Stylish vs Trendy

So, after a little break where I focused more on my career plans / yoga / body & mind / cooking / what's happening in the world, I am back with a fresh topic that I came across while doing a FutureLearn course on Understanding Fashion Business to Culture. What is style? Can we still identify with a particular style with all the trends flooding our closets each season?

French semiologist Roland Barthes explains that "Every year fashion destroys that which it has just been admiring; it adores that which it is about to destroy". He also explains that in fashion you can observe two types of designers: ones who destroy their concept of what they've done before and create something completely different; and ones who create a persona for who they create, with each collection complementing previous ones (it changes but ever so slightly, almost as the persona is growing and evolving).

As an example of the other group, he presents Chanel:"Chanel’s work does not at all take part in this annual vendetta […] Chanel always works on the same model which she merely ‘varies’ from year to year, as one might ‘vary’ a musical theme.” Chanel is focused on a person wearing their clothes - she already exists, knows her style and have her habits. The iconic brand is creating a “taste to please, not to surprise”.

@Vogue (1940-2019)

Jil Sander is another luxury brand that can be categorised together with Chanel, when it comes to the approach to the "whole above single" collections. Despite the shaky history of the house, with constantly changing creative direction and the original designer's impact (Heidemarie Jiline Sander), the ethos and aesthetics of the brand stay the same. The designer once said “I am not a minimalist, but a purist”. When we look at the brand's image - it is not only minimalistic, but almost emerging with modern nature, always with some inspiring and extremely modern twist. Everything is coming from one another. A thing that can be often noticed among this type of designers is their approach to the idea of sexes. Androgynous look is something praised by them, and Jil Sander is no exception. She never considered herself a feminist, however she never liked the way women had to present themselves. Another thing that puts the brand in this category is the colour palette, which represents natural tones, pastels and colours classified as classic (black, navy, red). Let's take a look at Jil Sander brand's designs.

@Vogue (1983-2019)

If this is the explanation of what you would enjoy in your closet, you might want to have a little look at those more affordable brands with similar idea!

DESIGN ETHOS: Every piece is made to last beyond the season. Essentials for the modern wardrobe, underpinned by timeless craftsmanship. Buy better. Keep forever.

AESTHETIC: Earth colours, simple silhouettes with an intelligent and modern twist. Art-orientated. Smart, elegant, but still comfortable.

PRICE RANGE: T-shirt £25 - Leather jacket £350

@COS (1.2020, 2. 2020, 3. 2015, 4. 2012, 5. 2020, 6. 2020)

DESIGN ETHOS: “To create a brand that blends culture, fashion, and music into a potent formula of desirable clothing that expresses individuality and attitude.” Core values are: honesty, individuality and dedication.

AESTHETIC: Toned, but grunge. Edgy and rebellious, with a casual flair. The brand is raw, authentic. Music-oriented.

PRICE RANGE: Jewellery £25 - Leather Jacket £760

@AllSaints

While this ideology of design speaks to me on a more personal level - we cannot forget the necessity of the other group of designers. They are the ones who push fashion to new and exciting. I remember how excited I was when I was 10 and the leggings with lace became a thing. I didn't know how they got popular, but someone dragged them back, straight from the 80s'. I resigned from them with the same ease that I felt when I bought the first pair. But it was exciting. Roland Barthes call this type of designers "modernists", as they decide what people are going to wear right now and in the future. Likes of Chanel might almost feel old-fashioned sometimes, instead of timeless (which they are), when compared to the modernists. As they are all about the newness, colour, freshness, being up-to-date. At the same time it doesn't make them not-stylish, as the shift of the trend doesn't necessarily mean the lack of personal style.

One of the designers who resign from everything they knew in previous collection and starting something completely different is Vivienne Westwood, responsible for the convergence of high fashion and punk. She addresses everything in her collections: climat change, global social problems, civil rights - always in the spirit of high fashion. Even though her aesthetic is deeply punk and that doesn't change, her collections are never what you would expect, changing dramatically from season to season, always introducing something new.

@VivienneWestwood (1.SS20; 2.SS20; 3.AW19; 4.AW18; 5.AW13; 6.Fall 2003)

When talking about celebrities, there is nothing they can really do anymore to shock the public. One of the first designers to start the trend of controversy and surprise was Elsa Schiaparelli, an Italian designer born in 1890. She started with her sport collection in Paris, 1927. Her outfits were worn in Wimbledon, but also, later on, by Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford. She was a friend of Salvador Dali, who was also her partner in business. She designed the famous lobster and the skeleton dress (in collaboration with Salvador Dali). She was imaginative, always looking for something new, positively crazy and creatively wild. Schiaparelli was one of the first designers to present clothes with visible zippers. She is also known for her beautiful hats, with the Shoe Hat from 1937 on top.

