Fashion Philosophical Statement
My Fashion Philosophical Statement
Vivienne Westwood and Yves Saint Laurent are famous designers that pushed the envelopes in their own manner in order to create their fashion collections that created bold statements and still manage to be able to be something that was something theirs and not just something what the times wanted them to be. Starting out in the seventies, Westwood’s designs not only succeeded in managing to stand for dressing the famous band, Sex Pistols, but her look in general made her a fashion icon for the look of punk rock in the seventies. When the eighties rolled around, she continued to push the envelope that basically described what became a Vivienne Westwood design including one of her famous pieces that is called the “Mini-Crini” skirt that was inspired by Victorian times. Meanwhile Saint Laurent started out by working for the elder Christian Dior and eventually taking over as head designer of his company at just the age of twenty-one. He created looks that were still with the times but was also known to create original looks such as a sharp pantsuit collection that were made for women called “Le Smoking.” Which has never been done before. In 1983, he soon became the first designer to be granted a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum Of Arts.
Both Westwood and Saint Laurent have their common ground as well as differences. For example, both designers did make pieces that made them iconic. Westwood made her Mini-Crini skirt and Laurent made his androgynous suits for women. And they are all about giving women a direction that both was different from what society expects of them and making them feel empowered by it instead of shaming them for it. But they stand apart from each other on different things. One is of course the type of styles they create. Westwood’s style is more punk rock and gothic, and has only recently been making clothing for men this year. While Saint Laurent has more of following the styles and times in his clothing compared to hers and had beat her to the track when he made his first menswear collection in 2005 seven years before his death in 2012.
Westwood and Saint Laurent set precedences with being the fashion icons that they have on the industry. They broke rules pertaining to fashion designs for women and put out designs that baffled people for years to come but also gained a following from those who demanded change.
During her first menswear collection, Westwood relates her fashion to the current issues that we face in the oncoming years with her bold designs about the environmental problems we face in the U.S and responded about her designs with, “meant to be the noughts which endlessly multiply money by 10 over and over. We only need a few to save the rainforest but billions disappear every day in global inflation.” She has been the one to know that when something needs to change or that a bold statement is needed to be said, she knows she has to be the one to make it in her own way because if not her than who. Even when she had stated a stance against buying too much which is a risky tactic on her part since she is suppose to sell clothes, she wasn’t threatened by it. She believed that people should be able to choose and buy well but not overdo it.
When Saint Laurent had stated, “Fashions fade, style is eternal.” He knew the truth about created by the demands and the events of the decades. But he also knew that people wanting make a fashion statement is always going to remain on so many levels. While yes he creates more with the times instead of Westwood’s, he still makes bold enough statements to make his fashion creations memorable for many years to come and making sure his pieces that made him iconic like the single button double breasted overcoat still remains in his shows. His 1971 collection was one of the most famous collections to be displayed in modern history thanks to influences of Picasso in his work. When it originally displayed, people hated it because of how outside the box it was and it caused quite a scandal. It drew inspiration from the war and it was considered to be Paris’ ugliest collections. Despite this it did not prevent Saint Laurent from still being considered a fashion icon. In defending his collection, he stated about his attackers to be, “narrow-minded petty people paralysed by taboos. But I am also stimulated because that which shocks is new. Perhaps it did not please certain press or American buyers – but it pleased youth, and that is what counts for me. Fashion is a reflection of its time." His collection put fashion on the path that made the seventies the iconic era that it was. He didn’t care if there was people that didn’t like what he made. He was glad to even take a risk at all.
When it comes to their influence, it's become even more relevant and felt by the millennials. More and people are turning to choose something that makes a statement about who they are as a person and who they choose to represent. And as fashion designers that don't often play the rules, they are popular and still talked about today. It has an influence on me. I know that fashion is about being bold and choosing to make a statement. Some people have to break the rules just enough to show that something is within reach instead of beyond it and it makes me think what I want my statement to be.
My Philosophical Statement:
Warped is a collection that incompasses everything that is about the weird and the whimsical. The story behind Warped is throwing imagination into the game that takes elements from the seventies. Growing up my values are placed that I will never give up my imagination. I've always been a writer on the side and the idea of being able to bring concepts of worlds that only exists in one’s mind into the real world is something that I want to portray as a fashion designer.
Warped includes a mixture of fantasy elements in both design and color that is psychedelic. Not only will it be something not of this world but something that should belong in this world. It allows the person to have free movement and be comfortable while still looking fashionable.
What I want to bring to Warped is that people can see that you don't need to be wearing uncomfortable outfits and in order to pull off a fashionable look. I'm talking skirts that don't have to be tight and extremely short. Hoodies that don't have to look like it's only meant for the gym but also can be fashionable. I want to utilize looser silhouettes and fabrics that have less restrictions, but still use unique colors and patterns that make them stand out. Which makes me inspired by the seventies. This collection is about stepping out of the comfort zone in terms of fashion but still being all about comfort. Warped is going to be something from out of this world.
Works Cited
"Artist & Design Philosophy Statements." Artist and Design Philosophy Statements | Fashion Institute of Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June 2017.
Conti, Samantha. "Vivienne Westwood Men’s Spring 2018." WWD. N.p., 12 June 2017. Web. 16 June 2017.
"Yves Saint Laurent's 1971 collection shocked the world - but changed the direction of fashion." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 16 June 2017.
