Fashion Can Also Inspire

I love fashion, but I am no fashionista. If t-shirts, hiking boots, and hoodies are in vogue then call me trendy. But I doubt this is the look that keeps the fashion world the billion dollar industry that it is. I prefer to gaze at this world from the outside, like a voyeur lurking at the periphery.

It's a world full of fun, fantasy, extravagance, and the promise of escape from ordinary life. I am in awe by the imaginative heights that these fashion designers take their craft to, which at times transgress into the realms of installation, sculptural and performance art. I love fashion that is theatrical, eccentric, daring and extreme--exaggerations or caricatures of who we are. The more utterly unwearable and abstract, the better.

Some of the clothing become sculptural pieces to me, that speak to artistry in so many crosscutting ways. There is definitely a fine art to it. Creative expression and the unabashed freedom to explore subject matter is evident in this craft that, like all other art forms, has its high and its low.

Famous examples of cutting edge fashion designers whose work I admire: Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Christian Lacroix, John Galliano....oh dear, I can't go on for much longer with this list without having to google I'm afraid. As I said, I'm no expert; just an admirer. Regardless, I find myself transfixed by some of their designs, and inspired by how "outside of the box" their geniuses lie. There is much I can learn from this world of design.

(photo above: Alexander McQueen; below: Vivienne Westwood)