@Vogue (1. Lobster dress 1937; 2. Shoe Hat 1937; 3. Vogue 1951; 4. Skeleton dress 1938; 5. Tear dress 1938; 6. Velvet sleeves and hat 1938)

Below are some brands (more and less affordable) who do a great job in keeping up with trends, still staying loyal to their mission and style. These brands are not the designers shifting fashion though - they're brands who look at the high-fashion and make something "wearable" out of it. Something that's going to sell, and sell quickly. Although we can't compare fast-fashion brands to designers who shift fashion - there are a few places which are more affordable to make us feel like we can be a part of this amazing journey. DISCLAIMER: Below you can see a section covering Reformation brand, which recently was accused of racial discrimination in their actions. The founder of Reformation (Yael Aflalo) has apologised publicly on brand's Instagram, resigning from her position of CEO. Have a little look at her post and decide which side you're supporting. (@Reformation). Design-wise the brand still belongs to this category, although we have to be responsible for fashion choices we make! If you believe in something - don't buy into brands whose actions speak otherwise!

DESIGN ETHOS: Reformation’s design mission is to make silhouettes that celebrate the feminine figure. The design process starts with thinking about what women really want to wear right now. Sustainable process of bringing trends fast.

AESTHETIC: Effortless silhouettes, focus on woman's body. Modern boho. Trendy, floral, delicate colour palette. Fast fashion - but still classy and chic.

PRICE RANGE: T-shirt £45 - Jacket £530

@Reformation (2019/2020)

DESIGN ETHOS: An underestimated Polish brand, focusing on striving to meet their customers’ needs in a flash – mixing classic forms with original inspirations straight from the catwalks and influencers.

AESTHETIC: Following the trends. Big focus on smart and professional clothing. Mixing new with classic forms.

PRICE RANGE: T-shirt £10 - Maxi dress £75

@Reserved (2017-2020)

At the end of the day we decide what our style is. It means that it involves smaller or bigger changes, improvements or even darker times! I can't imagine seeing my 15-year-old self wearing the same things I do now. Style evolves together with what we see, and by what we get inspired. As you can see on examples of both types of designers and brands - it is possible to have a personal style and keep posted with trendy at the same time. We just have to keep looking and checking if we're making conscious, sustainable decisions! (but about that in separate post from the future!) Following brands in which policies and values we believe in is our humanitarian responsibility. Being pro-human, every human, is our duty as a Citizen of Earth. Invest your money in more culturally conscious ways - make it Your hobby to check where things come from and if anyone has sacrificed anything to make them! With conscious style choices, we can keep on building it and let it evolve together with us - that's what makes fashion truly fascinating.

Pin power.

Just one word and you have an image. Pinterest. Full of everything you can only imagine, overflowing with inspiring images of what people do, create, eat, wear, drink; of how they live, exercise, flex. Both a blessing and a curse, some may say. From the social media marketing point of view - Pinterest brings the attention to a product or a trend in a totally new way than Instagram or Facebook do. On mentioned apps we create our stories:

@nikolafurman

This is a selection of photos from my Instagram account. By every photo I put there, I want to tell a little story. As Simon Porte Jacquemus said in his lecture for Institut Francais de la Mode, "I wanted to do fashion really to tell stories. It was mostly that, it was not the obsession with a garment, it was the obsession to say something, to tell a piece of yourself through this prism. The stories that I had in mind, it was simple stories, stories of women in the south of France, a woman who takes her car, who goes to the beach". That is what we usually do on our social medias profiles - we are creating a story of our life, how we want people to see it.

The first picture of my neon orange nails - I took this photo over 20 times before I managed to find one I liked. And I bet if I asked you to show me your photo albums (but not the favourites album ;)), it would be a collage of sets of 20 similar photos. AND IT'S OK. I used to be a little embarrassed, until I saw how relatable my camera roll was to some of my friends'.

The second picture on the contrary, was the only picture someone took of me and my boyfriend on a house party. And it immediately told a story I really wanted to share - how much fun we had, how youthful and happy we felt (+ it was aesthetically pleasing hehe). So it landed on my ig. The third one was a spontaneous shot, which took me 30 minutes (I barely managed to take this face mask off!). But they were all my shots - something I put an effort into, and what most of us do. Little touch-ups, little love gestures towards our shots, all to create a story.

