LVMH AWARDED THEIR NEWEST DESIGNER, AND OPINIONS ARE MIXED

Among many quick-to-miss shifts within the fashion industry, one of the biggest changes happened in the past couple of years. Many things contribute to what the industry sees as in style or "marketable", but none have had a bigger, broader, or more drastic effect than that of TikTok. Given the ability of anyone and everyone to pretend they're the new Emma Chamberlain, the landscape of style, dress, and fashion has not been the same since. We have given this platform enough attention in our culture that a single video can make or break entire collections, campaigns, and looks, pushing the emphasis of a collection to be something consumable; a guaranteed success. However, the other major factor that plays into this dilemma is how quickly styles are changing, and pinning down what's "trending" has become increasingly more difficult over the last decade. What used to be a not-so-simple forecast starting at the top designer brands down into fast fashion, has now become a gladiator match of which company can find their target audience and keep them, not to say any brands who fail to wriggle their way into the "trending" spots are not successful. However, it's becoming increasingly clear that the trickle-down theory has shifted in favor of trickle-up, from street style to designer, but as a result of the ever-moving trending category, it seems that the fashion industry is struggling to find what it is that the people want. 

This came to mind as a result of the recent LVMH announcement that Setchu would be the winner of their Young Designer Award, and the reactions I saw to it. Setchu created a beautiful collection of nude and earth-toned masterfully tailored a-symmetric jacket dresses, shirts, blazers, and skirts, in a style that feels very reminiscent of styles being put out by brands like Louis Vuitton circa 2020. And while designer Satoshi Kuwata is not undeserving of this recognition, the online community's disparity in responses to it had wildly differing opinions. Some pointed out that competitor Luar was more deserving, as his collection appeared to be much more detailed and significantly more eye-catching. Others argued that this decision was based just as much on business as it was on fashion, and while Luar may have had a better collection, LVMH, and Setchu were more willing to work together in the future than Luar. LVMH offering the Karl Lagerfeld Prize to Better and Magliano seemed to confirm this. On one hand, LVMH may have not been willing to accept another independent brand, on the other it could be a disparity in the fashion industry as a result of the ever-growing disparity in age within it. 

It comes as no surprise to anyone that the brands and styles widely deemed "stylish" by younger fashion enthusiasts would not be the same as those agreed upon by an older audience. And while that fact remains true, I believe "issues" such as this are a result of a different kind of differing opinion. Ceremonies such as this, while some may claim could be biased, probably aren't. LVMH and the bigger fashion conglomerates aren't maliciously attempting to diminish the success of lesser-known designers. I believe this is a result of the ever-shifting trending category in fashion, and how the industry continues to trip over its own feet attempting to provide what the people want. 

A shift occurred somewhere between 2020 and 2022 in which people that were already into 'fashion' took it one step forward and kind of began the "anything is fashion" movement. Spearheaded by Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus and Harper from Wizards of Waverly Place, this "movement" consisted of a woman from NYC who named herself "TinyJewishGirl", and a Non-Binary swimmer from Princeton named Griffin Maxwell Brooks, and a girl obsessed with wearing keyboards as halter tops. These three got the most publicity, as I'm sure there are more examples, but they started motion in the industry that turned scarves into shirts, jeans into leggings, belts into skirts, and five pieces of string into a Jaded London jumper. Their style became more of a suggestion of a garment, as long as all parts, minus sometimes the nipples, are covered, anything can be worn for any reason on any occasion. Fashion is what you make of it. But because of this, the new do-it-yourself attitude towards what people understood as "high fashion", a lot of brand's trend forecasters began to get confused about what exactly they should be making. So they made suggestions of suggestions, garments that captured the vibe of a torn-apart Fruit of the Loom T-Shirt thrown over a hot pink lace bra thrown over light reflective nipple pasties. 

This leads us to where we are now. Collections are being produced and applauded despite not making that much sense to the people it's being marketed towards. Because of how drastic the switch between trickle-up and trickle-down was between 2018-2022, we're looking at an industry that equally has a total understanding of everything fashion related across the globe, while also consistently missing the mark on appeasing its audience. Essentially they think we still want a-symmetric layers on layers, the confusing mish-mash that has plagued recent collections from Balenciaga to Mugler, as a result of constantly trying to figure out what styles were consuming the most. Look at the way Kanye changed almost everything about shoes for two months, and now we're still pumping out the same silhouette despite nobody really having any interest in Yeezys anymore. The industry is quick, and they know what works, they know what the general audience wants from them, what I think has been their issue recent is finding when to stop. I've said it time and time again, trends are moving too fast, and we're bound to wind up with a few collections that produce something that would've sold infinitely better had it come out three months prior. However, while there are no issues with pulling runway inspiration from streetwear, I think we've come to a point where we need to decide if were influencing or being influenced. Because without that decision made, were stuck with a designer winning an award for New Young Designer, and nobody in the general public is as excited as I feel we should be.