Archives for July 2018

The God Pan is to blame for the ugly dad sneaker craze

July 28, 2018 by Aynura Maye

Ah, luxury beauty – how far you could stretch yourself? Who’d guess the ugly and dirty sneakers of my dad, which he didn’t even bother to clean the mud lumps off would be a piece of luxury that I cannot afford. Phew!

But there is only one creature to blame and that is the God Pan! How? Stick to the display, I am going to give an important secret to you.

Gucci sneakers - ugly sneaker trend. Photo: Internet — Gucci sneakers – ugly sneaker trend. Photo: Internet

The paradox – love and hate for the ugly sneakers

Almost for the whole July I’ve locked myself inside. I haven’t done it to avoid the summer heat, no, not for that. I am actually glued to my laptop to see what kind of looks walk down the runways. July is full of them. So are streetwear, fashion-less fashion and ugly sneakers. Also the paradox is too evident to miss – while the fashion houses from the most luxury ones to the most affordable ones are racing to grab an opportunity out there, almost everybody talks about the experimental streetwear craze and even fatigue! Even some new expressions are being coined – “the uglier the better”. If people are tired of it, then why there is so much craze about it? Or why so much negativity while it actually sells so well? From where this paradox breeds?

Ugly sneakers trend – Loewe. Photo: Internet

Very puzzling…until one discovers the Pan’s syndrome.

The God Pan is back … in the ugly shoe business

Rooted at the preference of the main clientele and boosted by the commercial targets of the luxury fashion houses, this craze has gained such a magnitude that it can only be explained by the Pan’s syndrome – the syndrome of mass agitation.

Who’d know the word panic derives from the name of the God Pan, a little hairy, horny, semi-animal, semi-human fellow. The God Pan with its panic-inducing screams symbolize an important aspect of our nature – our tendency to fall victim to the feeling of agitation, instinctual fight-flight state of mind that overrides logic and reasoning. Worse, this agitation very easily spreads and becomes mass panic – like a contagious disease. It talks about the instinctual survival state of mind and how easy it is to cause agitation in the masses.

Ugly shoe trend, Balenciaga crocs. Photo: Internet

How it applies to the streetwear, dad sneaker craze and simultaneous fatigue? The digital disruption has turned the societal pyramid upside down. The fashion industry hasn’t been exempt either. The layer that couldn’t get its voice out there now has gotten to the top. The influencers who wear sneakers in objection to the too-restricting, too-elusive, too-refined taste of the fashion houses have a wider reach than the elusive fashion magazines. And these influencers are capable to influence obviously to the most connected, most-exposed generation – the millenials, who naturally prefers destructive, “no-rules” over discipline and structure (no offence to anybody, we are talking about the behavioral patterns that the levels of hormones cause at that age frame).

Now, this is one side of the coin. The other side is the fashion houses and their commercial goals.

You have my sympathy, the renowned designers of fine taste!

No matter how much the fashion designers of the most refined taste may loath those bumpy sneakers and streetwear deep in their hearts, pressed against the sales targets, they have to not only adjust, but push for more sales of what already sells. So this is a two way-street – somehow the destructive taste of the main cluster of the clientele teamed up with the aggressive communication strategy of the luxury fashion houses to boost sales has caused something unstoppable. What can be explained with the Pan’s syndrome only – mass agitation. This has made even the most elusive fashion houses take the fight-flight attitude for survival. Almost everybody complains about the craze, yet everybody follows the trend. Even wants to get ahead.

The exemplary situation of mass panic – all hate it, yet all do it because there is no other solution in sight. We are blinded by our own instinctual agitation. Long live, elegance!

Destruction a la couture or the mirror effect of our disturbing collective mental state

July 17, 2018 by Aynura Maye

The couture week is just over. Yet my Instagram feed overflows with all types of photos from the couture runway – blurry, well-defined, complete look, details– anything. Only today, after the fashion week is over I’ve realized what is common about the majority of these photos – they are mostly about the pieces of the conventional couture. A complete work of meticulous design and craftsmanship. And we have witnessed the unmistakable comeback of elegance and the determination of the “old-timers” to strike back the streetwear craze. What is not getting that much instacoverage is the theme that has been running quietly but steadily along the week – the destruction. What is more interesting is how this theme made up its way up to the couture runway – the parade of the delightful extravaganza of the year.

