Fickle Fashion
July 3rd 2011 00:39
One minute you're in, the next you're out. Fashion is oh-so-fickle, sometimes with good reason, some without. For me, the jury is still out on whether "disgraced" designer John Paul Gaultier deserves that title, and whether his own (albeit offensive) views on a few things should impact on if we think his clothes are amazing or not.
Back in the news this weekend after the wedding dress designed for Kate Moss made headlines, the spate of news earlier this year touting JPG as a racist after anti-Sematic comments of his made headlines. Interestingly the comments were apparently made in a historically Jewish part of Paris. Hmmm.
Regardless of what he did and didn't say, the fact Dior fired him shows that they won't take racism in their organisation which is great. But what's not so great is that for those who love JPG's art, and want to continue to see it on the runways or (for those with bank balances much bigger than mine) wear it, there are a lot of people I suspect don't care a great deal about what his views on anything other than fashion may be.
I am hovering somewhere in between. It's never okay to be racist. But his designs are undeniably fabulous. And if his awful opinions are part of what makes him able to create such masterpieces, do we want him any other way?
And closer to home, can I just say that Wayne Cooper was accused of being a wife beater, and it didn't garner this much attention, nor did it seem to result in any sort of formal punishment in the fashion sense. And to me, hitting your wife is a wee bit worse than making an off-colour remark when you're boozed in a bar.
If I could afford to buy JPG, I suspect I still would.
Back in the news this weekend after the wedding dress designed for Kate Moss made headlines, the spate of news earlier this year touting JPG as a racist after anti-Sematic comments of his made headlines. Interestingly the comments were apparently made in a historically Jewish part of Paris. Hmmm.
Regardless of what he did and didn't say, the fact Dior fired him shows that they won't take racism in their organisation which is great. But what's not so great is that for those who love JPG's art, and want to continue to see it on the runways or (for those with bank balances much bigger than mine) wear it, there are a lot of people I suspect don't care a great deal about what his views on anything other than fashion may be.
I am hovering somewhere in between. It's never okay to be racist. But his designs are undeniably fabulous. And if his awful opinions are part of what makes him able to create such masterpieces, do we want him any other way?
And closer to home, can I just say that Wayne Cooper was accused of being a wife beater, and it didn't garner this much attention, nor did it seem to result in any sort of formal punishment in the fashion sense. And to me, hitting your wife is a wee bit worse than making an off-colour remark when you're boozed in a bar.
If I could afford to buy JPG, I suspect I still would.
| 11 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
