Third Floor Publication - A Broadened Horizon

So fashion bloggers, this is my last article I wrote for Third Floor publication back in 2013. 'A Broadened Horizon' tells a story of how fashion brands have the ability to continue their legacy for years and years to come. The word 'Immortality' features in this articles often, looking into different aspects of the word, for example whether people believe in immortality and afterlife and looking at it from a fashion perspective too. From Chanel and Alexander McQueen to Korean designer, Jaeuk Jung's 'Amber Chair' (this chair is very interesting, please read!) and gothic autumn/winter trends, this articles looks into an array of connotations with 'Immortality'. 

 

'A Broadened Horizon'

Fredrick C. Scott once said, “We cannot believe that anything in life is meaningless, or has no significance beyond the fleeting moment”.

‘Fashion Immortality’ written by Alex Fury, stated how designers are not the immortal ones but the brands themselves should be, “the flesh may wither and yield to the ravages of time but the brand must survive”. All fashion brands need to have a “new infusion of fresh blood”, as most have lost their original founders. Luca Solca an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London stated, “it's a very specific and to some extent almost unmeasurable combination of matching the good designer and creative talent with the DNA of the brand”. These are the reasons as to why the big luxury brands of Chanel and McQueen have continued to shine through, they appointed a new designer that works with the “DNA of the brand”.

Immortality has a definition for all forms of life to have, “the ability to live forever” and to have an “eternal life”. This area of after-life has become a raising issue for many to consider, when all forms pass away. Many disputes based upon myth, have seen experiences inside the fashion realms where most of the iconic brands, continue to nurture until the end of time. Most evidently with the late Alexander McQueen, we have seen numerous examples of the great beyond. For instance, in the music profession we have seen the reviving memory of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. As we are about to find out, immortality can be expressed in more ways than one, whether mortality is involved or not. Opinions on the concept of immortality are divided, leaving the world of science to determine our future being in eternal life.

Alexander McQueen was once described as someone who, “challenged and expanded the understanding of fashion beyond utility to a conceptual expression of culture, politics, and identity”. In 2011, an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York presented an exceptional memoir of the late McQueen after his passing the previous year. Olivia Bergin from the Telegraph stated that the ‘Alexander McQueen – Savage Beauty’ display, “has become the venue's most-viewed fashion exhibition of all time”, with 661,509 visitors. In fact, such was the demand that the event had to be extended for a further week. For an exhibition to be dedicated to a particular designer, in a country other than his own, shows the high level of respect he received as a fashion leader around the world. Ultimately, he was a designer that took provocative to the next level, his creations shaped a new era within the industry that brought a new fashion audience with it. The immortality of the McQueen brand refers to Oxford Dictionaries meaning of having, “the quality of deserving to be remembered for a long time; timelessness”. Likewise his legacy continues today with the lady who knew him most, Sarah Burton. The assistant turned creative director, has and should continue to excel through many fashion catwalks, to secure the future legacy of McQueen. Burton like many other creative directors, have had to step in and maintain a popular luxury brand. From Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and Christopher Kane appointed as creative director at Versace’s ‘Versus’ Line, brands appear to be living longer which is important for their heritage and consumer values. Burton’s triumphant achievements were recognised, when she won the Designer of the Year Award in November 2011. Fredrick C. Scott’s quote is key in relation to immortality and fashion, if McQueen and other past designers were not designers, there wouldn’t be luxury brands that consumers love. Neither would there be the fashion that people inspire from today. The opinion that immortality might in fact be real, could be suggested from Fredrick’s statement, McQueen showed that he was born to be a fashion designer that created the most extravagant garments.

Many of us would associate immortality with human form, but maybe the spirits that live on too. Conversely there have been a few examples of an everlasting life, from areas other than fashion. Korean designer, Jaeuk Jung is the creator behind the mind of “Amber Chair”, a project that appeared during Milan Design Week 2010, reflects “on the final moments of decaying objects”. The design concept behind “Amber Chair”, sees Michael Thonet’s classic “chair No.14”, embedded with an amber coloured block, that’s resembles a fossil like object. Jung’s proposal was to tell a story, of how the 1859 solidified chair could live longer by using it’s past, and generating a modern design to look into it’s future, without wiping out the object’s history. He wanted to create a point that everything lives up to a certain stage in life, but the memories can live on forever. The historical past of the “Amber Chair” can be visited by looking through the object; therefore this ever-lasting memory of an immortal object has been achieved, “it also fulfils the intention of sharing classical beauty and the passing of time with many people for a long period”. A view could be suggested that humans and objects have an opportunity to have an immortal soul, but they would have to rely on science or others to determine whether their life could be carried on into the foreseeable future.

Eternal life has connotations with vampires and the gothic-related trend that reappears in many fashion campaigns, most recently Gucci’s Fall 2012. Trendhunter.com spotted models Karmen Pedaru and Nadja Bender, wearing luxurious velour and leather garments that tell the story of, “lounging vampires waiting for the sun to go down” whilst they “whittle away the time as only immortals could”. Vampires are based on superstition; modern society has shown an innate fascination with them recently, in the form of the romantic film trilogy Twilight. Any form of immortal, appears to be a subject of deliberation for the forthcoming years. Trendhunter.com stated a recent strategy from Russian billionaire Dmitry Itskov, where by humans could have the ability to live forever. The 2045 Initiative could see an ‘Avatar’ film equivalent, to which “people’s brains and consciousness would be transferred into a holographic avatar to live on after the body deteriorates”. Scientists have already engaged forward steps to complete this immortality; provoking thoughts of what will sciences turn us into when our lives end? And the impacts these scientific developments will have on future fashion.

I will now continue my work for Hail Style.com and write some new materials, so please keep your eyes peeled fashion peeps and I hope you are enjoying reading my blog!