The great designers almost always ask, how do we make -- or what makes -- fashion relevant? It's a weighty question for an industry that can be perceived as fluffy.
For one, clothes, in order to be relevant, need to be aligned with our values as they shift. I suspect that more and more we are increasingly wary of disposable wardrobes. Zara, H&M and others, had a moment, they've served a purpose over the last decade. (Even the designers who were the butt of the joke jumped into the game and created their own knock-off collections for Zara and H&M.)
These retailers were anti-establishment to the fashion houses, allowing customers to laugh in the face of designer prices by providing fashion to the street faster than designers could and at a fraction of the price...but we know don't we?...there is always a price. Trendy fashions, disposable clothes, even if you wanted one of those disposable items to last, invariably it couldn't. The sweater pilled, the seams split, the hem fell, the buttons gave out. Just like a pair of pantyhose, obsolescence was built into the garment. I think more and more we feel the pull to conserve, and make more sober decisions about what we choose to spend our money on. We want to know that there is value in a garment, and that if we're going to invest in an item, it will look great for seasons, and will become an expression of us.
Enter Fashion Basics....hmm, an oxymoron? A contradiction in terms...it's either fashion or it's basic, can something be both? Well, yes. We really felt there was a void in the market. Where could a woman find basics that were not just t-shirts, but something more. What would you wear under a Jil Sander jacket that felt totally luxurious, was at a completely approachable price, and was forward in design but basic at the same time? What basics could be worn day to night, either casual or dressy?
Adam Lippes set out to take where he started in 2004 (with beautiful great-fitting pima t-shirts) and reinterpreted and reimagined a perfectly luxurious basic. What would it look and feel like today. Great, easy fabrics, soft and luxurious with great drape, done in relaxed yet pulled together shapes.
And that is maybe the second thing that makes fashion relevant today, a simple sense of personal luxury, or ease. Having time on your hands and being relaxed, comfortable in your own skin and your clothes, ease of movement, ease of expression...being at ease, looking at ease. Does fashion give us ease in the way things are made, the fabrics that are used, can we travel easily with our clothes, do they fit great and always look polished in any setting? We want versatility, wearability, and we want this luxury at a non-aggressive price. I suspect that what we want ultimately is a collection of choices that only the wearer can get right, because... fashion does not make the wearer...the wearer makes fashion.