If fashion confuses you: it's okay
One degree smarter and I'm not sure I even understand it half of the time
Couture Week thus far has been living in my head rent free.
From my prior ode to North West to a Margiela play for the ages (not really), even Kristen McMenamy absolutely eating it at Jean Paul Gaultier by Olivier Rousteing, the fun has not stopped (and I hope it never does).
If you’re unfamiliar with couture week on the fashion calendar, I’ll break it down for you. Haute Couture Week™️ happens twice a year, once in January, and once during the first week of July (welcome). During this week, over 50 designers showcase la crème de la crème of high fashion, January’s event being for Spring-Summer of that year, and July’s being for Fall-Winter.
Although they say ‘presenting to the public’, there is absolutely nothing inclusive about couture week.
Depending on the designer, invitations to a show can be just about as difficult to acquire as an affordable New York City apartment. Sometimes, fashion students and lovers can sneak their way through the back or stand in the dark corners, however, most of the time it’s Fort Knox, and mere plainfolk have to gather outside in throngs of people, throwing elbows and holding their phones as high as their arms will stretch to get a glimpse of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman wearing alien glasses.
Couture week post-Covid has been a bit difficult to be excited about. We’ve delt with a multitude of virtual shows or attempts at hosting in the metaverse, limited attendance, and quite frankly, some boring collections that make it difficult for a light to be sparked within any fashion lover’s heart.
This season was easy to get excited about. As soon as I saw Dua Lipa on the Balenciaga runway, it was clear that many designers are now creating a world for their audience to become fully immersed in, not just allow buyers of stores and editorial staffs to decide what’s essential to bring back to the States.
To some looking on the outside in, such as an Instagram story or recommendation from the TikTok algorithm, the fashion ether must seem like a strange, avant-garde, exclusionary world that doesn’t actually matter in the grand scheme of life. I mean, how could Kim Kardashian wearing a helmet straight out of a low-budget sci-fi film be anything important that we should be paying attention to?
The truth lies in performance art. Fashion now strives more towards viral moments than it does successful Q4 sales, and in order to be the best, most successful brand of the season, you need to be the one that everyone is talking about on Instagram or TikTok. I don’t think I’m breaking any news by saying that, but it’s the reason why this past Couture Week was so successful.
Seeing people on the street wearing something out of the ordinary is exhilarating. Whether you take it negatively or positively, it added substance and culture to your day. Even if you don’t understand it, you encountered someone who does.
I may not understand why people spend money on Versace clothing or $1000 Shein hauls, but that’s alright. Some things are meant to keep us curious, and even judgemental.