The hipster as fashion icon is under threat

I am a hipster sympathiser. Even though it’s a word I can’t say out loud, I can only type. And then only if I la-la-la over the clicking of the keys. But I am pro-beard, pro-vintage cardies, pro-nail art with faces on, because I believe the hipster to be on the side of good. On the side of inclusiveness and outsiderness, and ethics, and “investing in the arts” and all of that sort of general nice-guy decency.

Except the hipster is no more. Despite reports in this very magazine that the hipster’s “flat white economy” is the future of British prosperity, its visual identity is floundering. As a word it has been swallowed by a stamp of a moustache, chewed up in its own teeth in a terrible accident of signifier/signified, and as a concept it has been destroyed by the brands that took this aesthetic mainstream. Hour by hour, the “hipster” fashion companies that have come to define it have declined ever further, another beanie unsold, another worn-in band T-shirt left another day. Urban Outfitters, with its stores like the set of New Girl and its clothes rails like the end of an Essex pool party, has seen sales fall steadily since 2011. American Apparel has lost so much money it hasn’t made a profit since 2009; last year it was nearly “delisted” from the New York Stock Exchange. And on an even more basic level, the clothes just no longer look… cool.

Those who have aligned themselves the tightest with this trend sound practically mournful when discussing it, in eulogies to lost youths, to 12in covers yet unframed. Others find it hard to get the facts out through their noisy glee. Of course, part of these brands’ decline is in their ubiquity, in the way they’ve made it too easy for us to pretend we crawled more than 50 good charity shops to get to one stone-washed jacket. But could it be simpler even than this? Simpler even than “fashion” or “marketing”. Simpler even than: “I’ve got enough swallows now, ta. All set for swallows.” Could it be that we’ve collectively decided we’re sick of their crap?

It was with Urban Outfitters’ third or fourth controversy – the women’s T-shirt that read “Eat Less”, maybe, or the time they ripped off a young jewellery designer’s collection, or their Navajo accessory line, including hip flask and knickers, or the pink-triangled tapestry the Anti-Defamation League claimed was “eerily reminiscent” of concentration camps, or the $100 T-shirt with a badge that looked quite a lot like the Star of David that Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany – that it became clear Urban Outfitters was thriving on the outrage. Was trading on its “edginess”.

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Similarly, a few years ago the well-documented sleaze of American Apparel’s founder Dov Charney seemed to help the marketing of the brand. “Sex is inextricably linked to fashion and apparel,” said Charney. “And our clothing is connected to our sexual expression.” In their adverts, typically featuring girls bending over naked but for a pair of socks, they traded on their fair-labour practices, oblivious to claims that having a CEO who was said to have perpetuated a “reign of sexual terror” illustrated quite the opposite.

“I am a bit of a dirty guy,” Charney told a journalist in 2004, before masturbating in front of her, “but people like that right now.” Yeah, not any more, pal. Eleven years on, as labels and magazines refuse to work with Terry Richardson (a hipster fashion brand all of his own) following his own misogyny and downfall, it is clear that people have changed their minds. Dov Charney was finally fired just before Christmas.

The hipster look is dying because of the failures of the fashion brands that supported it. It is dying because the things the companies do has crept too far from the lifestyle they sell. It is dying because, even in business, it is no longer acceptable to be a dick. This, too, I am pro.

Socialite Ainsley Kerr on Toronto Fashion Week and being newly single in the city

Socialite and Toronto "It Girl "Ainsley Kerr in the front row, in white, last year at Toronto fashion week. She will be there again next  week for the Fall 2015 collections.