Maison Margiela couture 2018 fall. Photo: Internet

It makes one wonder what is happening? Is the conventional concept of couture slipping away even more? Are we redefining the nature of the couture craftsmanship? The overlayered and sometimes irrelevant pieces that walked down the runway sometimes blankly made no sense to me. And sometimes, it was the opposite – when you let go the initial prejudices, you see that this is the mirror reflection of our current state of mind – fragmented, detached, unaligned, lost and fast to forget – I apologize for my boldness. Really, the whole morning I’ve been contemplating about this…and I am inclined to reason it this way:

The pyramid upside-down

First came the influence from outside, then its repercussions inside the fashion. I mean, first came the change in the taste and trends with the technology and the millenials. There is no point in talking about this as it gets discussed every day. The pyramid is upside down on both fronts – with the technology the old, good days of “the elusive” is digitally gone – long ago. On top of it, the taste of the millennials has made the army of fashion designers to rethink the definition of beauty (and this includes calling the most ugly the most beautiful sometimes – again the ugly and the beautiful very relevant, I guess).

One shouldn’t be a psychologist to know that the years of youth are the times we all become self-destructive. We tear down all the barriers and restrictions that stand on our way of building our own identity. When there is no obvious barrier, our clothing is the one. With this peculiarity in mind, many established and establishing labels hit the road.

Art pieces on the runway

Now let’s see what happened inside – the repercussions of the outside influence. One thing is the influence coming from the outside, the other thing is how you wither it – you control it or lose it. This is the point I want to make. Whether you are on top of your designs or desperately lost in the flow. While writing this I can’t help making a metaphoric image in my mind where all the designers have found themselves flowing in the current that they do not know where it heads. Some have managed to keep their heads up and somehow control their positions. And the other category is lost, heads down flowing with the current with no sense of what will happen next.

That said, my impression of the deconstructive designs wasn’t univocal. My impression on certain pieces were that they were more than the intention to please the destructive taste of the millenials and the z-generation. They were a mirror to show how troubled and fragmented our mind has become. Did I find them beautiful? Esthetically, no. Did I find them fashionable? Maybe some pieces can be adapted or details maybe used. But, psychologically they were so relevant. I think an exhibition hall is a better place for those art pieces. But today the lines between the art and the fashion are getting so blurry, I do not even know if my thought is relevant at all. All in all, kudos to a fashion designer that has enough guts to evaluate, characterize and mirror his/her own time. It is a hard task and results should be rewarding.

Flowing with the current

But also, I’ve seen designs of destruction that do not seem to be either the mirror or the burst of the creative energy. It is counter-intuitive to talk against the romantic process of creation. But I can’t help imagining that other group of designers floating in the current heads down. In an ever increasing competition in the merciless world of fashion and in the situation where you never know what is beautiful, what is ugly, the stress of becoming successful most probably would cost some good deal of peace of mind to the designers. Especially the ones that are trying to get a voice in the Olympus, where the long-lived Titans have occupied the best spots. Some looks of the destructive fashion on the runway just emitted a silent cry of stressed out and desperate souls that lost the direction.

After all, we all are humans, learning to stop at the right moment is our life-time challenge. If a designer gives in and turns the internal sensors off, he/she kind of gets “blown away with the wind”. And it is so easy in the stressful world of fashion.

Yet, I think, sadly this is the way it is. Every new is born through destruction. The ones that will endure this period of destructive outburst, will shape the lines and shapes of the new concept of beauty.

Couture headpieces – anything from wild to flamboyant, but never a dumb thing!

July 11, 2018 by Aynura Maye

Last week on the couture runway we have seen the most creative headpieces so far – from the sublime veils to the most flamboyant masks of animals, flowers, you name. Actually, this is what has remained with me about this week – a parade of flashy headpieces and masks.

