Thursday, March 8, 2012

Thar She Blows!

Balenciaga Hats. 2012. Photo: Emma Summerton. Vogue Australia
During the average day we are bombarded by countless images of products which are touted as the 'next big thing', or my personal stomach-churner, 'on trend!' As a designer I often find it incredibly amusing as taste is such a personal thing. How the themes of fashion seasons are selected is up there with the Oracle of Delphi. If I could determine how these seemingly communal patterns or appliqué mysteriously arrive en masse, I'd have a consultancy to rival that of Cherry Ripe in New York.
Model wearing Balenciaga Hat S/S 2012
Don't get me wrong... I personally love the hats in the above shot. They'd be equally at home fighting a sou'wester on a trawler off Maine as trolling the Place Vendome on your way to Boucheron. That sums up one of the beautiful aspects of design and interpretation, that of applying one's own meaning to the form and function of objects. Whereas beauty is purportedly viewed through the eye of the beholder one would hope their vision is not myopic.

Vogue Editor (Japan) Anna Della Russo at Paris fashion Week 2012
This post would not be complete without a couple of images which illustrate how an image from Vogue filters through the layers of the cognoscenti and trickles down to the mere mortals (henceforth known as 'consumers') who are convinced of the transformative power of fashion. At least these hats would have been practical at least during the past rain-sodden week!
Jennifer Connolly for Balenciaga S/S 2008
Illustrates how even designers recycle!



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