Engagements are so last season.
With fashion week getting underway in Toronto on Monday, one of its most durable attendees — a socialite who’s also earned more than her share of frequent flyer points at events around town — will flank the front rows unencumbered by the fiancé she sported last year. “It’s been interesting going back into the dating world,” says Ainsley Kerr, reflecting on her singleton navigation of the city, while living in the fish bowl. The most photographed person in Toronto’s party pages for several years now arrived one morning to meet me at Toronto’s hot new a.m.-to-p.m. boîte, Bar Raval on College St., looking casually alluring in knits and toque — a look approximating après-Aspen-ski. The visage cinched by her Betty Draper flocks, her GOOP-ready complexion, and her easy ready-to-laugh-at-herself charm.
“I can always tell when a guy has Googled me,” she footnotes, speaking to the perils of a caricature formed by online crumbs while making meta about her postmodern celebutante ascent.
In Toronto’s social hive, dissolution of Kerr’s latest engagement (it’s her second disengagement, after a betrothment to a Degrassi star) hasn’t exactly been un-small news. All set to wed a Lebanese-Canadian businessman, there were many rumours about the wedding — it was going to be in Bali, then it was going to be in Big Sur — and was spurred by reports that Kerr was even going as far as to master Lebanese cooking. But that was then.
“I don’t want to date someone in the scene,” the 32-year-old says categorically. She narrows her eyes, and points to my notepad: “Write that down ... I don’t want to date someone in the scene.”
When asked, she muses that a best-case-scenario fella has his “own thing going on,” but who can “hold his own” at parties.
Ah, parties. She knows something about the subject. A flaxen mainstay — at launches, lunches, tributes, openings, shindigs, and galas — the Havergal grad and Queen’s University drama alum (“I thought I was going to be Jennifer Aniston”) blithely lists off some memorable ones. There was, for instance, the Armani party held at the top of the CN Tower during 2014’s TIFF (where she posed for pictures with Robert Redford), and, alas, the annual Booty Ball, in support of breast cancer, which she’s co-chaired in the past.
A startling confession now, though. “I’ve scaled it back a bit,” party-wise, she says, adding she prefers nights out with the girls to events.
Her regular haunts? She gives a nod to three restaurants on Dupont St. that are part of a circuit near her home in the Annex: Fat Pasha, Rose & Sons and, right behind it, Big Crow. The latter — a Muskoka-in-the-city kinda hangout — she says, is a particular fave because “I’m a big barbecue girl.” Plus, “They have blankets, which is nice.”

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Her dim sum go-to? Crown Princess, on Bay St. Scaramouche, meanwhile — the long-running uptown restaurant — is like a cafeteria, as “I’ve been going there since I was a child.” Lunch? Soho House, or the patio at One in Yorkville, when the Celsius is co-operating.
This particular time of year doesn’t allow many sit-down dinners, though. Scaling back: not an option during the schedule-packed fashion week. And Toronto’s ‘It Girl’ is battle-ready, having meticulously planned her weeklong wardrobe in advance. “I use a rolling rack,” she confirms. Her must-get-to shows, and whose garb she will be sporting, include Hilary MacMillan, Narces, and Stephan Caras (she actually walked in his show last season). And, this being the age of the media-savvy socialite — not to mention an era in which “Tory Burch is a billionaire, Paris Hilton is reportedly pulling in six figures for a night of DJing, and Kim Kardashian has built an empire out of her ass,” as New York magazine put it recently — her play is her work. Kerr is currently a Revlon “trend ambassador,” toils occasionally as a “hand model” for Shay Lowe jewelry (her fingers debuted during a spot on the Shopping Channel), and is, in addition, the “director of development” (and muse) for Caroline Furs.
Regarding the latter gig, she is unapologetic. “Our country was built on fur,” she says, adding that “sustainability” is the important thing.
Kerr is only too aware that her fur-stance is far from the only thing that gets her critics meowing. When asked about her Mean Girls-dodging strategy, given that the society swirl in any metropolis can resemble a high school, she shows her gift for a quip when she tells me, “I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
Her self-defence playbook is as meticulous as her self-control, if our meeting today is an indicator: during our interview, she cuts and eats, one-quarter of one of Bar Raval’s famous honey-orange doughnuts.
A self-confessed “nerd” in high school, whose style now leans toward girly-girl — and whose great-grandfather owned the first brewery in Toronto (John Walz, in the 1850s), and one of the first hotels — she is circumspect about her place in the city. She actually embraces being a “socialite.”
“I have never thought it was an offensive word,” she maintains, a philosophy that’s almost refreshing when you consider all the socialites who refer to themselves as “philanthropists” (a word one should never use in reference to oneself) or the catch-all, and somewhat dreaded, “tastemaker.”
She’s always on the list. But what’s eluded her, thus far, is a co-traveller in life.

