Fashion - Business or Art?

One of the most moving fashion collection, for me, has to be the Fall 2010 Women's Ready-to-wear from Alexander McQueen, which took place a week or so after the designer had committed suicide, leaving the unfinished 16 pieces of garments to the rest of his team.  The setting, based on the news report, was small, quiet, intimate yet dignified that "went to his core as a designer who scaled the heights of couture accomplishment."  It was all about the clothes with models walking in a simple yet beautiful way.  That is the moment, if I dare say, that made us forget about FASHION, but appreciate clothes.

What is fashion? Some (mostly the designers) would argue that it is art while some may say it is purely business.  For me, it is both as was witnessed in the late Alexander McQueen's last exhibit.  It is a strange form of art. Unlike any other forms of art which furnishes the viewers only visual and spiritual interaction with the art creations, fashion allows the wearers to physically interact with it, combines both entities and releases a new form of vitality and individuality.  Like all forms of art, it is born out of creativity and embodies the essence of all forms of art - designed and created to move and inspire.  It is also a business.  Like all businesses,  fashion requires discipline, attention to details, production, logistics, and processes. Even with the most brilliant management teams, without creativity (or the art element of it), fashion would certainly loss its enchantment.  Then what comes out of the other end of the efficiency of optimizing procedures and pumping out products would just be a widget.  "The creativity is the oil that you put into that machine that makes it smooth and keeps it running. It’s the creativity that lubricates and fuels the industry. But it’s the business side that keeps it working." (Imran Amed interview, The Talks, February 11, 2015, http://the-talks.com/interviews/imran-amed/).

It does feel, at times, that the homogenization of fashion has taken over the world. Whether you are in Shanghai, Madrid, or Australia, the same stores are carrying the same big brands with the same campaigns.  The moving element and the individuality of clothes was taken away and all that left is "fashion" - the seasonal silhouettes, color trends, the “must have” shoes, or the “it” bags.  Then when I decided to start Verity & Volition, I have pleasantly come across quite a few silently strong designers.  They are using their designs to speak volume and conveying their unique point of view,  such as Manmade Natural (https://www.facebook.com/MANMADE-NATURAL-107342272650160/), Wu Yong (www.wuyong.org),  VISVIM (http://www.visvim.tv/), and Honest By (http://www.honestby.com/).

So what is fashion?  As Oscar Wilde once said "to define is to limit", let's then not define it at the moment. Rather, let it be whatever it is for you, let it be whatever it is to you, and let it be however you want it to be.  But whatever it is, let it come from within, let it come from somewhere meaningful, let it move and inspire you, and let it embody a part of you.  Let's enjoy clothes and the creativity behind it, but also appreciate the emerging fashion industry for discovering these exciting creativity.