Derivative Fashion Beguiles a Leaden Youth Culture:

It’s a testament to Slimane’s uncanny likeness to the late Monsieur St. Laurent in which he grabs at street style and unapologetically serves it to the heights of fashion, embracing the spirit of St. Laurent’s all black “Beat” collection (alienating an older and stuffy clientèle) and his 1974 hooker collection (provoking accusations of camp on Yves’ part). No surprise then that three years later after Slimane’s initial infatuation with Peter Doherty and the London indie rock scene that the fundamental components have found their way in the vernacular of the “young” and “cool”. But once a trend is disseminated it must redefine its appeal and adopt a new meaning for “coolness”- meanings lost to the originators of the look and abandoned by those who propelled it into popularity. If timing, location, exclusivity, availability and distribution are any means to judge a trend’s hip factor (and they are) you’d begin to assume that Hedi and his admirers have long since found some new ideas to embrace. It’s in this esoteric manner that fashion serves us identifying those who know and those who don’t.

The above images are from the Dior Homme Spring 2006 collection presented in Paris in June of 2005. The below images are selections of Urban Outfitters’ current online offerings. Urban Outfitters’ internet retail presence ships to all parts of the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. They also operate stores in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington.

Not shown is the notorious Tilby/Porkpie hat which is unsatisfactorily represented on urbanoutfitters.com and can be ordered from topman.com.