“I want the right partnership,” Kerr says with the diplomacy that might be expected at the signing of the Kyoto accord. “Someone who understands all facets of me.”

Studying fashion at Fresno State

A career in fashion is possible right here in Fresno. This weekend, students at Fresno State are holding a fashion show with some of their own designs.

Studying fashion may not be what most people think of when it comes to Fresno State but some students are making their fashion career dreams a reality.

Danika Brunbeloe, Fashion Merchandising major, said, "We have a surprisingly strong program here. A lot of people think because it's small that we don't have a lot of connections but we have so many connections to the industry in Fresno and outside. We have students that get jobs with Seventeen magazine or with the local retailers."

Brandon Yang, also a Fashion Merchandising major, said, "It was hard to look for fashion here in Fresno, at Fresno State. Especially because Fresno -- when you hear fashion you think -- in Fresno? Oh, I don't know."

Roughly 80 students are getting a degree in Fashion Merchandising from Fresno State. Many of them say a $40,000 a year tuition at a private fashion-focused university wasn't an option, but are finding a pathway to their fashion careers here at Fresno State.

Yang said, "There are a lot of students, passionate students, who want to pursue something within the fashion industry whether it be designing, marketing or fashion designing, too."


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While there's no Design major yet, students here are hopeful that eventually there will be. This weekend, fashion merchandising students are hosting a fashion show. More than 50 student models will be showing off designs from eight students, including Brandon Yang.

Yang said, "I wanted to go with the ideal theme of almost a modern, late 1920s, early 30s inspiration within my collection."

Brumbeloe said, "This show is really all about our students and giving them a chance to show their creative side, which we don't necessarily get to show in the classes. Also, the hands-on application of what we're doing in class."

The student fashion show will be this Saturday from 6-8pm at the Satellite Student Union. Admission is free for students and $5 for general public. http://enbagcheapbagsreview.tripod.com/

Anderson Cooper Argues With Andy Cohen Over Kathy Griffin's Fashion Police Exit, Doesn't Get Why "Some of the Other Folks" Are on TV

360 degrees of awkward! It's safe to say that Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper do not see eye to eye about Kathy Griffin's departure from Fashion Police. The Bravo host and his guest, both longtime pals, argued over the ongoing controversy surrounding the show during the after show of Watch What Happens Live on Wednesday, Mar. 18.


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CNN hotshot Cooper, 47, told a caller that he sent Griffin a text after she announced she was leaving the show. "I’m a huge Kathy Griffin fan. I want nothing but the best for Kathy," he said of his New Year's Eve Live co-host. "And I think she’s going to go on to bigger and better things."
Cohen, 46, had a different take. "I think it’s like the pot calling the kettle black," he interjected. "She’s like, 'Oh, I don’t want to make fun of anyone.' This show’s about making fun of people. And the reason everyone loves Kathy Griffin is she makes fun of people constantly... I mean I love Kathy Griffin too! And I love her humor. But if it wasn’t working, then say it wasn’t working. I didn’t think it was working but don’t make it about the body shaming."




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 According to Cooper, the comedienne has always presented her humor "in a different way." The respected journalist also gave a nod to Griffin's "long, well-written statement," in which she explained her sudden exit from the show after just three months.
(In it, she wrote: "I discovered that my style does not fit with the creative direction of the show and now it's time to move on... My brand of humor, while unrepentant and unafraid, is all about CONTEXT. Listen, I am no saint…But I do not want to use my comedy to contribute to a culture of unattainable perfectionism and intolerance towards difference.")

