LEE WOKE THE BEAST IN ME
Angry that to be on top, you need your hot 15 seconds of fame, and the only door to reach your dream is this app that has the potential to turn people's lives around. Sad that the times when talent was enough to get you places are gone. When people wanted you, they called you, booked a flight, and the rest was history. We now live in a day where we walk on eggshells, where all our words and tiny mistakes have the potential to crush us. Did we lose the ability to live our lives as we want to, where spontaneity and distress were normal? And where all that truly matters is the feeling of being great. In this industry where the art is not paying homage to the past, I wonder what happened. What made us think that mediocrity is fantastic? I find it sad that we sometimes fall into this trap where only the wide-eyed float. You truly need a vision to understand the importance of genuine criticism. The standards in the fashion industry have become so low, it's pitiful.
I recently stumbled upon the latest Alexander McQueen show directed by Sean McGirr. What a shame it was for him to have presented this to the public. It wasn’t horrible, but I didn’t feel anything—I felt like I was watching a Prada show. I truly thought it could have been another fashion house. With the resources and innovative technology we have, I'm confused about why creative directors lack creativity. Or is it more the lack of expression, the fear of opening themselves to the public? Because that’s the price they have to pay in order to create the best of themselves, allowing the public to grasp the feeling, the story, and the art they wanted to put out. It needs to change!
Lee’s debut at Givenchy wasn’t well-received by critics who weren’t fans of him bringing London to Paris. He was the opposite: grungy, unapologetic, and raw. Raw in the sense where he created what he felt powerful goddesses would wear, and he succeeded. He didn’t adapt to Paris; Paris made space for him. It was only by expanding his art and craftsmanship, allowing the garments to be more fluid and gliding, that he adapted to the Parisian eye. He truly triumphed. By the time they were criticizing his work, the initial disgust quickly transformed into glory. They praised him and adored his shows because, at first, they didn’t understand how to react to such a performance. Far from the other houses, Lee wanted a feeling to exude from every show. He wanted to move people. Like he always said, whether you liked it or hated it, he really wanted you to feel something. Everything that fell in line with a feeling at that time was enough for the McQueen house; it was way more than money to him. It truly was his baby, his kid.
Be sad, be angry, and hateful. We live once, and there’s a place for both good and bad in order to create genius. I know and am 100% aware that what I’m saying is not everyone’s cup of tea, so don’t come and drink it. I just want things to be free for all in the fashion industry. Collections don’t look like they have any feeling; it’s always the same BS that comes around each time. Why are there no supermodels, you may ask? Because there are no super designers. The time when collections and models created euphoric feelings and performances is gone. They are always trying to pull back from the past, but there’s so much to innovate. What do they learn at school? There’s something school cannot teach—it's life, the baggage and traumas that a person carries along the way, which play a big role in what direction a big fashion house will be led. Nowadays, I feel like fashion houses on top are scared to perform less than the year before, and I get it. But is it worth the loss of the life and exuberant feeling people had when they walked out of a Givenchy by Alexander McQueen show? It doesn’t exist.
What infuriates me the most is that the people who critique these shows are dishonest and biased because they lack a trained eye, or they just have a remote controlling their every word. From now on, I will just post the rawest version of me: my art, my sounds, my styles, my takes. Take it or leave it. I just feel that this is how greatness shines.
