Why street style has outlived itself and what awaits us next
What worries Is the fashion industry bigger: Bangladeshi slave labor or underage models in candid shootings? Of course, straight style. About the future of street photography now is not only lazy. Everything, from Suzy Menkes, a long-standing article from The Circus of Fashion to a recent interview with the blogger Garands Dore, speaks of a decline, or even the approaching sunset of a street-style. Wonderzine understands where and when this phenomenon appeared, how it was commercialized and what will happen to street fashion in the future.
The father of the street-style name is Bill Cunningham, who accidentally photographs Greta Garbo on a street in New York in 1978. That shot prints The New York Times: this is the first time that celebrity photos have appeared in the newspaper. Cunningham begins to shoot passers-by - famous and not - for the NYT and is doing it now - in 80 years. In the early 80s, British Vogue art director Terry Jones creates i-D, a magazine that publishes photographs of ordinary Londoners from the streets, such as club party people. In the 1990s, the pioneer of Asian street-style Shoichi Aoki takes the stage: he launches the FRUiTS magazine, which documents the lives of young people from the Harajuku area in Tokyo. What happens next, you probably know. 2005 is coming, and Scott Schumann closes his showroom to spend time with his daughter. He decides to shoot people on the streets of New York - the idea is akin to including a cell in a collection dedicated to the Scottish tradition. All that changes is that Schumann puts his photos on The Sartorialist blog on the wave of mastering the Internet fashion and instantly earns the sympathy of people from all over the world. At the same time, Scott Schumann’s main competitor, Tommy Tone, author of Jak & Jil, begins to engage in street-style. Street photographers capture ordinary people, looking at whom everyone understands that looking cool is easy: just put on some strange hat or combine a dress from Topshop with Marni earrings. "Street-style suddenly began to influence people. They began to look for inspiration not in magazines or on the catwalk, but in pictures from the street. It was democratic and fresh," American GQ editor Welsh Welsh wrote about the rise of street photography.
By 2010, there are a lot of street photographers, and they want to take pictures in Fashion Week, and not on weekdays in the streets. The best-style street style is best illustrated by Phil O, the creator of Street Peeper: “I'm at shows in New York. Tommy, Bill, Scott, Garans, Nam, Geraldine, Hannely, Eddie, Vanessa, Candice, Jason, Gerre, Rei, Tamu, Ivan, his Canadian friend, Christine, Vicky, the Irishman who gave me a cigarette, a Korean who was robbed in Milan, Adam, Ku, Wataru, another Japanese, an awesome modeler, an old awesome modeler, an older and more terrible modeler , a modeler with very bad teeth, Marcy, Shini, Yu, a guy from Japanese Vogue with long hair, Lee and t the thin Japanese women. And those I remember. " Why is this happening? It turns out that street style is easy to monetize. Scott Schumann and Tommy Ton are invited to shoot for GQ.com and Style.com, the first is doing the Art of Trench project for Burberry, the second is shooting the advertising campaigns for Lane Crawford and Symphony. Thanks to them, the campaign for which the street blogger shoots it-girl can be considered a separate genre of photography. And can advertise things that are not related to fashion: for example, ice cream. On the other hand, street-style is the main source of traffic for online. Sites work with slightly less famous photographers, which is enough for the latter to make a name. For example, Tamu MacPherson from All the Pretty Birds filmed for Grazia.it and became its editor. In the same 2010, street-style photographers, along with the authors of personal blogs - Chiara Ferany and Rumi Neely - become part of the fashion party: they are put in the front rows of shows (Dolce & Gabbana are among the first to do this) and are invited to parties.
But a little later it becomes clear that the main thing in street-style blogs is not their authors and not the artistic value of their pictures: fashion lovers rather than professional photographers deal with street-style. For several seasons, street fashion generates a whole pool of celebrities - street style stars. Girls are recognized only by name, like the supermodels of the 90s: these are editors of the magazines Anna, Giovanna and Shala, consultants from Hell, Michel and Natali, Russian Fashion Pack - Anna, Vika, Lena, Miroslav, Ulyana. What to list - StyleCaster website compiled a guide on 50 key street style heroines. Suzy Menkes in the acclaimed article The Circus of Fashion characterizes girls from blogs: "They are famous because they are famous." A community of fans is created around the heroines of street fashion: Instagram and Twitter have more followers than some Hollywood actors (brand Nanette Lepore says that it’s more useful from social networks than girls. You must admit that the brands could not miss the opportunity to use such a powerful resource of influence on people - and street fashion became a tool for product placement. How many can afford to dress from head to toe in Gucci or Louis Vuitton and change these outfits five times a day? Is it difficult for the giants of Givenchy and Kenzo to present a screaming sweatshirt? Why are there so many things on street blogs that are intended only for the catwalk and rarely go to regular stores? Here is one of the real numbers: the agency Sociality is working on a product placement of 20 brands and 200 of their products in one Fashion Week. "If 50% of things in a bow are presented to a girl, does that mean that her style is half hers?" - sums Refinery29.com. This is not the only way to earn with the help of street fashion stars. Remember the joint lines of Anna Dello Russo and H & M and Caroline Issa and L.K. Bennett.
What do we have in 2013? About the imminent sunset or death of street photography can not speak: this phenomenon is more alive than all living. "Dozens of vultures are waiting for the guests of the show and just prey on their vanity," Alan O'Neill from Elle describes the current situation. But thinking people have lost confidence in the street-style, not only to pictures of girls, but also guys. So, first, the editor of the American GQ Will Welsh, and then the head of the Russian version of the publication, Mikhail Idov, write that there is no more naturalness in the men's street style, but there is a cliche like an Italian in a flawless suit with flawless details. The main thing to remember is that you need to separate blogs into global and local. If street photographers take pictures at Fashion Week in New York, London, Milan and Paris and do not bother to work at other times of the year, those who dressed up especially for blogs are likely to get into the frame. Remember the photo from the Style.com home page, in which two guys in suits leaned on bikes on Pitti Uomo? My colleague and guest of the exhibition, Rita Zubatov, was amazed at the dedication of the guys: they stood under the 30-degree sun for half an hour in the same position and waited for Tommy Tone to come to them. Things are different with local blogs: they should be viewed if you want to look at the authentic style of the inhabitants of a city in the world. So, beautiful Asians should be looked for on Lamoutre.com, Israelis - on Thestreetswalker, Los Angelesis - on Histyley.com, Argentines - on Onthecornerstreetstyle, Finns - on Hel-looks. Here it is worth looking for something real - and created not influenced by the desire to get into the lens of a street photographer. “The best fashion show takes place on the streets. So it was and will be,” says Bill Cunningham. Of course, he is not about fashion weeks. What is the future of street style? Scott Schumann sees him grim and returns to shooting people on the streets on weekdays.