Top 9 Fashion Moments of 2009

2009 has been a tough year to say the least, and fashion has been no exception. But maybe it is because of the turbulence that this year the folly of an industry has shown some real mettle: assuaging our anxiety with spectacle, forcing innovation on the complacent, charging ahead towards the new — Here are the top 9 fashion moments of 2009, just in time as a new decade dawns…

9. Manifest Destiny: Opening Ceremony Expands to Tokyo

Opening Ceremony ’s gargantuan retail space in Shibuya

Department stores were an American invention: a capitalist shopping innovation condensing all the different facets of a consumer’s needs under one roof. It’s fitting then that Humberto Leon and Carol Lim’s Opening Ceremony, a store that has stood as a beacon for American fashion and young international designers, has expanded into the venerable league of Barney’s, Bergdofs, and Harrods. OC has set the bar for NYC retail, balancing a perceived coolness and genuine innovative retail strategies; the potential for its new Tokyo location is boundless. Not withstanding, their in-house signature collection is on the verge of becoming a fashion force of its own.

8. The Collection: Jil Sander + Uniqlo

Sean O’Pry models the most fabulous coat $130 can buy

In the years since Jil Sander walked out of her namesake company fashion has undergone a drastic transformation. Jil Sander’s cause for minimalism has ceded to ostentation, totally affected, and generally uninspired. The blow of the recession has caused a stir, forcing consumers to reconsider their values and the value of their dollar. So it’s no better time for her to return with a clothing line for mass fashion Japanese retailer Uniqlo. Teaming her exacting standards for tailoring and fabrics with Uniqlo’s vast production and sourcing network has produced a clothing line that actually utilizes smart thinking and cutting edge technology, delivering high quality at an affordable price. Topping out at $130, Sander’s J+ line rivals in quality some of the most esteemed luxury brands, and its paired down essentialist style means that the look will last just as as long as the garment itself. It’s just a beginning, but the project has already set the pace for the rest of the industry.

7. The Designer: Patrik Ervell Wins Big

Patrik and friend pose for Vogue

Beginning with a few samples sold at his friend Humberto Leon’s burgeoning boutique, Patrik Ervell has grown to become one of NYC’s most promising talents. Eschewing the rock n’ roll references that convolute men’s fashion, Ervell has culled his own method on a modern man’s wardrobe. With almost all references removed (the occasional allusion to military activewear and workwear still present) Ervell has forged a way of dressing that does not trail the trends of whichever rock band, artist/socialite, or downtown dandy — his clothes are left only to the wearer to make his own. And with $50,000 from the CFDA/Vogue fashion fund award, the designer now has means to expand his vision into new frontiers.

6. The Exit: Martin Margiela Leaves Fashion

Tabi Footprints

The Duchamp of fashion, Margiela will go down as one of the most important designers of the 20^th and 21^st centuries: realizing the banalities of contemporary dress, ousting them, and replacing them with relevant and radical innovations on clothing that now seem beyond mundane. He sold his company to Renzo Rosso’s Diesel in 2002 and since then the demands of mass marketing and corporate profits have slowly pushed the Maison Martin Margiela away from its initial forward geared intentions. And so, the designer who has inspired countless other talents — who set the framework for the next 20 years of fashion almost 20 years ago, has left the industry, officially.

5. The Illustator: Richard Haines gives New York Scenesters a touching and transparent immortality.

Payman as seen by Richard

Fashion illustration has become a lost art, this has become all too apparent in 2009 when only a handful of illustrators are still having their talents employed. But just as Scott Schuman’s street photography has revitalized the medium, Richard Haines has emerged to give illustration a new purpose. His gestural style is reminiscent of children’s book illustrator Quentin Blake, and by sketching the looks of NYC’s downtown boys Richard has captured a moment in time, a defining style tribe. His quick pencil lines define a clear silhouette and look — a long lean line, controlled volume, and youth-focused classicism. And more than style, expressing what photographers can often miss, Richard has captured the attitude. Suave stances, impish leans, the clustering of figures into an elegant still life of cloth and flesh. In the years since Slimane dictated this mood, Haines is the first to properly cement it into the artistic history of the male figure.