Paris Haute Couture Fall 2018. Schiaparelli. Photo: Internet

Even more interesting is the sky-high praises and affirmative reactions the luxury houses garnered for these obviously impractical pieces. In such a paradoxical moment the first thing comes to mind is “well, it is a couture week, no rules, no restrictions to the imagination”. Yes, let’s say that part is clear. But why so much positivity from the connoisseurs of fashion?

This article has originally appeared in Marie Claire Italia in Italian as “I copricapi della Haute-Couture 2019 sono l’essenza dello sciamanesimo moderno?“

Paris Haute Couture Fall 2018, Vetements. Photo: Internet

Sit close and I’ll give out a secret – no matter how far our imagination goes, it simply can’t go farther than what our mind can produce. Using flashy headpieces have certain power or we are wired to ascribe certain power to them. Let me give an example to make my point clear – who remembers the images of the primitive men from the history books, more precisely, the images of shaman? The shaman who wore bird masks, beaks and feathered wings to enter the trance. Surely, they were not getting ready for a couture runway then. What they meant was to take on a bird life so that their souls could get liberated and fly out of their bodies. And their tribe, including those shamans took this make-believe game seriously. They all were impressed and taken by the power of this ritual.

Read about the secretive nature of the veils here

Or when we are sad, we describe our life as dark and black, the same color we dress the angel of death in our imagination. It never comes in a colorful garment. When we are in love, we bloom flowers. All these metaphors seem so logical that we do not even bother to ask “how and why?” Yet there is no logical connection in such kind of associations.

The same thing is happening now. In a sense, those flamboyant pieces are just an exaggerated way of communicating our state of mind. The difference is that we’ve pushed the use of those exaggerated, extravagant headpieces to the runways only. But the reaction they stir inside us is still the same. In the depth of our mind we are not much different than our ancestors. We still use headwear, but in a more subtle manner. Just because we are more conscious of ourselves now. Yet we get overwhelmed and dazed by the power they exert on us. Just think about the headpiece of the Pope or of a judge. We haven’t changed much, have we?

That’s why rather than saying “it is a couture week, no limit to the imagination”, I’d say “it is a couture week, let’s have a blast with everything that our mind can fantasize”.

To sum up – now that we know the secret power of the headpieces, we know how to wear to impress. In the end, the life is runway and we are role-models of our own lives. Let’s jazz it up.

This article has originally appeared in Marie Claire Italia in Italian as “I copricapi della Haute-Couture 2019 sono l’essenza dello sciamanesimo moderno?“

Read about the secretive nature of the veils here

Veil – the secret of secrecy

July 9, 2018 by Aynura Maye

Last week was definitely a week of headpieces in Paris. Besides all the flamboyant masks and headwear, we were not short of the veils either – black and white, structured and freely flowing, tiny detail and statement piece – all types. And we loved them. Every time I returned to go over a certain collection, I unnoticeably clicked on the looks that came with either a headpiece or a veil. They are catchy, really.

Ashi veil, Paris Haute Couture, Fall 2018. Photo: Internet

But the veil is not like any other symbolic headpiece that is poised to exert power. It is quite different, more subtle. Not only it looks romantically beautiful, but also gives an air of secrecy, mystery. It is sublime and tenderly suggestive, calling one to look again to see who or what is behind.

Interestingly, we rarely see a man with a veil. At least, I do not see that happening. Still not in fashion. Because our creativity doesn’t go farther than what our mind produces. In the dark depth of our mind the femininity and the veil go hand-in-hand. The veil makes a female present, yet hidden. Not totally hidden, yet not entirely exposed – something mystical, spiritual is there. It is the hidden mood, deep state of mind. The female is the medium – between celestial and terrestrial.

Georges Chakra veils, Paris Haute Couture, Fall 2018. Photo: Internet

Who else thought of a bridal veil at this moment? Yes, right, we are now talking about the same concept. The moment a groom unveils his bride and kisses her for the first time, he commits to unite with his other, spiritual half. Across the cultures, throughout the history – the altar may not be there, the color of the veil may not be white, but the veil itself is there doing the same job. Does it explain why we feel that enigma around when we see a veiled feminine figure?

