Imitation of Life

is copying a part of the creative process?
this could be the question everybody should be asking after a sort of dissapointing ny fashion week.
everybody has taken it on marc jacobs: the two hours delay in his show, the supposed drinks at the mercer, the backwards show , the similarities on his collection with the works of martin margiela and rei kawakubo, the shoes from junko shimada and the "hommage" to the old skool vans in his marc by marc show.
but have you noticed everybody is copying everybody these day? some call it references but some others is a vulgar copy. and i'm not protesting about high fashion retailers such as h&m, zara, gap or forever 21 which are just cheaper versions of what have been seen on the runways, but other great, expensive with loads of publicity designers.
my example today is phillip lim and his 3.1. collection. I must say i like the subtle way lim creates his clothes. his spring 2007 collection and then fall were great at my eyes. but why this was so lame this season? why did he imitate chistopher kane (who already was channeling gianni versace's early 90's work) marc jacobs (who's been said to be just a recollector of vintage finds) and madame grès (a great reference but too overused). here i'm not trying to defend marc, nor copying. i'm just asking myself: is there anything new in fashion anyways?

the evidences of phillip lim's lack of imagination:

the lenght, style and hem of christopher kane for spring and fall 2007





channeling marc's post it dress circa 2003



the too obvious madame grès reference

The Stylish Video or How Much Roisin Murphy Loves Gareth Pugh and Avant-Garde Designers

ok maybe you will say i'm a little bit obssesed with miss roisin murphy. the true is i really never liked her very much. when she was in moloko i barely could stand sing it back. i know now i dance it whenever it's spun, but back then i wasn't crazy about that song. she looked to me like another funny chubby singer. then it came the ramalamayanmanan thingy. not into it neither.
but what happened? she changed... her music is probably a little bit catchier for me, less funky more disco. overpowered her new album is about to hit the stores next month and almost two months ago she released her first single which i posted here. in the cover of the overpowered single she was wearing a viktor & rolf total look with spotlights and clogs included (for those who don't know viktor & rolf are some of my favorite designers). for the video of that single she wore british uncomprenhesible rick owens protegé gareth pugh. and she must adore him. for her second single -let me know- guess what she is wearing for the artwork in the cover? aha! yeah! another of the strange pugh's desings. in the video, a disco diner extravaganza, murphy chooses another of the great designers of the last decades, the unknown martin margiela, but she doesn't leave aside her pal gareth and takes a transparent trenchcoat of his latest collection to put it over the simplicity of margiela's work.
well let's check the artwork and dance while watching the video.

Old Skull

when everybody thought the skull and crossbones mania had been left in the past, and you all had hidden and denied your skelleton crush, there comes the $ 100 million man and makes you think to give it a second chance. after being the symbol of 2006 hipster summer, the skull has been re-edited by one of the greats of the contemporary art. the man who makes the tate museum to buy him a shark, the man who makes colored spots pictures, the man of the pills hanging in the zillionares walls and the man of the fucking diamond skull. yeah! damien hirst now has a clothing line. well in theory it's not his, but it does have his name tagged on it. last weekend the levi's factory x unveiled its collaboration with the british artist, and guess what? there were some skulls. skulls in tees, skulls in pendants, skulls in pants, skulls everywhere. i must admit i'm not into the skully thingy anymore, however i liked some of the old school looks with a little bit sixities hip: the zippery jeans, the hats (damn i look awful in hats), the wayfarers (the look that next year we all will be hiding) and some of the jackets. well the good news are that they don't cost $ 100 million like the infamous "masterpiece", but about $ 100. So those are affordable, wearable and collectible items. it's like wearing cheap art, ain't?
c'mon bitches support the richer!

the talented mr. hirst



the $ 100 million inspiration



the looks




what i would wear