Wednesday, January 16, 2013

1/16 Whine Wednesday

BORING MODELS

Fashion is an art form. Art can move you, shake you, and drop you to your knees in awe. Art is a form of inspiration in which fashion is an expression of. With that being said, please tell me why a designer would choose stiff, boring, and lifeless models to represent their works of art?!



It would be like the hanging the Mona Lisa in a cold, damp basement. Or, framing the Girl with a Pearl Earring in a slab of unpolished wood. I understand that the reasoning behind this absurd concept of choosing blase models is to allow the clothing to stand out and speak for itself. I understand that the models simply act as the designers' blank canvas onto which they display their masterpieces. What I don't understand, however, is why models are paid to look like plastic mannequins and how this tactic helps sell the clothing.



I witnessed one of the best examples, and worst offenders, of employing boring models while I was casually browsing the Carlos Miele pre-fall 2013 collection. I was overcome with boredom from looking at his collection. It was then that I realized it wasn't the clothes that were boring, but the people inside of them. I would reckon about 75% of a garment's appeal has to do with the way the people inside of the clothes are wearing them. If they are just standing like stiff statues, it's not going to make me want to buy the clothes they are wearing. Even the mannequins in the store windows show more movement than these models! Presentation is everything.



Repeatedly looking at the same stance and facial expression over and over is boring and is going to make me skim over the entire collection rather than actually studying the pieces. Some designers really need to reevaluate their marketing strategies because, from what I've heard, the fashion industry is too cutthroat to merely be overlooked.

No comments:

Post a Comment