Raf Simons raised the bar

A pivotal moment in history.

We are talking about the debut ready-to-wear collection by Raf Simons for Calvin Klein.

Simons’ sensibility, surgical attention to detail, thirst for art and unique skills of designer’s proportions brought to surface all the elements that make Calvin Klein the incarnation of American fashion: Art Deco, the American West, the city, workwear, the denim, the quilt, power dressing, the ‘80s.

Nothing was left unattended or unspoken for, the show opened to David Bowie singing “this is not America” and that was the moment of truth and tears: finally Raf Simons back in action, free of expressing his talent, the true Calvin Klein, the one we grew up with coming down the runway and, last but not least, fashion, the one with the big “F”, the big universal connector.

And we all were in love again.

We are living within the tremors of our democracy, our freedom of expression through the arts, the diversity that immigration has brought into our country are being mined and weakened daily and this Calvin Klein Collection was an “homage to America”

To say it with the words of Christene Barberich of Refinery 29

A lot of people say that fashion and politics have no inherent connection, but they do […] we need a show like this to shake us out of our daily Orwellian despair, to see some beauty and art, but also to see how precious the time we are living now really is.

The harmony of the diversity resulted in a masterpiece of a collection that pleased all the senses.

It even received the seal of approval from The Cut ’s critic-at-large Cathy Horyn

Simons at Calvin Klein makes sense for a couple of reasons: He started his career as a youth-culture designer in Antwerp [...] And he has always worked with fine tailoring, which fits the minimalist image of Calvin Klein. Yet the reality is that the brand has meandered through various types of pastiche for a couple of decades now. That leaves Simons with a blank slate to reinvent with the kind of freedom that would never be available at a couture house.

Thank you for the dream. It's been real. 

October at a glance: in which creativity and money clash

Photo by Juergen Teller for System magazine 

In October we usually suffer post-Fashion Month depression, we can’t wait to wear what we have chosen to buy for the current season, alas, deep inside, we would want to wear already what we have seen walking down the runways that will only be available in months from now.

DISCLAIMER: far it be from me mocking the actual psychological condition that afflicts women after delivery or comparing babies with clothing.

These are the most salient happenings in the world of fashion, in which time and creativity struggle with power and money.  

FASHION SCENARIO N.1 Is the system really falling apart?

Raf Simons left his post as a creative director of Christian Dior, one of the most powerful maisons in the world [of fashion]. He announced it with a heartfelt statement, media went berserk, we were all shocked, spent a period of denial that varied from 10 seconds to couple of days, and then we all dove into theories. Boy, how much do we love digging into people’s personal lives and making up stories?

The most striking of all the articles was his exclusive interview with revered journalist Cathy Horyn for System magazine. 2 days after what became his last Christian Dior majestic show, he knew he was going to quit and gave us smoke signs.

“I have no problem with the continuous creative process, because it’s the reason I’m in this world” Simon confessed Ms. Horyn, what he’s not agreeing with is the absence of time, incubation and eventually rejection.

Creative ideas come, pass by you like thunders, the moment you love them and you get excited by them it’s also when you realize they may be ose’, risky, innovative, outrageous, but they are damn good, so you decide to sleep on them. During the night, some other maybe even more outrageous idea might pass by, like a fairy, and in the morning you decide to reject the first and embrace the latter.

Raf Simons didn’t appreciate that

“… there’s no more thinking time. I don’t want to do collections when I am not thinking”.

By the way, digressing here, this theory about ideas coming at you and you accepting or refusing them, comes from a best seller book I bought at the airport on my way to Boston when I realized I had forgotten all my reading material on the table while booking Uber. The book is The Big Magic by big magic sister Elizabeth Gilbert. Without any monetary interest in what I am about to say, I think this book should be read, now and continuously re-read in moments of vivid production, by everybody as a form of companionship, that shoulder to lean on.

More so, it should be read to children, who are the virgin recipients, the vessels of the biggest creative ideas and often compressed to fit in a standardized school system or confined as the black sheep nerdy ones in short sighted families instead of encouraged to experiment and produce breakthrough results.

Thought n.1

I admire Raf as a designer and cherish that little time I have worked in the Milan’s showroom during his tenure at Jil Sander. I gather inspiration from his stand. He knows he is a performer, a hard worker, one that brings results, a perfectionist if you will. Loving and owning the results of your creative (hard) work means passion. He had no more time to savor the fruits of his creative process, as if he were an estranged father to children that would fleet away.

Though n.2

Imagine what he could have delighted us with had he had time on his side?

FASHION SCENARIO N.2 or when do you say, enough is enough?

Photo: Indigital from The Business of Fashion

Alber Elbaz was ousted.

For those of you who are not familiar, he is the tender, talented, timid and triumphant creative director of the house of Lanvin. He resuscitated the fashion house after decades of being dormant, like the Phoenix.

What do you do when your best friend get expelled from school?

This was another unexpected happening, after 14 years of continuous and relentless performance. The situation got sticky, le owner of the empire, madame Wang, seem to be the culprit of the disagreement, considering that not only the entire world (er … all of us outraged by the event) but all Lanvin employees stood up asking for his reinstatement.

Thought n.1

Without comments but just Elbaz’s statement on hand, the scenario here is different: creativity, sensibility, genius have been punished, shut down, with no gratitude or sense of grace.

Bad.

Thought n.2

Time will tell and now the question that lingers in the corridors of showrooms, newspapers, media empires and my little studio is, will he be hired at Dior?

FASHION SCENARIO N.3 or ‘meanwhile, back at the villa’

Photo from The Business of Fashion

Who Is On Next, a designer competition organized by Franca Sozzani EIC of Vogue Italia, in October was held in Dubai where “there’s a lot of energy” according to Sozzani.

Apparently population is composed in majority by Millennials who are eager to accomplish, own, create, produce and show they can. The contest has a purpose, besides just the money that the winner receives in a form of a grant. Talent is rewarded with connections, people that will help them be recognized, investors that will believe in them and trust them with a store or funding for e-commerce.

Thought n.1 

Is Dubai the new land of opportunities like America was for generation X?

Thought n.2

If the system of Fashion is burnt out, will this one give the new generation of creatives the means to grow?

FINAL SCENARIO or ‘are we heading at a congestion point or the revolution has started already?’