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Can Kanye West Actually Bring Fashion to the Masses

Amidst the pandemonium of the YEEZY Season 3 presentation and the debut of The Life of Pablo album – played at ear-splitting volume, because what other way is there to screen an album? – Kanye West repeated his promise that the next YEEZY line would be more affordable.


The pledge, made against the backdrop of a packed Madison Square Garden, full to the brim with music and fashion editors, bloggers, and everyone who wasn’t in the industry, felt fairly sincere.


We were, after all, sitting at a public fashion show/listening party/art performance hybrid that was being live streamed to over 20 million people. Add to that the inundation of social networks and the constant updates from publications and individuals who just wanted to share that they were there, and you could feel the zeitgeist.


But does that mean Kanye has succeeded in bringing fashion to the masses?


Democratizing the presentation of a fashion show is certainly one check off the list. While Kanye’s brand isn’t the first to host a public fashion show, he’s certainly managed to do it on a much grander scale than say Givenchy or Public School, for instance. His decision to hold an open casting for roughly 1,200 model “extras” was also much more grandiose than other social media-focused or crowd-sourced model castings – think VFiles, Marc Jacobs, etc.


So yes, Kanye has contributed to the idea that anyone can be part of the fashion industry. But then again, so has blogging culture, social media, and the fact that anyone with a reliable internet connection can conceivably position themselves as an expert opinion. And, if they’re savvy, the rest of the world may just agree. Nevertheless, last week’s presentation took yet another step in taking fashion week out of the context of being an insular event that you need a special invitation to participate in.


But the actual garments, which, along with the sneakers, are the things people really want, still aren’t anywhere near accessible. The price point of the past two collections soared straight from attainable to prohibitive. And with those kind of price points come the kind of stockists the “average” person simply cannot afford to spend with regularly.


On top of that, Kanye is producing basic garments that tend to lean on traditions of minimalism and deconstruction in the same vein of Helmut Lang or Rick Owens. So much so that in past show reviews, several publications actually described the clothing as less well-executed “rip-offs.” In a Daily Beast article published in 2015, writer Allison McNearney even pointed out that despite Kanye’s best efforts, some critics refused to acknowledge that he was indeed trying.


The point being: if Kanye is really invested in bringing fashion to the masses then the masses have to understand his point of view, and what they’re paying for. Let’s pretend for a second that money isn’t an object. There’s still the question of whether the average person even wants a hole-riddled sweater and appreciate its conceptual or experimental nature.


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Or, if Kanye were to, say, lower his price point and engage a JC Penney, Kohls or Macy’s, would he be successful? Would that demographic of shoppers (which is the majority) actually buy into YEEZY? Would his collection even make sense in those stores? They are after all where a large section of America, better known as “the masses,” actually shop.


On the other hand, if his clothing were to be in those stores, would it turn off consumers that consider themselves ahead of the game and forward-thinking? Would such mass availability mitigate the factor that makes the clothing coveted in the first place?


Perhaps if and when the collection is actually made more affordable, some of these questions will answer themselves. In the interim there’s always YEEZY tour merch.


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Kirjoitettu Wednesday 17.02.2016

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