“Personal style is outstanding when it’s backed up by knowledge and confidence.”
‘The Chiffon Trenches’, André Leon Talley
André, like he was known in fashion, was a barrier breaker, wit, erudite, opinionated, extravagant, curious and thirsty of news, savant fashion editor, stylist - “a custodian and curatorial person of fashion” as he described himself. “He was a mixture of Southern front-porch grandee, straight out of Welty — he was from North Carolina — and persnickety Beaton-esque observer.” opts in Cathy Horyn in her Op-Ed for The New York Magazine.
“No script writer could have invented André.” says Hamish Bowles remembering working with him.
Knowing what feels, not looks, good on you now, not 6 months or a year ago (forget the pandemic for a moment), the fabric’s composition or where the item was made, inspecting seams, threads, lining, button holes, having a seamstress or a tailor on speed dial for an alteration or an epicycle job, bring confidence along. We should all be opinionated when it comes to expressing ourselves with our personal style.
See? Here’s the point: it doesn’t matter trends, the age, body shape, what colors theories tell us look good on us or what sparks joy, it’s not about the rule, it’s about being balanced, relaxed, chill, pragmatic yet creative, mostly rebellious and always overdressed.
As women we are labelled, judged, body-shamed, critiqued, stereotypically boxed.
Without going to the depths of social, political, or psychological investigation, the expectation of having to fit in a style, preppy, conservative, whimsical, modern, business attire, deconstructed, normcore, indie sleaze, twee is exhausting.
An even more demoralizing aspect of our daily life is to be given the side-eye, expected to be cheery and smiley, cat called, described with diminishing epithets by other women.
The constant scrutiny depletes the levels of creativity and curiosity and I even think that for the common good commercial brands have invented the bridge market of no couture nor streetwear but just plain mediocre stuff.
And then I came across Noiranca’s DE-LABEL campaign “Succinct yet eclectic, [it] heralds a new era of femininity – of nuance, confidence, and agency – amidst the rambunctious veneration of archetypal femininity, while tracing the rumination in empowering oneself out of the typical.
How can a handbag brand be a vessel of positivity you ask?
By disrupting the gender-binary mindset and disparaging common misconceptions like ageism with three models who posing with confidence reveal their authenticity and “reclaim their voices.”