Distressed Clothing: Offensive or Just Fashion?

Distressed Clothing: Offensive or Just Fashion? - The Wall Street Journal

Distressed Clothing: Offensive or Just Fashion? - The Wall Street Journal
From rainbow lashes to pigs: this week’s fashion trends - The Guardian
What If Fashion Was Good for the Planet? - The Cut
Look of the Week: The fashion utopia of 'San Junipero' - SYFY WIRE
Fashion - Jean-Paul Gaultier bids farewell to Haute Couture - FRANCE 24

Distressed Clothing: Offensive or Just Fashion? - The Wall Street Journal

Posted: 24 Jan 2020 09:13 AM PST

DISTRESSED TO IMPRESS Clothing destroyed to varying degrees reigned on the street during recent Paris... — DISTRESSED TO IMPRESS Clothing destroyed to varying degrees reigned on the street during recent Paris fashion weeks Photo: Getty Images

Michelle Ruiz

January 24, 2020

WHEN GOLDEN Goose sneakers first began sweeping Megan Saustad's suburban Dallas neighborhood last year, the fashion blogger and mother of three hesitated. Launched in 2007 but more prevalent than ever, the Italian-made low-tops ornamented with sparkles and stars are "crazy expensive," she wrote on her website, Truly Megan. The sneakers, which start at $425, come either chicly "pre-scuffed" or just plain dirty, depending on your ability to see flaws as endearing.

After trying on a pair, Ms. Saustad warmed to the manufactured grit on her toes. "The intrigue…is they're not perfect," she ventured. "People don't want to see perfect clothes anymore. They want to see well-loved, tattered clothes."

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Judging from the scores of "well-loved" clothes on runways and in stores, she's right. From torn Acne jeans to artfully beat-up Frye boots and R13 leather jackets whose sleeves appear to have been cat-clawed, there's clearly a market for purposefully aged fashion. Designers including Junya Watanabe and Rokh have recently sent patchworked or frayed pieces down Paris runways. Search "distressed" on e-commerce site Net-a-Porter and hundreds of jeans, shoes, sweaters and T-shirts pop up. At this point, the concept of pre-ripped denim is rather long in the tooth, but ravaged pieces continue to trend, finding fans well outside New York and Los Angeles. Advocates of the style argue that it conveys a certain effortless edge. "It absolutely gives off a cool factor," Ms. Saustad said. "If I'm wearing my distressed leather jacket and I get dirt on it, it just makes it more authentic and less stuffy."

If overly crisp jeans or a stiff new jacket leave you feeling awkward, already-broken-in fashion is an antidote. "Having dirt on your sneakers, or holes in your jeans, kind of makes you look more blasé," said Starling Irving, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based writer and photographer.

"People like seeing themselves through the lens of an old Polaroid," Ms. Irving said. But breaking in a pair of high-waisted jeans or sturdy boots takes time, and in 2020's on-demand, same-day-shipping culture, many people lack the patience or the skill to lop off their own denim hems in a compelling way. "We live in a need-it-now culture," said New York fashion stylist and consultant Solange Franklin. "So, of course you want to fast-forward through the five years it takes to make that mold to your body."

These self-conscious exercises in instant fakery offend fashion insiders who value authenticity. "Something that's pre-dirtied and at a high price point does insult me slightly," said New York fashion stylist and consultant Laura Zapata. She added that clothes blasted to look old can feel contrived. "These larger, mass-market brands are just trying to jump on the whole vintage bandwagon."

Critics also find it unseemly to co-opt the look of poverty. Fashion can have a way of romanticizing grungy, struggling-artist types, and while Ms. Franklin noted that it's hardly a crime to spring for Golden Goose sneakers, it can be "strange to seek humility in luxury items…when people who are actually struggling and who have holes in their jeans because they can't afford to buy new jeans don't think that that's cool."

