English Version | Bitch stole my look

01 Sep 2022
By Pedro Vasconcelos

The line between inspiration and imitation in Fashion has always been thin, but it’s in this sensitive balance that its history has been built. As we become more and more obsessed with originality, have we lost track of what Fashion really is?

The line between inspiration and imitation in Fashion has always been thin, but it’s in this sensitive balance that its history has been built. As we become more and more obsessed with originality, have we lost track of what Fashion really is?

I have a love-hate relationship with TikTok. If on the one hand, I think of it as an Eden of creativity, on the other hand, it resembles a limbo, where everyone tries too hard to ascend to euphoric viral success. The following episode fits the latter. During one of those TikTok journeys where time and space seem to lose all meaning, I came across a teenager (note, teenager, is not used as a derogatory term, simply as a fact) who wanted to "cancel" Valentino for the "shameless copy of a pair of shoes" by Versace. The models in question are the popular Versace’s Medusa Aevitas, the high heels that simultaneously flooded Fashion magazines and social media, and Valentino’s Tan-Go, equally successful, especially among celebrities, from Jennifer Lopez to Anne Hathaway. This TikTok creator accused Valentino of a "troubling lack of originality" that, in her words, deeply disappointed her. This short video, like so many others, was lost in the immense ether of content on the app, but her words stuck in my ears like a mosquito buzz. Let it be clear, I do not seek to be a boomer, where I criticize gen-Z for its sins (I myself am part of this fatidic generation). My anger comes from the ignorance that seems to permeate social media, and the Fashion "experts" that flood it. Motivated by the success of accounts like Diet Prada, there are many who seek to find the next scandal in the Fashion world. Ironically, these thousands of thirsty eyes miss the entire development and history of the industry, composed of constant references and copies.

As the great modern poet Iggy Azalea put it, first things first: neither Versace nor Valentino "invented" this kind of shoe. Their most characteristic feature is certainly the fact that they are both high-heeled shoes with a distinct platform and an ankle strap. Surprising as it may be, platform shoes were not invented in 2021. What follows is a little lesson on Fashion History which, if it's not too much to ask, I beg you to read with the same tone as Miranda Priestly in her iconic speech on cerulean blue in The Devil Wears Prada. Dating back to Greece, China, and Ancient Rome, platform shoes served an obvious purpose: to grant more height, usually for a functional reason. Throughout history, we have seen this type of shoe adopt a social function, used to distinguish both holinesses, as was the case with Indian padukas, and promiscuity, as with 18th century London prostitutes. But the person that redefined platforms for modern sensibilities was, ironically, an Italian designer, Salvatore Ferragamo. In 1938, Ferragamo produced The Rainbow model, made to honor Judy Garland's role in The Wizard of Oz. As you might expect, any shoe photographed on the feet of one of the biggest stars of the time was (very) likely to become a hit. Even more so if they were shoes like The Rainbow. Over the decades that follow the popularity of this shoe has fluctuated, just like the design itself: if in the 1950s people preferred the elegance of a simple high heel, the glam rock of the 1970s, and particularly David Bowie, put them back on the map.

Other than the iconic YSL Tribute sandals that went viral in 2004l, before the term even existed, Fashion hadn't had any striking platform shoes. That is, until the infamous Medusa Aevitas arrived, which, at Versace's Fall/Winter 2021 show, were worn by both Bella and Gigi Hadid. As if that wasn't enough, Dua Lipa starred in the brand's campaign the same year, sealing the platform's popularity. Donatella Versace, while a Fashion genius, is not necessarily revolutionary in her shoe line, and despite the continued success of the shoe, it was not created in a vacuum. A resurgence of 1970s designs has been seen since the mid-2010s, so it was only a matter of time before some brand created a pair of shoes that capitalized on the trend. This is certainly the keyword: trend. Versace's platforms (as beautiful as they are) did nothing more than catalyze a revival of a style that was popular in the past. And yes, after the Italian brand's show we saw an abundance of similar styles on the market, ranging from fast fashion brands to boutiques on the Champs-Élysées. Trends, especially these days, are cyclical, interpreting the references of the past through the aesthetic sensibility of the present. An unavoidable fact of Fashion's legacy extension: there are only so many ways to construct a pair of pants, just as there are limited methods of constructing a pair of platform heels. Would it be that the Medusa Aevitas has started a resurgence of this style of shoe? Perhaps. But starting a trend does not give a brand exclusivity over it - if this were the case, most of Fashion's legacy would not exist.

