Li Edelkoort has said it and Tilda Swinton is saying it: we must re-invent fashion and the fashion industry. We have become obsessed with collections and the ongoing thrill (and stress) of fashion weeks, media frenzy and fashion statements. We are no longer ‘connected’ to the process of garment making, design & production: fast fashion has become as fast as a McDonalds burger. We do not buy from need but from an insatiable hunger to BE fashionable, on the trend and hip in an ongoing rollercoaster of following the latest greatest. To live in a garment, to really inhabit it, has become rare; we wear our garments occasionally, they gather dust in our closets. In the case of some Hollywood celebrities these closets have become a shrine of sorts where the vintage Valentino or Gucci bag is adored, but never worn or taken out. We have become estranged from our clothes and their origin and we need to reconnect. Tilda Swinton who is always keen to raise awareness and ask questions through art, said she realized the importance of garment longevity after going through her late mother’s wardrobe. She told magazine i-D that “Clothes outlive us very, very often. You […]
I love Tilda Swinton. I think she is the most ‘original’ person ever. She recently was in an art piece called The Maybe in MoMA, because, well nobody knows exactly why, but she probably felt like lying around in a glass box and call it: The Maybe (which is a beautiful poetic title). You can fill in your own story here. The museum’s statement read: An integral part of The Maybe’s incarnation at MoMA in 2013 is that there is no published schedule for its appearance, no artist’s statement released, no museum statement beyond this brief context, no public profile or image issued. Those who find it chance upon it for themselves, live and in real – shared – time: now we see it, now we don’t.”
