Fashion Symbols with Aynura Maye

Bringing together the opposites

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Archives for November 2020

Mother Archetype IX – Part Human, Part Supernatural

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Jung’s warning was not to limit or reduce the phenomena of mother to human proportions. It would strip off the multilayered meaning and misplace that huge burden on the shoulders of a fragile human being. This archetype is bigger and beyond us. It carries both the wisdom and wicked of the nature and the memory of evolution. It is part of us, but also not us. We project this archetype on anything that nourishes and provides safe nest – such as House, Home, City, Church, Mosque and all other homes of God, land, cave, moon and sometimes even tree. She is the dwelling of spirit.

Basically, she is a forming agent of our identity and sense of belonging. But anything that traps us in our shell is also Mother. In negative aspect, it chains our arms to our old-identities. But it doesn’t end here. Just like nature she represents deep layers of obscurity, darkness and ambiguity, even death. The negative symbols portraying the Mother are depth, darkness, night, death, coffin, sea dragons, monsters etc. All are the characters we over and over see in myths and fairy tales, maybe sometimes in our dreams and definitely in religious texts. The wrath or kindness of this archetype very much depends on our attitude towards it.

Ironically, our professional success, bank account etc. doesn’t concern her. The evolution of our soul is what is in her agenda. The more we fail to realize it, the more hostile this force becomes towards us. Then the more miserable our life becomes. Naturally, sense of meaninglessness and depression follow next. Yet, coming in terms with it may mean major transformation in our mind, behavior and life. Easier to say, in fact this is our fear – letting go old attachments and identities and being born into new unknown skin.

Read other posts of the series:
Mother Archetype I
Mother Archetype II – Son Lover of the Mother Goddess
Mother Archetype III – Don Juanism
Mother Archetype IV – Homosexuality and Impotence
Mother Archetype V – Exaggerated Maternal Instinct
Mother Archetype VI – Home-Wrecker With a Mission
Mother Archetype VII – Shadow Daughter
Mother Archetype VIII – Mom Hater
Mother Archetype X – Motherland
Mother Archetype XI – Teenage Crisis – Libido
Mother Archetype XII – Incest: Problem or Solution?

Photo: Unsplash.com

Rise of New Fashion Breed: Gamefluencers

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Sorry skateboard culture, a new generation is in rise – the digital, online, click happy, above all indoor (!) generation. Oh, and the instainfluencers, there is a bad news for you too, time to cede the crown to the gamefluencers.

NOTE: This article was written in the summer of 2019, following Paris Fashion Week. It was deemed not correct or irrelevant by the fashion experts then. Very much embarrassed and confused, I hid it under files and archives, dusting it off only now. It’s a very relevant and unfolding horizon now for high/luxury fashion.

Italians famously “dabbed” when Milan got to host 2026 winter Olympics games. I bet they would do some “floss dancing” too but that is a hard one to master. Probably, it seems unrelated why I talk about dabbing and floss dancing while I am supposed to talk about the future of fashion. I am coming there.

Almost in that same week we observed stylistically highly blurred men’s fashion on the runways in Paris. The conclusion was easy to reach – we are about to have new breed of male shoppers who I will call “man a la moda”. I expect, high fashion will soon flood Instagram, immobilize the army of Instainfluencers to knead this “new type of voguish man”. Note to self, the streetstyle lover millennials were the exact consumer segment that pushed high fashion to bend its rules to lift the trend from streets into its runways (a.k.a skateboarding culture of Virgil Abloh) and painfully redefine its position between exclusivity and accessibility.

However, fashion houses are overlooking two major points – First, male millennials may liken to the idea of shopping along with their female buddies but they are not and will not be native “men a la mode”. By the time they go through psychological transformation, these engaging millennials will AGE out of target margin. It’s the next generation in line who is in capacity to be the native “man a la mode”. The second major point is related to the first one – if the next generation could be native voguish man – who are they? Do they relate to the outdoor inspired skateboarding culture? Are they Instaaddicted like their millenials predecessors?   

Here, I’ll refer to the first paragraph about dabbing and floss dancing – the characteristic moves or elements of the next generation in line that is growing up in a totally different reality. The humorous moves of this generation already charmed beyond millennials, the somber boomers to the point to be the signature move at Milan.  Before we know it, the z-gen and alpha generation, basically, dabbing and floss dancing school kids will make up a new consumer generation as they evolve into a whole new online culture that is alien to us that will mark the imminent change for fashion. The digital, online, click happy, above all indoor generation.

The increasing preference to stay “indoors” rather than go out to interact with the immediate outside world has seen the rise and reliance on online communities rather than a physical group of friends. This is the first sign of a potential shift in taste and consumer behavior. In these liquid times, what platforms does this generation turn to, to gather and create communities?

Apparently, these kids are too young to be on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Traditional platforms like TV, radio and print media can also be excluded as “relics of dinosaur age”. Ironically it’s clear then that YouTube and gaming platforms are where these kids socialize, build their communities and learn about the world.

