The People and Blogs Influencing The Style Today
There is a shift happening in fashion. You can see it in the people that are viewed as contemporary style icons, you can hear it when people talk about what they saw on their favorite blogs. Perusing the blogs has become a daily ritual for fashion forward individuals and fashion blogging has become one of the biggest markets out there. With print going sadly by the wayside, most magazines are upgrading their online sites and every single one of them has a blog or a list of blogs they link to.
If you consider yourself to be fashion obsessed and yet, don’t know who The Sartorialist is, then you’ve been living under a rock. Today’s fashion bloggers are changing the way we see fashion. They are showing us trends before they become trends. Now we can see how people are dressing in every major city and country. The fashion blogs are connecting our world and our economy and influencing designers and people everywhere. It’s allowing us to feel comfortable discovering our own personal style. Seeing stylish individuals in their “uniform” or wearing the same piece a couple different times, assures us that it is no longer the day of the "it" bag or "it" shoes. You can splurge on one great item for yourself and then wear it many more times before you need to splurge on the next trend.
People would be smart to stop looking at celebrities as their fashion influencers and start logging on to blogs like The Sartorialist, Garance Doré , fashiontoast, Jak and Jil, and many others. This is what is happening now. People on the street snapped wearing original outfits - expensive items mixed with vintage mixed with Target items. Of course, this is not a new trend; remember the surge of hi-lo fashion once Sex and the City hit airwaves? But today it just seems more practical. Today more then ever, people are encouraged to be original as consumers are feeling the effects of the economy and may only be able to shop their closet, and to keep from being utterly bored with what’s in it, they need to get creative. John Galliano famously quoted, this spring at the couture shows, “We are in a credit crunch, not a creative crunch.” And many designers, stylists, and fashion editors agree that when you dress up, you feel up! The “trend” to follow right now is the personality trend. Add yourself to your clothes.
The celebrities and models that people are looking up to say a lot about what’s happening in our world as well. If someone quotes the Olsen twins, Kate Moss, Katie Holmes, even Michelle Obama as their style icon, what they are actually saying is “I want to look original and have a few great pieces” or “I don’t want to look like I tried too hard” or most importantly “I don’t want to spend a lot of money.” Everywhere you look, people are dressing up, but then deciding to leave their hair a little untidy and their face natural. They are taking their fancy Balmain jacket with exaggerated shoulders and pairing it up with baggy jeans and the sky high statement heels they wore the night before. The eye make-up may be the smudged liner from the night before too, and then a swipe of chapstick. It’s a no-fuss, I'm-worrying-about-bigger-things attitude.
Some of the biggest fashion trends have happened recently when Katie Holmes wore her husband's trousers with a fitted blazer and heels, or when Michelle Obama donned a wallet friendly GAP dress on the campaign trail. The Olsens have been snapped numerous times wearing the same piece ten different days and ten different ways and Kate Moss will forever embody that effortless chic. The French have been doing this for ages. This is their style mantra. It’s alright to minimalize right now. If anything, it’s chicer to have a smaller wardrobe that works wonders everyday than to have a closet that is overflowing with pieces (though some of us just can’t help it!). It’s all about investing, recycling, and getting the most bang for your buck. Rather then consume, consume, consume, the fashion world is thinking more reuse, reuse, reuse. And if you need a little free inspiration, log onto a blog - there are dozens to choose from.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
vhcle.com article #2
Mi (The Mi Concept Interview)
AShley B. Holmes
July 2009 vhcle 09:fashion
The Mi Concept is much more than a label or a brand - it’s a project, it’s a movement, it is fashion; and creator/designer Dean Hunt is the first to point that out. With his designs, it’s more about the thought process behind it - the way a piece of clothing can become something different and unique on every person who wears it.
Dean’s shop sits on an unassuming block of a very unassuming street. The Mi Concept is located in San Francisco’s niche recently dubbed the TenderNob, due to its location being the melting spot of both the gritty Tenderloin and the high class Nob Hill. The store is nicely situated between a small art gallery and a sneaker/skate shop. Many people wouldn't think to walk down Sutter much farther then the Borders on Powell. Mostly it consists of small restaurants, coffee shops and about a handful of Academy of Art University buildings. But with Union Square just a few blocks east, the store gets its fair share of passersby curiously peering in at what is hard to discern as a men’s or women’s clothing boutique.