Veil, Giambattista Valli, Paris Haute Couture, Fall 2018. Photo: Internet

So, no matter in what shape a veil comes. They all come with the same story. We do not wear that as an everyday accessory any more. But that doesn’t matter. When we see it, we have that same emotions – let it be on the runway or over a graveyard. It emits that enigma. As it happens, the fashion critics are the ones to experience that moment on the front rows, in an arm distance from the runway with all the mystery, charm and glam of the couture masterpieces. Does it explain, why the more creative the veils get, the higher flying praises come from the fashion critics?

To sum up, want to look secretive? – Get your veil on. Want to be even more enigmatic? – add some dark color.

Instabeautiful vs humarespectful – Couture a la Ronald van der Kemp

July 7, 2018 by Aynura Maye

The Paris Haute Couture Fall Winter’18 kicks off with RVDK, the label of the couturier of the modern times – Ronald van der Kemp, who I guess, I can comfortably call the King of Leftover Fabrics. As usual, his looks bear details from the period that is his “inextinguishable fountain of inspiration” – the 60s-90s. But to me, in this collection the looks are more romantic, the lines are softer, loose, flare and whimsical. The creations again sport bold colors and combinations are playful. As usual, the focus is on empowering models with garments and fabrics, not on the set.

RVDK, Paris Haute Couture, Fall-Winter 18, Photo: Internet

All in all, I must confess that not all pieces are to my taste in this “wardrobe” as I am a retro-type person. I love to have fun with peaked shoulders, accented waist etc. that were the staples of the previous wardrobes. However, in general, these pieces of RVDK are quite strong and sure to boost confidence.

Yet I choose to write about this label for another reason – its “humarespectful” couture of RVDK versus “instabeautiful” craze of our days. Because its founder is somehow capable of avoiding all the distractions and cacophony in the fashion world and doing things his way consistently.

It doesn’t mean that his pieces are not worthy of instahype, in fact, totally opposite. He is very instaworthy. Yet, I guess, the below reasons will make one feel more awesome in his pieces because of the values he sticks to:

The approach to couture:

RVDK couture is usually not “inspiration” or “theme” based. His way of creating couture is relaxed, experimental, spontaneous thus playful and more relatable.

The approach to fashion:

He calls his collections “wardrobe”. Because, one may pull up a piece of some good years from her wardrobe to wear. It is not about being seasonal. It is about mindful consumption. It is about building a wardrobe that has both – old and new.

The guts:

In our times it is hard to resist the mainstream and not get pushed into the “acceptable frame” of the time. Somehow he is capable of doing it. While the leviathans and behemoths of the fashion world roar on Instagram and elsewhere, he is whispering his values through his work and commitments. He takes stance, just like any other successful label. But not by creating a public stir, by going out and giving his contribution without noise.

Respect for resources:

In the first paragraph I called him the King of leftover fabrics and it was for a reason. He is notoriously known for his use of leftover and vintage fabrics. Besides being a very responsible and “couture” way of doing it, to me, the results are eccentric with sometimes remarkable and colorful patches.

Empathy:

For the wardrobe of the last year he employed refugee labor. Attention, we are talking about it in a time when Europe probably lives the darkest days of refugee crisis so far.

Preference for nature-given looks

The label vehemently bashes the Instagram filters. And I agree. We use filters to a point, when I lift my head out of my excessively filtered virtual world, I find the colors in the real world quite boring. And this is no good. It makes me depressed.

Well, in a short while, I guess I’ve complied quite a list of reasons for those who choose to create deeper bond with their garments, rather than use them to create another personality.

Again, do not worry, the label is as much instabeautiful as it is humarespectful.

Sexuality and Spirituality – the most twisted duo of our mind?

July 6, 2018 by Aynura Maye

When you look at the profile picture, what comes to your mind? Look again, with sense of humor and some fantasy…some more fantasy. I know what you think. Shame on you! This is Shiva and Shakti – we are talking about Gods. Kidding, you were right, it is both.