Nor is it necessarily savvy shopping. For those seeking the weather-beaten look, Ms. Zapata advises springing for trendy, pre-distressed styles at lower price points and restricting big outlays to quality pieces that can age with you. "Ultimately it's a smarter move, and a better use of your cash, to buy classic items," and let them organically weather and develop personality over time. Yes, it's a process that takes much longer, but earning your rips, tears and scuffs can be sweet sartorial satisfaction. "It's like a little pride stamp on your clothing," Ms. Zapata said.

Alternately, there's always vintage, which boasts sustainability, a less contrived aesthetic and the bonus of human connection. "Each item has a history and former owners who made memories in them before passing them along," said Ms. Irving, who prefers vintage to prematurely destroyed clothing for its authenticity.

Ms. Saustad has found, however, that her Golden Goose sneakers deliver plenty of warm fuzzies, and not just because some of the brand's offerings come shearling-lined. When she wears the imperfect sneakers, they make her chill out, too. "I'm a little more relaxed in my distressed Golden Goose and leather jacket," she said. Since they're already aged, "I can be less concerned about upkeep. I can just be me."

THE AGED RANGE / CURRENT DESIGNS RANKED FROM MILDLY DISTRESSED TO STARTLINGLY RATTY

Photo: F. Martin Ramin/ The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Taking grunge literally, this piece has subtle hem holes. Sweater, $295, marcjacobs.com

This bright take on a button-up has un-preppy frayed hemlines. Shirt, $128, ralphlauren.com

Can something bedraggled be work-appropriate? Skirt, $1,235, Maison Margiela, 212-989-7612

This blazer defies formality with stringy hems. Jacket, $2,790, Thom Browne, 212-633-1197

Those intentionally dirty kicks. Golden Goose Shoes, $605, shopbop.com

R13, known for its distressing, happily hacked away at this denim skirt. $450, R13.com

Will this cardigan leave your reputation in tatters? Balmain Sweater, $2,295, net-a-porter.com

The Wall Street Journal is not compensated by retailers listed in its articles as outlets for products. Listed retailers frequently are not the sole retail outlets.

More in Style & Fashion

From rainbow lashes to pigs: this week’s fashion trends - The Guardian

Posted: 23 Jan 2020 11:00 PM PST

Going up

Rootin'-tootin' Everyone from Margot Robbie to Saoirse Ronan and Michelle Pfeiffer rocked dark hair roots at the Golden Globes.

Vulvas and exorcisms Together in one TV show! Gwyneth Paltrow's Netflix offering, The Goop Lab, launched yesterday. Bingeworthy.

Stormzy v Wiley The first beef of 2020! See Stormzy's new diss track Disappointed.

Rainbow lashes As seen on the AW20 menswear catwalk at Xander Zhou. Flutter, flutter.

Asda's vegan avocado cake. — Yum! Asda's vegan cake

Novelty cakes See the M&S classic Colin the Caterpillar, and now Asda's smiley vegan avocado-shaped chocolate cake. Too adorbs to eat. Almost.

Going down

Blue light From phones, laptops etc. Enter blue light-blocking glasses, which – anecdotally, at least – are a godsend. Stylish, too.

Pancakes Usurped by Sri Lankan egg hoppers – on menus from Little Lanka in Stockport to London chain Hoppers – and taking over our socials. Delish.

Ice cubes in cereal À la Kiss musician Gene Simmons, who revealed his preferred breakfast combo on Twitter. It's a no from us.

Valentine's lingerie The new Christmas jumper. To wit: buy clothes you can wear all year round.

Doggos From @christopher_the_pig to @mybestfriendhank, pigs are taking over as the Insta animal of choice. It's a hog's life.

What If Fashion Was Good for the Planet? - The Cut

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:14 PM PST

Photo: Christian Vierig/Getty Images

There's been a lot of talk recently about sustainable fashion, but not a lot of consensus about what it means. Gucci uses carbon offsets to make itself "carbon neutral"; Reformation uses deadstock or recycled fabrics; Stella McCartney uses a faux fur made from corn. When Everlane launched its "no new plastics" campaign, it was met first with praise for using only recycled polyesters and plastics, then with criticism because all polyesters (even recycled ones) still shed microfibers, which end up in our food, water, and rain when clothes are washed. There are so many tactics and not enough evidence about what actually works. But the clock is ticking, so what do we do?

