses notable gatekeeping brands
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