Like Griffin, Cooper also alluded to the recent controversy involving Giuliana Rancic and her comments about Zendaya Coleman's dreadlocks. "To be completely honest, I don't understand some of the other folks who are on that show," he said. "I would watch that show for Kathy Griffin. Some of the other people, I was like: I don't get why this person is on television."
He also called out Cohen for even riling up the conversation in the first place. "You love to stir it up," he said to Cohen, adding to viewers: "This is what a party at Andy Cohen's house looks like. He always invites one or two people who are going to end up drunk and end up yelling."
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Following the recent departures of both Griffin and Kelly Osbourne, E! announced this past Tuesday, Mar. 17, that the snarky style show was going on hiatus.
Watch the two TV personalities go at it above!

Lessons for brands: digital culture at London Fashion Week

Digital technology had played a significant role behind the scenes in fashion weeks for many years, but it was when digital publishing methods – namely blogging - were becoming mainstream that we started to see the power this technology had on communications. Early bloggers, like Kathryn Finney of The Budget Fashionista, helped get the less headline-grabbing bits of fashion weeks in front of those who were keen to read about them.

As these forward-thinking followers became the new voice of the fashion week, brands started to experiment with the new digital culture. Fast forward to 2015 and the fashion world is something of a pin-up for how an entire sector can embrace the breadth of opportunity that digital can provide. Burberry and Topshop, two well-known British brands, are two notable supporters. The former was the first luxury brand to live stream a catwalk show to a global, public audience, and has since been recognised as a global leader when it comes to sensibly embracing technology and innovation. The latter recently combined Twitter and real-time outdoor advertising to transport trends from the catwalk to the digital shop floor quicker than you can tap 140 characters.

In such a way as technology now allows, we sat back and enjoyed this February’s London Fashion Week and the stories that surrounded it from afar, observing lessons that any brand or business worth its weight in cashmere can learn from.

It’s good to dream big
With Google Glass alive and well, Apple Watches on the way and Yeezy delivering for adidas, 2015 is reiterating that it can pay to dream big in fashion, and this certainly seemed the case at fashion week. From the models to the live streams, the “almost breaking of the internet” by Burberry, the Charli Cohen shoppable catwalk, the TopShop “Vine” booth and the other side of fashion week, the LFW catwalk and its surroundings was as always a realisation of big dreams.


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Rather than designing for the future, Donatella Versace prefers to reshape the here and now in every new collection, using the phrase “Versace of today” as a way of introducing each new collection. “The Versace” of AW15 leans heavily on popular digital culture with “at” (@) signs sequined into couture dresses and logos reinvented as emojis. It could be argued that Versace has perhaps commoditised digital culture into couture, nevertheless it’s refreshing to see an experienced fashion institution humorously playing with technology alongside the pop culture of the moment

Embrace speed
Whether it’s hashtags or look-see sample leaks, technology shows no signs of slowing down the fashion industry. So it should be no surprise that “blink and you’ve missed it” service Snapchat was the prized tool of many bloggers at this year’s London Fashion Week. The quick snippets of ephemeral content you can publish via Snapchat are seemingly the perfect match for an event that’s heavily reliant on snippets of information and a bit of scarcity.

Being thoughtful works
Burberry has long been delivering you a catwalk show experience, wherever you may be. This year it decided to offer up simple, one-of-a-kind pictures to anyone who tweeted with it live during their catwalk show. This was a sizeable effort seeking to give a little something back to a large group of people.

