by Fan Bi
21. February 2010 16:39
Back in 1943, Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week wasn't Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week, it wasn't even New York Fashion Week, it was Press Week, and it was organized by Eleanor Lamber to showcase designers to journalists who were neglecting their INNOVATIONS. It wasn't about the largest tent, or scammering to get on the exclusive invite list. Lambert's goal with fashion week was to show off innovative strides with indigenous materials and techniques. It was not until the '70s and '80s that designers began staging their own shows in lofts, clubs and restaurants.
We are also not a fashion house. We're almost the anti-fashion house. So much of what happens today at Fashion Weeks around the world represent things the Co-Creation Custom Revolution are looking to change. Insane spending and over-indulgence has not only had an impact on people going into debt in a time when debt is least available, but also our consumer behavior has had a hefty impact on the world we live on. Yet Fashion Week stipp promotes elitism under the guise of aspiration, and excess disguising inspiration. Now we are not a tree-hugging company, nor do we claim to have any expertise in finance, but these are observant and logical, and possibly a little over-zealous, and stick to what we know.
What we do know is that when people have a closer interaction with the product they experience, they're overall emotional reaction is far more positive. That's what the #CCCR is all about. It's about bringing people closer to their products (we're starting with men's custom dress shirts), having a higher emotional payoff, but not at a higher cost. Sure there is some self expressiveness being able to wear a handbag designed by some guy in his expensive Manhattan apartment, supposedly roaming the great cities of the world for inspiration. But it's not just for you. The #CCCR is about expressing your own tastes, your own preferences and your own style. Not something that's predetermined for you, and not something that's quite frankly absurdly expensive. Now in the world's current state, that's something we're pretty excited about.
We'd like to credit Ruth Finley, Valerie Steele, Caroline Evans, and Fern Mallis for their piece, How the Runway Took Off, for the background to New York Fashion Week