It's too big of a question to answer in a single blog post, of course, but I'm intrigued by the topic of the Study Hall conference next week: climate positivity. Study Hall hosts talks on sustainability throughout the year, with one big global summit annually. This one asks us to envision a world in which fashion is not only not actively harmful to the planet, but actually beneficial. In light of the Everlane debacle, it's a tall ask.

Céline Semaan, the founder of Study Hall and its parent company, Slow Factory, says that even clothes made from new materials can be climate positive if they're circular or "will act as nutrients for the soil." For her, this is more than just a thought exercise; it's a way of figuring out how to marry fashion's whims with hard scientific evidence. "We felt the need to define what we mean by sustainability," she said. "We're trying to help companies understand that whatever they do needs to be measured, and needs to have a scientific approach applied to it."

Among the conversations at the January 31 conference will be one on whether leather is really sustainable, featuring the biofabrication company Bolt Threads, which makes lab-grown fabrics. Scientist Robin Bell will talk about climate offsetting, a divisive issue in the fashion industry right now. The most star-studded panel is on women in sustainable leadership, featuring panelists Yara Shahidi, Tina Knowles, and "Little Miss Flint" activist Mari Copeny, among others. The day ends with a conversation titled "We Are Not Sustainable" with executives from Timberland and G-Star Raw. A cynic could look at all of this — at sustainable fashion in general — and ask, "Why not just close down the industry?" Surely the world has enough clothes. But Semaan sees the good in fashion, even though she recognizes all of the harm it does.

"Austerity is not the answer. Even if we contract ourselves, we will still be emitting carbon dioxide," she says. "For us to problem-solve effectively through creativity and science, we're not going to be able to address that with austerity, this level of shame. People tell me, 'I feel powerless,' and I think that's because they approach it through fear. I'm not saying, 'Go buy clothes, go live an extravagant lifestyle,' but if you approach a problem through fear, you contract and limit yourself."

Is there a version of the fashion industry that's good for the world, not just neutral? "Absolutely," she says. Not convinced? Or just want to learn more? Study Hall is free and streaming on January 31, and a few tickets are still available here.

Look of the Week: The fashion utopia of 'San Junipero' - SYFY WIRE

Posted: 24 Jan 2020 01:30 PM PST

Welcome back to Look of the Week, celebrating the best in TV and film sartorial excellence, past and present across sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and other genre classics!

Black Mirror is rarely optimistic in its approach to how technology impacts and controls the way we live, but the love story at the heart of the Emmy-winning "San Junipero" takes a wildly different approach to the typically dystopian-leaning narrative. Instead, it explores a utopian existence that takes place somewhere between heaven and earth. No, this is not another version of purgatory, nor is it an exact representation of the Belinda Carlisle lyrics that play over the closing credits.

More Look of the Week

Starting with a meet-cute in an '80s bar, as the layers are peeled back, it is quickly established that all is not as it seems. A scene packed with extras who could've been in a John Hughes movie mirrors the desire to revisit clothing of the past and the cyclical nature of trends. This is a town dripping with sartorial nostalgia; the correlation between fashion and wish fulfillment within this episode ensures that Susie Coulthard's "San Junipero" costume design is the ideal candidate for the month of FANGRRLtopia.

"People try so hard to look how they think they should look. They probably saw it in some movie," Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) explains to Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) when discussing her less glamourous choice of outfit. Clothing acts as armor, no matter the setting, which is why Yorkie is wearing glasses, despite not needing them. "I figured they were kind of a fashion statement. But then the rest of your outfit is not," Kelly observes. The pleated khaki shorts, aqua striped sweater, and pink polo is part nerd, part preppy (or as Davis describes her, a "golf mom"), whereas everyone else in the bar has taken their cue from MTV or Molly Ringwald. In a reality in which most people are portraying an idealized version of themselves featuring their dream time capsule closet, Kelly tells Yorkie, "You're authentically you."

