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Fashion seems to be gaining more and more territory in our lives, as it finds more and more gates through which to enter our thoughts, from the ever present ads to its in-creasingly frequent presence in the wri(en media and film. The last cinematographic year has been quite notably preoccupied with productions focusing on the fashion industry, from the glamorous and chic bio-pic “Coco Avant Chanel” to the controversial but totally stylish documentary “The September Issue”. These films not only represent an expression of the increasing a(ention we pay to trends and style, but an expression of our curiosity about fashion, our willingness to understand its mechanisms and its significance. Many times it seems that fashion is char-acterised and perceived as being exclusive, not for everybody, for the skinny and gor-geous or, for the rich and famous, etc. Indeed fashion is an intimidating industry; it relies on slippery and abstract notions such as aes-thetics and beauty. In the past fashion was the restricted possession of the elite, it was a symbol of prestige and social and financial status. However, with the industrial revolu-tion and the development of the middle class, fashion underwent a process of democrati-zation. Although fashion democracy as any democracy is a utopia, the perspective on fashion did change, it became an a(ainable ideal. More importantly, however, fashion’s true revolution emerged as a consequence of the development of subcultures. Subcul-tures represent urban communities created by the coming together of individuals with the purpose of sharing certain interests, from music to aesthetic and philosophical values. These communities set out a specific take on lifestyle and culture, and with that came a particular way of dressing, from the beat-nik’s coat to the punk´s Doc Martens to the

Fashion Thinkingmod’s mini-skirt. Subcultures began using fashion items as markers of their belonging to a certain community, which changed the way fashion was interpreted and what it could rep-resent and stand for. Since then subcultures have fallen and risen and so have the ideologies they stood for, but the pieces which constituted their specific style entered the fashion consciousness either in latent or active form. And with the impact of England´s fashion queen, Vivienne West-wood, who turned subculture fashion into a fashion cult, there´s more freedom than ever before. Furthermore the work of avant-garde designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier or Gareth Pugh seems to suggest a cultural manifes-tation of open-mind-ness. However, for the most recent developments in street style we must be grateful to the builders of its ideolgy, the fashion bloggers. Fashion bloggers, like my personal favourites The Sartorialist and Garance Dore , transformed expecta-tions and interpretations of fashion, they o&er a fresh perspective which has indi-viduality and creativity as the central focus. This new point of view represents a beautiful concept- fashion and apparel as an opportu-nity for self-expression and personal-experi-mentation, similar to a daily art-project. This appears to be the most optimistic and friendly take on fashion, one which implies acceptance and curiosity, joviality and self-humour. In the brilliant words of Madonna: ‘Express yourself, don’t repress yourself!’

BY!MARIA+CRISTINA"TREPCEA""""|"""!ILLUSTRATION!BY!PIA"SOLOMON

For our Members only win Customised Art de-signed by fashion Illustrator Pia Solomon visit www.styleboutique.com

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