4. The Magazine: Fantastic Man Sets The Bar

A Fantastic look from Fantastic Man, 10

It could be their outsider’s vantage, their recognition of the need for an alternative view, it could simply be a matter of superior taste, but Gert Jonkers and Jop Van Bennekom have not only revolutionized men’s fashion magazines, they have reinvented the format as a whole. How do you give print the allure and appeal that simply cannot be had online? How do you save a failing and increasingly irrelevant medium? You do it with flawless content, flawless art direction, flawless printing execution, and a keen sense of humor. The pair redefined the genre with their other magazine, BUTT, by removing their expectations of “gay culture” and creating something honest, human, and real. In a similar vain, Fantastic Man has erased any stagnant conception of fashion and style, rather, it promotes individuality, connoisseurship, a genuine appreciation for the finer things in life, and above all, the ability to laugh at yourself from time to time. And now with Charlie Porter on board as deputy editor it’s only going to get better.

3. The Sirens: Lady Gaga hearts Beyonce

Lady Gaga and Beyonce at the VMA’s

It wasn’t that long ago when pop royalty was made up of neurotic mouskateers desperately trying to pass their severe mediocrity off as glamour. 2009 made for proper stars, larger than life, and full of the right kind of panache and authority needed to genuinely influence the public. Lady Gaga and Beyonce have been visual feasts, bordering on inane costume, and have satisfied a new taste for the extreme. It was through Beyonce that Balmain’s shoulder was broadcasted throughout America inspiring countless knock offs. Not dissimilar from Joan Crawford’s Lennie Lynton who set the trend with the help of costume designer Adrian in the 40’s. Lady Gaga’s crazy antics have wiped away years of conservatism, opening up the Pandora’s box for the beyond. It was a match made in heaven (somewhere high at least), no matter that they’re feeding off Thierry Mugler and Grace Jones.

2. The Silhouette: Lanvin Goes in Waist Deep

A directional look from Lanvin Spring 2010

New developments in men’s silhouette are few and far in between, Hedi Slimane introduced skinny, Thom Browne took us towards sartorial, slow nudges that have now brought us skinny jeans at The GAP and “Mad Men” edition Brooks Brothers suits. For spring 2010, Lanvin’s Lucas Ossendrijver showed the most intriguing pair of pants. The big to do is that the waistband hit the boys at their natural waist, a silhouette that hasn’t had such a convincing iteration in about 15 years. Raf Simons showed it for fall 2005, Vivienne Westwoods’ Andreas Kronthaler has always favored the look, and Danish Henrik Vibskov has made it his personal signature. But never before has the proportion been given such refinement and luxury, sending us pining for early 20^th century elegance.

1. The Magician: McQueen

Plato’s Atlantis

Known for his mastery in cutting and impeccable showmanship, McQueen faced an uncertain future in 2004 when Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford left PPR, the pair helped bring the designer into Gucci Group, they were his protection. But five years and many growing pains later McQueen pulled off (with the help and vision of Nick Knight) one of the most sensational and awesome fashion shows ever staged, proving that not only is his genius undeniable, but that he can sell some clothes with it, too.

——

Jeremy Lewis manages and edits NUEVE MUSAS, a fashion blog for progressive discourse and lateral thinking.

 Related posts:

1. Top 5 Fashion Moments of 2008 5. The Collaboration: Comme Des Garcons for H&M Rei Kawakubo’s hidden fondness for making stupid money through brand dilution and H&M’s willingness to oblige...
2. NYC FASHION WEEK FALL 2009:
   Iris Loeffler There’s been a growing feeling here in NYC that excitement and some resemblance to the glory days of the city’s creative industries are coming...
3. TOP 10 Spring 2010 Collections Throughout the menswear collections was a feeling of the late 80’s and the early 90’s, a look back to the soft ethnic inspirations of...
4. Milan Men’s Fashion Week Here at homo-neurotic we’re pleased that there are no noticeable causalities of the recession off the list this season. We’ll be looking forward to Jil...
5. Alexander ‘Lee’ McQueen Commits Suicide @40 RIFP | The Daily Mail and the Guardian UK report that revolutionary fashion designer Alexander McQueen committed suicide this morning at the age of 40...