Try not to be contrived
One of the overwhelming observations from this year’s fashion week was the amount of unfiltered fun being shared by everyone in attendance – most notably the models. The Cara Delevignes and Alexa Chungs of the world are refreshingly open and transparent when it comes to sharing their adventures on the internet. Although brands need to be wary about behaving like “people”, many of the models of fashion week demonstrate that the unedited version of what you are can be a powerful thing.

It’s not all about the main event

New York City street photographer Bill Cunningham once said: “The best fashion show is on the street. Always has been, always will be.” This thought was very relevant at fashion week; through the technology that people carry around with them every day, anyone with a passing interest in fashion week – or anyone who’s simply passing by – can help document what’s happening and the story that’s being told. A very powerful thing indeed.

Black Supermodel Malaika Firth Wants To 'Ignore' Fashion's Racism Problem

Malaika Firth is one of the few black models that have experienced soaring success in fashion -- an industry that is notorious for its lack of diversity. Therefore it's not far-fetched to believe that the 20-year-old, who became the first black model to land a Prada campaign in nearly 20 years, would understand her lofty position and work to improve the racially imbalanced situation.

Sadly, that's not the case. The Kenyan-born, London-raised beauty presented a few tone-deaf comments about racism in fashion during a recent interview with The Telegraph:

The lack of racial diversity is a prevalent issue in modelling but I try to ignore it. If you talk about it and try to make it an issue, then it's still going to be there. I think a lot of people my age don't see the racism, and if we can just carry on trying to do better for ourselves, then I think it will be fine.
How does the saying go? Ignorance is bliss. Well, that seems to be the route that Firth is taking, despite the fact her contemporaries -- like Jourdan Dunn, Chanel Iman and Joan Smalls -- are using their supermodel status to speak out against the lack of diversity.

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Beverly Johnson, the first black woman to cover American Vogue, isn't keeping mum about the matter either. The fashion icon spoke with The Daily Beast about Rihanna's new history-making contract with Christian Dior and the state of modeling in general.

“Unfortunately racism is still part of the conversation, and fashion is no different than any other industry," Johnson told the website. “It has to change if you’re going to move forward. You don’t want to move backward. We live in a diverse world. If you’re not participating at that level, you’re not part of the world. People need to see people as people.”

Designers dazzle at opening gala of Vancouver Fashion Week

It’s official: Vancouver Fashion Week is in full swing after opening Monday with a diverse mix of sartorial offerings.

More than 50 models strutted their stuff on the catwalk at the opening gala, showcasing one look for each of the designers that will take part in the weeklong event at Queen Elizabeth Plaza in downtown Vancouver.

Although the opening show featured a number of designers, three clear trends emerged under the tent that will likely to be winding their way from the runway to high street for fall-winter 2015.

Sparkle and shine

Peruvian designer Noe Bernacelli started off the show with a gold and cream mini dress that dazzled the audience with its glitzy embellishments and heavy metallic brocade.

Meanwhile, up-and-comer Paola Gamero opted for more subtle sparkle with an ultra-feminine lace dress featuring intricate floral embroidery and metallic thread on sheer mesh sleeves.

Bold brights

Magaly Guillen, also of Peru, made a splashy entrance with a showstopper knit dress.

The highly-saturated bright red of this avant-garde number featured matching knit boots and a dramatic puffed sleeve that enveloped the model’s arm in fondant-like folds of fabric.

Zuzana Hrubos also popped with neon yellow ribbon adorning a classic black boatneck dress and matching tote.

Shades of black

Although some designers offered bursts of bold colours, black— always a chic choice— dominated the runway.

From left to right, designers Laurence Pirnay, Nasty Habit and Hong Kiyoung previewed their fall-winter collections at Vancouver Fashion Week on Monday, March 16, 2015.

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Emerging designer Alcoolique’s sheer polka dot blouse and flouncy black leather skirt was an early hit, met with hoots and hollers from a stylish crowd on the edge of their seats.

Laurence Pirnay, Nasty Habit and Hong Kiyoung also stuck to classic black, making their mark with clean lines and mod minimalism.