I remember when I first moved to the TenderNob and walked by Mi; with no sign on the door and just a few sparse racks of minimalistic clothing, it left a lot to the imagination. I instantly fell in love. It was a bit frightening and it took me a while to walk in, but when I finally did, it was worth it. It would seem that such a sparse store with an intimidating color palette would mean snooty, by-appointment-only shop owners, but it’s exactly the opposite.
Dean is warm and energetic about his designs and is eager to make anything you see on the rack to order. If a woman fell in love with what would technically be a menswear coat, he is delighted to have it made in her measurements…and vice versa. Dean’s designs are very well made, as one can easily tell just by looking at them, and the color palette is right up many San Franciscans alley. The concept that these clothes are simple but beautiful in their design, and could be worn by either sex is something I am instantly drawn to. And so I wondered what the story was with this store. Wondered what the designer was like, what inspired them? Why put such beautiful things on this street? I was pleasantly surprised with what I learned during the interview, and left feeling both inspired and seeing that fashion can be more then what meets the eye.
When I met with Dean, we met at the shop, which is located on Sutter between Jones and Leavenworth. The interview was held in the back room that serves as both his office and design lab. The entire store follows suit with the design - black painted floors and white walls with a few long fluorescent tubes of light leaning here and there. The clothes are on three rolling racks, with one of each design displayed. Sometimes the designs are split by sex and sometimes, to make it interesting, he will mix the designs up so that people cannot judge what is for a man and what is for a woman. The back room is bare concrete with a stark white desk and filing cabinet. It’s all very simple and one can easily see how this creates a great design space…no distractions. During the interview, shoppers come in and out and Dean pops up to greet them, telling them to feel free to ask questions.
Vhcle: Okay, so first off, how did this project materialize?
Mi: Mi (pronounced like my) started because I was questioning my significance as a designer. I was looking at the bigger picture and it was difficult to see the relevance, how this was relative to the world. I was reading a lot of philosophy books, specifically about attachment theory - how people are attached to brands and labels, and buying into community, and how the label makes the person. With Mi, I wanted to remove all of that; Mi standing for the idea that someone could be asked “that’s a nice shirt, whose shirt is that?” and the person could respond simply with “it’s my shirt”. You're not buying into anything, because tomorrow you’ll be looking for something else to create the identity as it is easy to get bored with the “it” label.
V: So the name works on several levels. Yes you can say the name of the brand, but essentially you are also replying with the philosophy behind the brand. That this shirt belongs to you; it’s yours to put your stamp on rather then telling someone the name of a label and having them judge you and your choices by the identity of the brand you are wearing.
Mi: That became my relevance. I can be a fashion designer but I can also make people stop and think about who they are, why they purchase things. What’s wrong with our lives that we have to create an identity around a label? I want someone to love it for something other then the name, more just because it's good design. For the philosophy behind the label or design, you want to support what they believe in. It’s a yoda quality that’s important right now. For me it was my opportunity to have that voice. If it can affect someone - great!
V: Who or what influenced you in the beginning?
Mi: In the late ‘70s/early ‘80s I was at university studying to be an architect, and I was a huge believer in the women’s movement at that time - seeing the injustice to the woman's place in society and their relevance. There were no women in any power structures. Women didn’t present themselves in a way equal to a male dominated world, and I thought I could help women in their presentation - enabling them to gain access to those structures, and show a level of equality. It’s all about what you put out of yourself. I didn’t want to make anyone believe the clothes make you powerful; it was more that it was already there, it was in you, and the clothes just helped to show that. All of the pieces of the puzzle are perfect right now, as they are. If I can help someone make what’s inside a realization on the outside, then great.
V: What are some of your inspirations when designing now?
Mi: There is no one particular person or thing. Although, there have been over time women that acted as muses, with whom I have adored their style. It’s more a universal feeling of what I want to create. I'm just not too fussed (what people think), and I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just do what I do, not follow any one trend, I simply create what I want to create. It comes more from the philosophical thing that I’m reading. If I’m reading about Buddhists, it may have a more Asian feel. All that really matters is what the design is to you, to the people wearing it.
