3 THINGS EVERYONE CAN LEARN FROM FASHION WEEK
Making Fashion Statements
What's the big deal about fashion week and why would it matter to you? I, too, had this attitude many moons ago. So young, so innocent. First of all, everyone cares about how they look... even the 'I don't care how I look' look is a look. Am I making any sense? Let's start over.
I had the great fortune of being invited to New York Fashion Week (NYFW) to check out my friend Asaf's awesome new collection. To keep it simple, it was a dope experience. Backstage passes, hangin' out with the 'in' crowd, second row seats (hey, I'll take it), free coconut water from Mr. Vita Coco (Co-founder Ira Liran) himself... and of course, a fashion line oozing with opulence.
But enough about me. What's in it for you? Probably nothing that cool, but I've got some words of wisdom, if you wanna call it that.
1) Fashion is art. Don't be afraid to express yourself. Sure, you don't have to look like this, but get in touch with your creative side. Push your personal boundaries by mixing and matching outfits in ways you may not have before. Or add some color that you normally wouldn't do. Or maybe invest in that pièce de ré·sis·tance you've had your eye on. Fashion is all about standing out, not fitting in. Fashion shows are about expressing that art, and putting things together that 'normally' won't go together. It's about inspiring others to do the same by their own expression. So unless you're Mark Zuckerberg and prefer to wear the same thing every day because you gotta billion dollar company to focus on, be bold. Be an artist.
Backstage with the crew at Asaf's show, who is the tall hatted man standing next to me.
2) Months - maybe even years - of work go into one fashion show. Brainstorming, sketching, designing, creating, budgeting, negotiating, modeling... let's just say there are a lot of -ing's that bring a show to life. And before you know it, it's over... just like that. The show I went to lasted all of 8 minutes and 24 seconds. Sometimes you can put in so much blood, sweat, and tears into something... and you have a very small window of opportunity to make your mark. I say to you to make the most of every single opportunity, as cliche as it may sound. There's a fine balance between perfectionist and opportunist. When the spot light is on you and it's game time, make it memorable (in a good way).
Behind the scenes of the show
3) It takes a community to raise a fashionable child. What the freak does that even mean? The world of fashion is much like our own social circles. Everyone is different, but it takes those differences to be able to truly appreciate life - or in this case - fashion. Just think about it for a sec. If everyone dressed exactly like us, then there'd be no growth or creativity... there'd be no acceptance or true appreciation of how others dress or how everyone's personal style is different, like Russell Westbrook's (to each his own, but more power to each of them).
Maybe this is getting too philosophical, but the basic premise is that we all need each other to be fashionably different in order to truly expand our own sense of style. I didn't like jackets with tigers on them years ago. Maybe I thought they were great for kids or Halloween costumes. But someone - Gucci's Creative Director Alessandro Michele to be exact - thinks way differently than I do and now I not just appreciate how he's different, but I actually want to wear what he's putting out there. Not just because it's Gucci, but also because it's creative, it's fun, it's appreciable art.
