creative wisdom | Andre Walker on Issues in Fashion

This article was not written by me but Andre Walker shared an amazingly beautiful perspective on the current issues in the fashion industry with writer, Katharine Zarrella; therefore, I felt compelled to share it with all of you. I have never re-blogged another writer's article on the site before, so for this to be the first time, you have to know that it's quite significant. 

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Walker — a 45-year-old Brooklyn-based designer turned self-proclaimed fashion artist, whose claims to fame include an outré clothing line he launched in New York’s downtown clubs when he was a teenager, consulting for the likes of Marc Jacobs and Kim Jones, and publishing a tactile fashion and arts zine called TIWIMUTA — has a pretty firm grasp on the definition. And he is concerned that contemporary culture’s ‘Give me more now’ mentality, as well as its lust for synthetic materials and overproduction, has thrust the fashion industry into an ethically questionable downward spiral.

Walker sits down with Katharine Zarrella to voice his views on the state of the industry and why, in spite of it all, fashion is still “gorge.”

KZ: You once said that, at age nine, reading W magazine was a magical experience for you. Does fashion mean the same thing to you now as it did then?

AW: No, not at all. I believe that the infrastructures of fashion have eroded over the years, and I think the systems need to change. We need to revisit how clothing is manufactured, how fabrics are made and what kinds of materials are used. In my opinion, a lot of the top luxury brands are not really making luxury goods. I can’t look at plastic shoes that cost $3,000 and call that luxury.

KZ: Is manufacturing, in your opinion, the biggest problem?

AW: No, it’s consumption. Consumption is the new servitude. It affects every demographic, from the rich to the poor. Everyone is forced or obliged to purchase something. The extremely wealthy don’t have to think as much about what they buy as the poor or the middle class, so it’s up to the extremely wealthy to lead by example. They need to become more conservative in their behaviour.

KZ: How so?

AW: It would be really interesting to see how top-tier fashion companies would react to all of their consumers wanting something biodegradable, for example. I don’t see the future in clothes made from plastic and latex and nylon and acetate — not with everything that we know about the world. We need to go beyond this surface that everyone is so quick to call luxury. These fabrics are outdated. We need to challenge what we’re actually bringing forth into the world, rather than just paying homage to these dumb Hello Kitty dolls and having shrines of junk that are supposedly so cool.

KZ: How did you transform from the little boy reading Wmagazine to Andre Walker, fashion artist?

creative wisdom | Wonderland: Creative Commerce

When the two worlds of independence and commercialism collide, many creatives encounter the obstacle of a brand commissioning their vision, but not producing it. I think that it’s a common experience when they move to the commercial side, but it has to be done, because why? Bills aren’t paid without them. Well, filmmakers, Hunter Richards and Terry Rayment, decided to expose creatives who have not only experienced the corporate wrangler but also made it work for them, instead of against them. In the documentary below, creators such as David Lewandowski, Jon Contino, Juliet Rios, and Steve Mottershead provide grand wisdom that will assist in how to cater your vision through commercial lenses.

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creative wisdom | Abe Burmeister

Regardless of the type of creative path you are currently pursuing, it is always helpful to be reminded that anyone has the opportunity to create something from nothing. Abe Burmeister, the creative mind behind Outlier performance clothing, briefly shared his story about how he was inspired by a void he felt existed in the current fashion market, which led him to fill the void himself. I cannot say I am a fan of his brand but I have quickly become an admirer of his ambition. Check out his wisdom below.

Source: PSFK

creative wisdom | Bob Lefsetz

So I finish dinner with Richard Griffiths, get the latest lowdown on One Direction, hear how much they don’t do with old media, how they don’t want to overload their fans, and I get into the lobby of the London and check my Twitter feed…

And it’s blowing up.

Drake tweeted me.

At 22:43, @Drake wrote:

“The Rules by Bob Lefsetz…genius.”

I wrote that post weeks ago. In my mind it’s already dead. But suddenly it came back alive. Drake stepped on the land mine, expressed his emotion, and brought in his audience, all 9,437,807 of them.