If inspiration is what one would argue against, the impact of designers such as names like Roy Halston, Marc Jacobs or Virgil Abloh would need to be revisited. All of these designers have undoubtedly changed the way we approach Fashion. Their genius is not based on an innate ability to create something out of nothing, but rather on interpreting references and trends in an innovative way. Alaïa, a designer known as the "King of Cling" for his creations that celebrated the female body, owes his technique to Madeleine Vionnet, a French designer who, in the 1930s, invented the bias cut. The genius of Vionnet, who was known as the "architect of fashion," was reflected in the way she, through complex constructions, created silhouettes that looked natural and simple. Azzedine Alaïa was so devoted that he collected Vionnet's pieces in order to study them thoroughly. Yves Saint Laurent, one of the most important names in Fashion, responsible for revolutionizing womenswear, was inspired by garments created by Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930s. Using the surrealist references of the Italian designer, Saint Laurent plunged them into the ubiquitous sequins of his collections of the 80s. And while on the subject of the Italian artist, it is irresistible to mention Schiaparelli's most recent collection, where Daniel Roseberry, the American designer who resurrected the world's interest in the French brand, made a brilliant reference to one of Fashion's most interesting rivalries. Elsa and Coco Chanel had one of the most famous feuds in the industry, which reached its peak with the French designer setting fire to one of her Italian counterpart's dresses (a story that deserves a Google search). In Schiaparelli's latest Haute Couture collection, Roseberry used one of Chanel's most distinctive codes, the iconic matelassé of the brand's wallets, in one of the looks, a direct reference to the rival house, and proof of how, in Fashion, referencing is creating.

Let's leave the past, regardless of how interesting it may be. Considerations are being made about the future of fashion, which increasingly lies in the confessed search for inspiration. Rather than simply letting trends influence them, some of the biggest names in the fashion world are choosing to "open" the game. Think of the hacking that brought Gucci and Balenciaga together, or Fendace: these collaborations, while simple marketing gimmicks for some (or many), are also a chance to combine house codes from brands that have been competing in the same market for decades. The greatest examples of this movement are certainly Jean Paul Gaultier's Haute Couture collections. For those who have been living under a rock, the iconic French designer retired in 2020 or rather gave in some of the creative control over these collections. What Gaultier proposes is to invite a different designer every season to incorporate their idiosyncratic style into the Maison. With guests like Olivier Rousteing or Glenn Martens, the "retired" designer added a new interest to his brand, turning its show into one of the most anticipated of Haute Couture Week.

What this trend shows is that the Fashion industry is ready to give up on one of its biggest myths: originality. 99,99% of what is produced is not new, and there is nothing wrong with that. Contrary to what we choose to believe, whether we are talking about the past or the future of fashion, inspiration has to come from somewhere. We view creativity as something divine, unattainable for mere mortals, but it does not come by way of any Greek muse. Inspiration is built from the world around us, from the way we interpret and absorb the exorbitant amount of information that surrounds us. To be creative, to continue the evolution of Fashion, it’s counterproductive to describe inspiration as a copy. All designers, artists, and even writers, need to copy, borrow or perpetuate something that already exists. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. In order to create something "new", it’s imperative that we allow a dialogue between the past and the present. As the saying goes, we are but dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, building on top of the enormous legacy that preceded us. Ending what started as a TikTok rant by quoting Bernardo de Chartres, a 12th-century philosopher, is curious, to say the least, especially considering that the creator of that video will never read this article, dedicated entirely to a moment of idiocy that must have taken her 5 minutes to film. What all this proves is that to summon one of my rants, one doesn’t need to try very hard.

Translated from the original on The Gossip Issue of Vogue Portugal.Full credits and stories on the print issue.

Pedro Vasconcelos By Pedro Vasconcelos

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