“Fashion can be about confirmation, of self and others. But it is also about anxiety, ambiguity and worry. As an aid to understanding psychological complexities it is unsurpassed.”
“Fashion is intensely personal, in the same way that poetry is intensely personal. It is a medium through which personal stories can be told, memories re-lived and futures foretold.”
Many see fashion as only clothing, and of designers as only seamstresses, making garments that only answer to the demands of the customer. Yet both of these aphorisms suggests that every garment is created with a thought in mind; that every garment holds a certain memory to its maker. That fashion is ones’ way of telling a story. An image that can be portrayed to the viewers. Fashion, according to these aphorisms, is immensely personal, both for the designer and the customer. However, even though a garment is a personal memory, it is also greatly public. A designer chooses to showcase their deepest thoughts and inspirations for the whole world to see; a customer chooses to wear and identify with a memory that is in a garment.
Another assumption that is made in regards to fashion, is that it usually comes from a shallow point of view, that the inspiration for the garment is not likely to be a painful memory or a vulnerable breakpoint.
Both of these aphorisms show fashion at its vulnerable state. They present it as not just a public show of wealth and style- they ignore the glorious and glamorous facade of the fashion industry, and instead present the pain and darkness behind a garment. I agree with these aphorisms since as a designer I know that my inspiration can come from a place of pain.