This picture is among the primeval depictions of God Shiva and Goddess Shakti – the sacred union. In this version the God Shiva is called Lingam. Just like the God Shiva, it is personification of the primordial cosmic energy. Visually, it is a phallus plunged into disc-like structure called Yoni – the Goddess Shakti. He symbolizes the spirit, reasoning and the penetrating nature of the consciousness. Yoni (Shakti) on the other hand, is pretty much female genitals. She represents the personification of feminine aspects of the God Shiva.

Read about Yayoi Kusama’s overly sexual art and how her uncontrollable energies took her on this journey.

A key in a lock may be a sexual symbol—but not invariably.... The door ... intended to symbolize hope, the lock to symbolize charity, and the key to symbolize the desire for God. Source: Man and his symbols, C.G.Jung Photo: Internet — A key in a lock may be a sexual symbol—but not invariably…. The door intended to symbolize hope, the lock to symbolize charity, and the key to symbolize the desire for God. Source: Man and his symbols, C.G.Jung Photo: Internet

Isn’t it weird? Maybe yes, maybe no. It turns out that sexual intercourse and sacred union are two sides of the same coin in the depth of our mind. Anything sexual has some theological meaning to it. For example, sexuality in dreams and moral doctrines doesn’t mean psychical sexuality, rather signifies reaching high spirituality.

The main challenge yet the ultimate bliss for us in the first half of life is sexuality and lustful love. In this period, sex translates as the holistic experience of our creative power. In other words, making babies – no matter how much we try to avoid it. The source of the most blissful pleasure is just the trap of the nature to keep our specie going. That’s why phallus symbolizes energy of universe, change and creation through destruction.

Sex as symbol of sacred union

On the contrary, when we’ve hit the zenith of our lives and proceed towards the death, the lure ahead is not phallus any more. It is the death. With all its daunting nature, the death is the promise of the eternal bliss. That’s why in the second half of life the meaning of these symbols reverse. They don’t mean penetration and creation any more. This is the period many people become religious. It expresses desire for union with divinity. In other words, need for spiritual growth and elevation of the spirit towards the sacred union of the polar opposites. More precisely, integration of our internal feminine and masculine aspects. Alchemy calls this process the Sacred Marriage. So, The God Shiva and the Goddess Shakti are representations of celestial experience of sacred union of opposites.

Read about the Great Hermaphrodite a la Gucci, the feminine and masculine aspects are really confusing but quite eye-opening.

Learning to channel the life energy through this cycle is challenge for each of us. If one fails, this energy takes a regressive and destructive form. That is when many people suffer mid-life crisis, find life meaningless and entertain the idea of suicide.

Read about Yayoi Kusama’s overly sexual art and how she was affected by regressive nature of the life energy.

Symbols of sexuality – 3. The ax and the door

July 4, 2018 by Aynura Maye

I got carried away for a couple of days. In the midst of travels, the intolerable summer heat and some new project ideas, I even do not know what I am doing these days. But now I am back at it, our symbols of sexuality. I’ve promised to post four articles, each featuring a variation of the symbols of sexuality.

Here comes the third symbol – The ax and the door – more specifically, the act of breaking a door with an ax. By now, I guess there is no need to say which one is which, right? The ax obviously is phallic.

The reason I’ve picked this symbols among zillion other symbols is its nature. It is violent, is not like the “traditional” cup-spoon or that romantic deer hunt. It talks about a sexual act or sexual urges that are quite violent. All I am saying is if this symbol happens in your dreams, better to stop and reflect – why so much aggressiveness? From where it comes and why? What I’ve locked in the dark maze of memory? Most importantly, what should come to light from the depth of dark wells so that they do not roar so loudly. I guess, I’ll stop here before it gets complicated.

Heads up – the fourth article will be little different. Until now, we’ve looked at only one side of the coin – the sexuality aspect of these symbols. In the last post we’ll see the other side of the coin – the theological twist (you probably wonder from where to where, huh?) – stay tuned!

Other symbols of sexuality – click to decipher them:
The cup and the spoon
The deer hunt

The God Pan is to blame for the ugly dad sneaker craze

The paradox – love and hate for the ugly sneakers

The God Pan is back … in the ugly shoe business

You have my sympathy, the renowned designers of fine taste!