Where does the Pinterest's difference lay? Well, the boards we create are not OUR stories. They are the stories of other people that we love so much, we decided to pin them and get inspired by them in our lives. We want our story to look like theirs, so we pin it. My boards are categories of things that I aspire to be in the future:

1. to be bright

2. to be respected

3. to be stylish

4. to be cultured

5. to be loved

in not a particular order. If you don't know what Pinterest is, you probably do the same thing with who you follow on Instagram. Sometimes liking what you see on someone else's instagram is what you are going to have on yours. Other times you are going to go insane because maybe it doesn't work quite as well, but that's a separate topic.

What we are talking about in here is a TREND. If you have a Pinterest board for years, you can notice a tendency of it changing with time. Maybe it was darker during winter time and now that spring is coming it's brighter? Maybe you like different things now? Maybe you were influenced by what you saw on your Proposed Pins? Maybe! Pinterest is a wonderful tool when you're planning to move house, when you're planning a wedding, or just to satisfy your hungry eyes with something pretty and positive on your feed. But what Pinterest often does is it shows you what you should like. If you pin something, it will show you hundreds of similar photos. Example 1 after pinning a beautiful street style with menswear suit jacket:

source: Pinterest

My Pinterest is where I want to be in the future, sometimes literally ;). I can see how my Pinterest boards change depending on what I see or read about. I am depending on my social media feeds to inspire (feed;)) me, and they often leave me hanging. Why is that? Because sometimes we get lost in trends we see around us just to realise that maybe it's not us. And this is good! That means we're tired of seeing the same thing and we chase something new, something inspiring! This is where Pinterest can be an amazing source of inspiration - when you know what you're looking for. It can be a perfect place to discover new styles, new hobbies and new, new, new!

source: Pinterest

So, comment if you have your Pinterest boards (if you do, link them!). Also let me know if I'm the only person who just embarrassed herself publishing her camera roll with millions options of the same shot... Hope to see you soon!

Quarantine made me do it.

The quarantine made me start a blog! I always used to look at people's blogs and felt so inspired. I even remember starting my own blog-ish experience, when I was 14 or 15. And I remember, despite my family being the only readers, I actually really enjoyed it! So here I am, 8 years older, and ready (again!) to share my thoughts.

So this is me. My name is Nikola Furman and I am an aspiring creative director / style expert. On this blog I want to explore topics in both art and everyday life that I personally find captivating, inspiring and meaningful; but also - simply beautiful. I want to create what I really enjoy finding online: collages of life stories, trends happening around us, and why they have such an impact on our lives. Because even though I try to deny it sometimes, trends heavily influence my everyday life choices.

I was born and raised in beautiful Poland, which despite some beliefs is a very vibrant and aesthetically pleasing country. You can find anything in there - mountains, sea, lakes, agglomerations, villages - everything that I deeply miss about my motherland. I'm currently based in United Kingdom, but I am still strongly influenced by what I know from home (and post communism aesthetic is still very attractive to me). The reason why I left Poland was the education. I got my BA degree in University of South Wales, in Fashion Promotion. I feel like most of people who I talk to about my degree still think I am a designer, which sadly is not true. I've always seen myself as someone creative, but not in the area of drawing. I was always amazed by photography and promotional materials of brands (Yes, my 6-year-old self cutting pieces of magazines and putting them together into collages). When I was 18 I found out there are actually people responsible for the outcome that I enjoyed so much since being a child, and they do it as their careers (a little slow, I know). That was when I decided to try my best to become one of them. This dream is never put aside, as I am making my baby steps towards succeeding on my career path.

WEST / EASTWORLD

photo: Diana Firląg, model: Paola, design: Olivia Jones, creative direction: Nikola Furman

We live in a world full of opinions, ideas and aesthetics. It's so easy to oversee the beauty of what's around us, because there is so much of it! That it also a reason why trends are born. People like what they see somewhere and they want to try it as well. At least that's the mild and nice version of it (if you want to see the other side of it, just google @DietPrada ;)). I believe the first trend was born with first people. Just think of it as if it was your reality - your cave neighbour is using such cool new tools - you have to try and do it as well. Not just to have a useful tool, but also to belong.

This blog is going to be a big kaleidoscope of things I see, things that inspire me, and hopefully you will find something in it you will like and want to join in. Hope to see you again soon!

WONDERLAND

model: Elba, creative direction/photo: Nikola Furman