Talent is timeless

Delvaux - Brillant MM

There are two types of art that stand out. There’s art that forges a new style to closely capture new prevailing moods. Then there’s art that transcends time because it reflects some aspect of nature - seeing it every day and everywhere, it forms our tastes. Fashion does trendy, timeless and everything in between. The problem is, while many artists from other genres set their own pace, designers are expected to churn out two full collections and a couple of smaller ones to bridge the gap every year. 

This Octomom fertility gives customers something new to buy every season. However since hundreds of pieces overwhelms the senses, our memories turn into reverse prisms and all the vibrant colors that flows through ends up converging together, into whiteness, nothingness. Instead, designers should reissue standout pieces and roll out new work when the inspiration hits. Varying their release dates, new clothes don’t all compete for attention at once. Maybe labels count on the sensory overload from summer/winter cycles though to give everyone cross eyes so they can’t read some of the jaw-dropping prices. 

Though there are still some heritage brands who focus on a range of classics, even they, like Delvaux, have started doing fashion shows and seasonal collections. Though some brands are monetizing their fashion shows by accepting orders for pieces as they appear, most model parades are still about playing up the image of the brand so aspirational buyers get high profit margin perfumes and key chains for a piece of the action. They fund the creative ventures. But fashion shows, even ones that garner a lot of converge, get lost. Many labels haven’t realized that when a platform is crowded, you don’t try harder to stand out, you move to another platform to stand relatively alone.

To branch out, labels could try interactive campaigns like the Art of Trench to retrospectives like Savage Beauty. Fashion has to realize that with function first items, we judge their usefulness so newer is better because microprocessors get faster, resolutions get crisper, etc. For form first items, we judge their effect on us. Since it’s less about the object and more about how our senses react to it, we don’t evolve that fast, even if the methods and materials to achieve visions sometimes do. So the great pieces that are great today remain great tomorrow.