#give me weird nontraditional shape experiments or give me death

[sanstropfremir]

Hiii, I saw in one of your old post that you mentioned not liking Chanel, can I ask why? And also what are your favorites clothing brands and why (I'm sorry it feels like I'm making you pass a test or something but I'm just really interested in your point of view 😭)

hi hello! no worries, it's not any trouble at all! i don't always get many questions about fashion specifically so thank you!

as for chanel, i understand her place and legacy as a designer because she had a huge influence on the course of 20th century fashion but also

so yea. actively hate the person and dislike the brand residually. artistically i've never really been a fan of the designs either, but that's inconsequential in this instance.

as for my favourite brands, i'm honestly not a big branded/luxury clothing person in my personal life, mostly because a) i'm never going to afford any of it b) i'm very serious about sustainable fashion and i'm a big adovcate of learning the skills to maintain clothing and building a quality basic wardrobe that has longevity versus the fashion cycle that is propagated by industry as whole, not just in terms of fast fashion. i also make a lot of my own clothes because i'm designer and i've been sewing and doing textile work for probably close to twenty years. but there are obviously brands and designers that i like and take inspiration from, as well as some that there are some pieces i would like to own (this isn't really in a specific order, other than like, maybe most to least famous?):

guo pei - i don't really think i have to explain this one, but i saw a retrospective exhibit of her work (yes including the rihanna dress) and holy fucking shit. holy fucking shit. lifechanging.

heaven gaia - i love modern reworkings of traditional designs of any type, and i like how they negotiate having really clean and hyper modern silhouettes with a lot of traditional embroidery and cuts.

vivienne westwood - i'm a horrible little punk gremlin at heart and although i'm not always a fan of the newer collections the stuff from 80s and 90s? mwah. saw a retrospective in sweden two years ago and i would throw myself off a bridge to own just reproductions of some of those suits.

balenciaga - i care very little about cristobal balenciaga as a designer but the shit that the house now does as a brand is endlessly fascinating to me. the inexplicable outside brand partnerships. the way they use instagram as some strange experimental platform. the fact that they released an entire vr/walking simulator browser based video game as a collection launch last year. the crocs. everything about them is so strange and bizarre.

mcqueen - in the last couple of years i think the house has done a great job of maintaining his legacy as a designer and obviously his designs from the 90s and 00s are iconic in every way. i remember first seeing some pieces from the savage beauty collection when i was maybe ten ish and it really impacted how i thought about fashion and about art.

area - they're weird. also love a gratuitous use of sparkle.

craig green - they're less a brand and more of an experiment in wearable art but oh man i love shapes. i love shapes so much.

gmbh - i really love their suiting. i'm sure you've sensed a running theme about shape, but they have interesting ways of playing with an established silhouette.

alena ahkmadullina - a russian designer that i've been following for a very long time who does a lot of traditional and folkloric inspired designs. the variety of just headwear that she does is really something and it's all beautiful.

charles jeffrey loverboy - again, i'm a grimy lil punk gremlin and we love a pretty much fully gender neutral line. this is one designer where i would actually like to own a lot of this clothing.

biyan - an indonesian designer that i've also followed for a long time who, also again, does traditional inspired designs. pattern, shapes, etc etc etc i'm very predictable

fluevog - i've been obsessed with fluevog shoes since i was fifteen and my dad took me to a restrospective of his work. i like the men's shoes more than the women's but a lot of the designs now are available in both size runs. i own five pairs.

it's also worthwhile to note that theatre designers and illustrators have had arguably a more influential effect on my personal style and work, which include people like ishioka eiko, natalia goncharova, leon bakst, emilie flöge, and erté.