In the "biggest ever!" September issue of Elle, a full page (which, to be fair, only amounts to .12% of the issue) is dedicated to fielding a reader's question to Fashion Know-It-All (a.k.a. fashion news director and future Stylista star Anne Slowey) that asks who that Yves Saint Laurent dude was anyway."Dear FKIA, I noticed a strong reaction in the fashion industry to the death of YSL. I've heard his name, but can you please tell me why he's so great? —Amy, NYC"Let's ignore the glaring possibility that this letter wasn't actually mailed in and that the folks at Elle just needed an excuse to cover Yves Saint Laurent's death months after the other major fashion mags did. It's a valid question either way and one that you probably wouldn't know the answer to unless you read fashion books or took a class on the subject. Slowey goes on to explain that the French designer made pants for women fashionable, championed black models, launched Opium (one of the most controversial perfumes of all time), and was nearly fired from Dior for drawing inspiration from the hipsters of the day, the beatniks.
Thing is, though, the rest of the issue (and every other recent issue) presumes that the girl reading the magazine is sooo obsessed with the fashion world that she wants to know about every last up-and-coming designer. This September issue has articles about 17 different ones. Are there girls out there who don't know YSL but are excited about a story on the Milanese newby Francesco Scognamiglio (whose clothes are only sold at one store in Milan and one in London, btw)? I kinda think no.
No comments:
Post a Comment