How do women dress today? This was the topic of the presentation given by Farid Chenoune at a recent Comptoir des Cotonniers seminar.
Farid Chenoune is a fashion historian, a lecturer at the IFM (the French Fashion Institute in Paris) and a journalist. Among other works, he has published a history of men’s fashion since the French Revolution, Des modes et des hommes, and a history of lingerie, Les dessous de la féminité. He is also a former chief editor of Mixte magazine.
Based on the observation that female consumers are now more empowered than ever, enjoying absolute control over their wardrobe and fashion sense, he highlights the role fashion plays in defining their identity. But what does that mean?
Dreams are the raw material of fashion (as opposed to needs, which stem from objective necessity). They allow us to exist, to be ourselves, to be unique, to become an improved version of ourselves or even someone else. Fashion, as Farid explains, is “an identity factory”: fundamental identity, assumed identity, temporary identity, etc. If we want to change, it lets us do so.
Women have now become “ego stylists”.
Pardon me? Let’s talk about the metamorphosis of ladies’ wardrobes and the extinction of the “total look”. In the past, Farid tells us, a woman’s clothes all matched and everything was supposed to go together. Women had various “outfits”. They didn’t mix styles or labels.
Today the watchwords are mix & match (which, incidentally, is one of John Galliano’s favorite expressions), where styles are blended ad infinitum. As a result, stylists, labels and fashion designers have much less of an influence over what people buy. Women themselves are now the opinion leaders, becoming their own personal stylists and regaining authority when it comes to their wardrobe.
Increasingly, they are going down the route of vintage style and customization.
With this in mind, brands are now well aware that they can no longer force people to accept their codes, because without their customers they are nothing.
All these women, Farid concludes, are “style heroines”: neo-designers (Do It Yourself), queens of the second-hand market, bloggers and purveyors of street style. And labels are as important on the street as they are on the catwalk.
There can be no fashion without excess, he continues. Fashion can only develop if it clashes with current tastes, if it goes against the grain, which can provoke rejection. But it can also lead to acceptance and stabilization, and what was once considered unwearable can become the norm.
A wonderful lesson in fashion culture, which, we hope, will have taught you something not only about fashion itself, but also about style and making an item of clothing your own!
And how about you? How would you say you dress? What are your fashion habits?
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