It is 1987, so Yorkie doesn't think she can be her true self in public, and her clothes are the only way she thinks she can be authentic. Flirting at the bar is fine, but she spirals when dancing with Kelly tips into intimacy. But this isn't actually 1987 — it is a time in the near future when the prejudices and fears of that decade no longer exist. It is the '80s without homophobia and the AIDS epidemic, a version of this decade in which you can dress like Janet Jackson or yourself. For the first time in her whole life, Yorkie can fly the flag of her sexuality without facing persecution. Nostalgia fuels this alternative reality, taking the best elements of clothes, music, and video games and indulging in this sentimental longing for the past.

The glamour of this era is portrayed in Kelly's sartorial confidence, including a stunning purple suede Versace jacket, which costume designer Susie Coulthard decked out with fringe and studs. Part Janet Jackson, part Prince — everything she wears could appear in a music video. Meanwhile, Yorkie's outfits are begging not to be regarded or analyzed, but Kelly is drawn to her normcore aesthetic. In attempting to remain invisible, Yorkie is seen for the first time in her life.

Glasses play a big role in character transformations, whether Clark Kent's attempt to hide his superhero persona or the classic teen movie makeover transformation from "ugly duckling" to knockout beauty. In Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins subverted both aspects of this trope when Etta Candy exclaimed, "Really? Specs? And suddenly she's not the most beautiful woman you've ever seen." Yorkie does eventually leave her non-prescription pair behind, but only after she has crossed over to San Junipero full time; she no longer needs the comfort they once provided.

This episode turns the classic makeover scenario on its head by showing Yorkie experiment with three quintessentially 1987 outfits, from a very Molly Ringwald pink frock to a severe black suit/slicked-back hair approach straight out of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love." In San Junipero, you can wear any outfit of your dreams, but for Yorkie, this means comfort over pop culture references. Her actual life was barely lived because the moment of freedom after coming out to her conservative parents was brief: A car accident left her bedridden for the next 40 years of her life. Rather than play dress-up as someone else, she wears the outfits that make her feel at ease.

1987 isn't the only year Coulthard had to conceive for the central couple and background actors, but as with real life, clothes might change in silhouette but we often stick to a similar palette, regardless of era. Pink and aqua pastel shades combined with denim provide a throughline for Yorkie, whereas gold and purple are Kelly's go-to tones. Even with an endless array of options for bar hopping and dancing, habits are hard to break.

And while these two characters clearly don't share a closet, the costume mirroring between Kelly and Yorkie in an emotionally triumphant scene visually provides a tether between these characters.

Nostalgia fuels this simulation, which we learn in the second half of the episode is a simulated reality filled with the dead (residents) and the sick (tourists). Some of the therapy is used for patients with Alzheimer's, but others are offered a test drive to see where they can go after they have passed on. Another form of an afterlife or paradise might exist, but there is a risk of nothingness. In San Junipero, you know what you are getting.

It might be a place without fear of prejudice, but the path to true love doesn't run smoothly even in a utopian setting. Heartbreak can occur on what is meant to be a joyous occasion. '80s wedding dresses are a very specific kind of over-the-top that no other decade has managed to top. Kelly looks incredibly cool and effortless, Yorkie is awkward in the leg-of-mutton sleeves — she quickly ditches the hair accessory. Coulthard made two unique gowns out of the same material, tying the woman together through fashion. A wedding is an ultimate fairy tale fantasy, so it is notable that this day ends in a huge argument and the kind of car crash that paralyzed Yorkie.

But this is not your typical Black Mirror and this love story ends with an uplifting resolution, not with wedding dresses but in a fabulous gold jacquard jacket, and simple jeans and T-shirt. Dancing and loving out loud, they are not with the stars but instead the flickering lights of a machine, free to dress and live how they desire. Maybe heaven is a place on earth after all.

Fashion - Jean-Paul Gaultier bids farewell to Haute Couture - FRANCE 24

Posted: 24 Jan 2020 08:36 AM PST

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