V: “Do you think that’s why you do minimalistic colors like black, white, grey and navy, so that it can be a canvas for people?”
Mi: Yes, exactly. That’s exactly right.
V: Do you have anyone in mind when you’re designing your collection?
Mi: Not anymore. Maybe once in a while I'll think of someone that I think it might look great on. I did have a friend who was the coolest lady I'd ever met; she pushed me, and she would come back from Paris with magazines and pictures and tell me what was taking place there. So she was really cool, a big influence at one time.
And I do have clients that will come in and I'll design something for them, but it has to stay within my design aesthetic. I had two ladies come in and they were fond of one of the coats, but they wanted it done in red, to which I said absolutely not, it just isn’t me; it’s too far from the original concept.
V: How do you edit your collection?
Mi: Ha-ha, not well. It’s hard, it's something I really need to do more of. I want to get it down to the basics of what I think every wardrobe needs - like here’s a great coat, here’s a great blouse, pants, etc.
V: It’s probably because you love everything so much!
Mi: I do, I really do! It’s almost like someone needs to come in and say, STOP! You’ve got a great coat; alright now you need this, stop making great coats, you know?!
V: Are you based just in SF?
Mi: There is a store here and then in Toronto (Canada), where our studio space is located and where everything is made. And it’s cool because people can come in and see the racks of clothes and buy off that, but then also see us working away in the back.
V: Why did you choose this neighborhood to have the space?
Mi: To me it reflected real life. It has everything. It has an art gallery and sneaker shop, a nice restaurant across the street, art students; but it also has homeless people and prostitution. And to me if one of my clients from the Presidio or Nob Hill can come here and it opens their eyes a little bit to something other then what their world normally looks like, and they can do something or make a change, then I’ve done my job. Also, from a business perspective, there is something about the hunt and find. Like when people say, “I was walking about and I found this little place and I went in, and I wasn’t expecting to find something so great off the beaten path.” It’s like when you hear about people in Europe walking down an alley and finding a cool little club or place to eat. I love that, and I think that’s really special right now. People want something different and unique to spend their money on. Something special. The story now is as important as what you find at the end of it. The three stores - Huf, Mi, and Silverman art gallery - we stand out, which is really nice and it makes us look individual.
V: What is the most rewarding part of what you do?
Mi: Idealistically, if I can affect someone. I was told that if I make choices in my life that truly make me happy, they will make everyone around me happy. Obviously, it's about people feeling good in the product and feeling good about themselves, because beauty is a feeling, not a look.
V: What’s the most difficult thing about your job?
Mi: Honestly, it’s helping women see that in themselves. It’s unbelievable, and it's not that I’ve given up, but I’ve realized with women it doesn’t matter what I say, they need to get there in their own time. I could have the most beautiful woman in front of me and she could not see that. And true, good clothes can help, but it’s also socializing women differently - it’s about putting a level of confidence in woman through the clothes and the feel.
V: Do you feel like you design more for women? You do have pieces for men.
Mi: It’s actually the first time I’ve done a men’s collection. Its different, I do love it, they are much easier, and it’s mostly things I would want to wear. Recently I displayed the collection without dividing it by gender, because I wanted to blur the lines. I wanted people to basically come in and look at it as a great piece. And if a woman saw a coat and it was a man's, I could make it for a woman’s figure.
V: Is there anything you could say to other artists or designers working or trying to work right now?
Mi: I think it’s really important to have a clear message, be true to it. Be it, don’t say it. I think in this crazy time, if you’re not really clear about what you’re saying out there, then it gets lost.
www.themiconcept.com
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Photography by Ashley B. Holmes
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sun Goddess
all styling by Ashley B Holmes
model: Jamie Jordan
photography: Greg Damron
wardrobe: American Appearal and stylists own
hair: Gina Bokariza @ Urban Groove, Santa Cruz, Ca
make-up: Myra Alvarez @ Urban Groove, Santa Cruz, Ca
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