This is the generation that will disrupt the tendencies and trends in streetwear styles as they will become obsolete in creating a new visual, stylistic and collective cultural identity. In its place youth culture will be influenced and shaped by online culture which will trickle down and be reflected in fashion and very different celebrity/influencer landscape.

Talking about the celebrity/influencer landscape – this is where soon major changes will start to take shape. The parallel reality that these kids have built is a whole new, agile and fast world that incorporates and builds on trending themes so effortlessly. Anything “trending” no matter in which platform gets integrated smoothly in a world dominated by three major players – Minecraft, Roblox and Minecraft gaming platforms.

What’s more is these platforms gave rise to a new type of idol– Youtube gamers, who record their gaming sessions and upload on their Youtube channels – these new sorts of stars range from some highly prolific gaming-turned musician Youtubers to strictly gaming Youtubers – from famously infamous Phewdiepie to Denise daily – gamefluencers. I am not judging the moral side of next generation growing up at the gaming platforms, just penning down my neutral observations.

This is not all – another type is the Youtube born musicians like Marshmellow and Alan Walker. I am not talking about numbers and stats – I am talking about their immense and decisive influence on rising pop culture. Musicians from my era– such as Shakira even Justin Bieber have millions of subscribers and views. But judging the taste and aspirations of z-gen and alpha kids, those numbers mean nothing. They are not the celebrities and stars that excite this new generation. These new sort of stars are quick to rise to stardom and will soon fight for the celebrity crown. What will make this fight harder for our Titan Instagram influencers is the flexibility and agility of new stars to pick on what is trending and incorporate or assimilate with ease to appeal to the interests and aspirations of the very tender and porous z and alpha generations. Evidently we are talking about another level of democratization. But just like in the case of Instagram – the early adopters will be a step ahead. Shall we get to see Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite themes somehow make their way to the runways in Paris and Milan? What would be possible ways of collaboration with the new breed of celebrities and gamefluencers? What tactics high fashion would use to redefine its position between exclusivity and obsessions of the indoor culture? I am just curious.

This article was written in the summer of 2019 and deemed not correct or irrelevant by the fashion experts.

Mother Archetype VIII – Mom Hater

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I must confess, it’s extremely hard to concentrate these days. Sometimes I find myself poking around for hours on social media, which leaves me almost nauseated afterwards. Worst part, I can’t stop doing it. My hand reaches my phone secretly. I put it away, suddenly I find myself opening a new internet page on computer. It feels like a whirlwind. But determined, today will finish another post in the series of the Mother Archetype. The last category of daughters – the stubborn “mom-hater”.

“Mom hate” driven life

Yes, you heard it, this is the fourth category-the last of four that Jung identified. He labels this category as Resistance to the Mother or Extreme Negative Mother Complex. Mom hater knows what she doesn’t want. But is usually completely lost as to what she would choose as her own fate. She concentrates all her instincts on the mother in the form of resistance. Obviously, such resistance (or straightforward hate?) would usually take symbolic form. Such as her resistance to or complete indifference to anything that comes under the head of family, community, society, convention etc. The mother as material, “matter”, may be at the back of her impatience with objects, clumsy handling of tools and bad taste in clothes.

Highly intellectual, this type of woman creates an environment ruled by sharp reasoning, cool judgment and superior knowledge where mother’s instinctual power doesn’t have a room. Thus, anything dark, obscure and unclear in her own nature is frustrating for her. Enter her “hate” zone. And all the while the world and life pass by her like a dream—an annoying source of illusions, disappointments, and irritations. All of which are due solely to the fact that she cannot bring herself to look straight ahead. Her own nature is what she fights against the hardest. Yet, the clarity of her mind makes her indispensable in professional life and she can make a great advisor.

Private Life of Mom Hater

She rebels with every fiber of her being against everything that springs from natural soil. Simultaneously she gets dominated in negative form by what she runs away. All instinctive processes meet with unexpected difficulties. It can be sexuality does not function properly, or the children are unwanted, or maternal duties seem unbearable etc. Even resistance to the mother (as uterus) may manifest itself in menstrual disturbances, failure of conception, disgust of pregnancy, hemorrhages and excessive vomiting during pregnancy, miscarriages, etc.

Fate doesn’t stop surprising even more. Interestingly, she may end up picking a partner that has her mother’s traits. Such women tend to live a more meaningful life in the second half of their lives only if they manage to face and digest that hellish obscurity of “femininity” and “maternity”.

Read other posts of the series:
Mother Archetype I
Mother Archetype II – Son Lover of the Mother Goddess
Mother Archetype III – Don Juanism
Mother Archetype IV – Homosexuality and Impotence
Mother Archetype V – Exaggerated Maternal Instinct
Mother Archetype VI – Home-Wrecker With a Mission
Mother Archetype VII – Shadow Daughter
Mother Archetype IX – Part Human, Part Supernatural

Cover photo: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay.com