Okay. Some of that number may be fake. Some may have dropped out of Twitter. Some may be overloaded and missed it. But based on the plethora of retweets, I know that a ton of people saw it!

I don’t know Drake. Never met him, never got an e-mail from him, off the top of my head I can’t even tell you who his manager is.

But somehow he found me.

You can go on late night TV. You can do the usual things. You can make yourself feel good by marketing. But nothing sells like the product itself. When it’s great. And despite the supposed short attention spans of the younger generation, they’ve always got time for great, they’re constantly looking for great, they’ll stop by and smell the roses of great, they’ll tell everybody they know about great.

I wrote that post on October 22nd. Today it’s November 7th. It took that long to percolate, to reach Drake.

If you expect instant results, you’re dreaming. Or you’re paying someone to bop everybody over the head, pissing them off.

I’ve been doing this for over twenty five years. The best thing that ever happened to me was the Internet, it allowed me to reach the world for free. And if I thought this one tweet were gonna make my career, were gonna rain down cash, I’d be completely stupid. But I do know a credible artist whose fans adore him endorsed me and I end up with a positive imprimatur. Suddenly, a bunch of people I’d be unable to reach in the old world, who wouldn’t be paying attention to me in the old world, know who I am. And if they see my name one or two more times, they might check me out further, I might make some new fans.

I don’t know where I’m going. It’s like someone shut off the lights and I kept walking. And I’m bumping into bushes, stumbling, then other times I run into people and opportunities I could not foresee in the old world.

You can do it the old way. But the old way is dying.

Drake means more than any radio station. Any gatekeeper. The artists are the new gatekeepers. And the way you achieve this is by having an ongoing positive bond with your fans. Not a few old men who say they can break you big. Mystery is out the window. Now you’re the guy or girl next door making music, truly Jenny From The Block as opposed to that plastic-surgeried, airbrushed woman using that moniker. Without the machine, J. Lo’s got nothing. But those using social media and the new world to their advantage have everything.

As I sit here, the retweets continue to pour in. Nearly a day later.

I did nothing! Other than write a great piece to begin with.

And why did I write it? Because I was so frustrated with a bureaucracy that was failing me, that I got inspired and wrote to blow off steam.

Greatness isn’t contemplated. It’s not something you think about, hone and perfect. No, greatness is inspiration! Based on years of hard work. You may practice for decades, but you’ll only break through when you throw off your inhibitions, trust your instincts and truly capture lightning in a bottle.

If you do this, people know, people find out.

Word spreads incredibly quickly online.

And incredibly slowly.

The key is to be in the game.

If you do something great, it will find its audience. Maybe years later!

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I don't follow Drake on Twitter but I do check out his crew's blog every blue moon and imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon it this weekend and saw a re-post of Bob Lefsetz' post about Drake's tweet. The internet is truly a great tool and even with its obvious advancement, I think we still forget just how powerful the internet can be. Furthermore, the reason I wanted to share Bob's words with you all is because they were filled with wisdom. As artists, creatives, visionaries, designers, etc I don't think there is ever a moment where we don't need inspiration...so I hope this post starts your week off with a gorgeous beginning.

Respect,

B. 

creative wisdom | Neil Gaiman's Commencement Speech

 

In May 2012, famed writer Neil Gaiman was the voice of wisdom + unique humor at Philadelphia's University of the Arts commencement ceremony. Neil dedicated almost twenty minutes of his time to speak to every creative genius who knows they are a creative genius but have yet to live out their creative genius. Now honestly, if I told you the amount of times that I have listened to this speech, none of you would believe me but trust me when I say this...you will be inspired. View the speech below as well as a few of my favorite gems from Mr. Gaiman.

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The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are, so make up your own rules.

When you start out you have to deal with the problems of failure. You need to be thick-skinned to learn that not every project will survive. 

When you start out on a career in the arts, you have no idea what you’re doing. This is great. People who know what they’re doing know the rules and they know what is possible and what is impossible. You do not, and you should not. The rules on what is possible and what is impossible in the arts were made by people who had not tested the bounds of the possible by going beyond them, and you can. If you don’t know it’s impossible, it’s easier to do.

When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art.

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