LEARN WITH ME: The Complete Present (A Fashion History Blog)

Quinj Catabui
Mar 14, 2022
4 min read

Updated: Jun 27, 2022

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In the previous blog, we talked/read about two different approaches made by Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin. With two different ideologies and concepts of what modernity can be.

It’s a beautiful way how these critics created an entire stream of thought for fashion designers to resonate in their fashion collections.

The solid foundation of a fashion designer’s intent and inspiration can be anything. So, before I start, let me ask you:

“What do you want your Fashion Modernity to be? What resonates to you?”

In this blog, were going to learn a new stream of artistic thought.

- Mallarméan -

Stephane Mallarmé was like any other poet from the 19th Century. Alongside Paul Verlaine, they were both leaders of the Symbolist movement in French poetry. Still, Mallarmé’s stylistic poems brought a sense of originality—bringing symbolism as a significant element in his artistry (I suggest researching on his background as to why he was such a big deal in modern poetry).

In the 18th to 19th Century, we mostly see how much impressionism, expressionism and different artistic movements come through. It was the age of understanding or exploring expression. Like what Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker April 2016 issue,

“It was a time to discover the unspoken, the unpainted and the unheard.”

It was an important part to find new pieces or meanings to artistry; it was the age of industrialisation. Thus, being modern with the times, finding new ways to create art was a crucial portion of that era.

His poems embodied the complexity of what poets wanted to achieve. Mallarmé had the gift to envision and create a firm conviction in a reader’s mind, using so to break the ice of the concept of newness or modernity. It was a turning point in both literature and art through his poems.

But what exactly did Stephane Mallarmé think about modernity?

His take on fashion modernity wasn’t really about personifying fashion or only using it as symbolism in poems. He mainly contributed in his fashion magazine (that’s for you to search ;) – it’s quite an interesting story) where he wrote about fashion being a force on social, psychological and cultural aspects. And, of course, even economics considering the industrialisation.

Mallarmé’s expression of modernity delves into the fact the present is so pure at that time and moment, no one can touch or get it. Because the moment you do, the time has already passed.

#It’s a little challenging to put his thoughts into simpler words but here goes nothing.

When we talk about ephemerals – things that typically last a short time – trends are the primary example. Since trends can run out and a new form of aesthetic will come by or be forecasted.

Unlike Charles Baudelaire, who articulates that the extraction of beauty in the present to form a timeless piece is modernity, Mallarmé says that the constant change in trends is the beauty of the present.

This ever-changing trend in style changed so quickly in Parisian fashion that he found it to be the purest form of modernism.

Compared to Baudelaire, who says fashion extracts beauty in the temporary, Mallarmé suggests that the temporary itself is where beauty exists. Thus, being wholly and purely present and modern.

In a way, we can frame it as holism. Mallarmé approaches modernity as a whole and not as an extract of beauty or jump between past and present references. But the temporary as a whole, a defining moment of pure modernism.

#So, I made an image to make it a little bit easier to understand just how Mallarmé framed his thought of fashion modernism. However, this is entirely my take on it. It’s not an accurate model used by fashion academics or researchers. It’s just to make it easier for my brain to process. And hopefully yours too.

Why did I mainly compare Charles Baudelaire and Stephané Mallarmé? According to Rémy, they both share similar principles in fashion. They undergo the same premise. But as explained above, their definition of modernity drifts apart in their extensive use of artistic values and ideals.

A rundown:

- The pure present is the trend itself

- Almost like a holistic overview of the Baudelaireian approach

- The change, the temporary, is the beauty

So what brand can be an example of this?

Vetements started producing fashion collections in 2014 Fall. However, initially, they weren't considered as popular compared to other high-fashion brands like Gucci or Bottega Veneta (which is why they're often associated with the word "mysterious"). It was a brand that surprised the mass market in luxury fashion. Their first collection had signs of monochromatic pieces with minimal, toned-down styles. However, Vetements Spring/Summer 2016 collections brought a new sense of style and vibrancy, which drove them to a new spotlight.

And if you search up their Spring or Fall 2015 collections, you can feel the buildup to the 2016 Spring/Summer Collections. The 2016 collection had a huge variance in colour palettes, design, and aura. There were mixtures of oversized, form-fitting, bright neon, prints and patterns, graphics, and amended constructions. And from then on, the collections had a sense of the present trends and holistic idea of contemporary moments/situations. This becomes more evident in the 2017 and forward collections.

So how does Vetements represent the Mallarméan modernity?

In the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 collections, they followed a pattern of representation to day-to-day lives. And so, on up to the 2019 collections, they followed political situations. They used messages to portray their design, reflecting what happened during that particular instance or time through their collections.

And like what Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) course said, Vetements strategy was to warp the general taste of the era marginally (slightly). Thus, it stands in a completely different view compared to Baudelaireian and Banjaminian.

So, now that we’ve tackled and learned together different approaches in Fashion Modernity, the next blog will be about:

Fashion Culture in the 19th Century and the need to modernise.