The unknown became our world when Columbus couldn’t resist his hunger to discover. The world became ours when we started traveling. Today, the world is (treated as) common good, we know it all, we can see it all.
So here’s a question to the wanderlust, where will you go next? & why?
In a world, as small as ours, we can take inspiration from any kind of culture. We are free in so many ways. Yet, we often copy pretty images we see on blogs & magazines instead of creating a style based on what we truly like. So here’s an idea for those with wanderlust, take inspiration from your trips around the world and create a personal style.
Bringing it back to fashion… Other cultures influenced fashion ever since people started traveling around. It wasn’t until 1903 when it found it’s way to the mass trough fashion designer Paul Poiret, a young member of the early 20th century Avant-Garde who freed women from their binding corsets. Maybe he wasn’t the first to show ethnic influences in his expensive designs, but his instinct for marketing and branding was unmatched by any previous designer. He designed flamboyant window displays and threw legendary ‘Great Gatsby Like’ parties to draw attention to his work. Using themes like “The Thousand and Second Night” (based on The Arabian Nights). He required his over 300 guests to dress in Oriental costuming. Improperly dressed guests were requested to either outfit themselves in some of Poiret’s ‘Persian’ outfits or to leave.* Paul Poiret awoke a desire for other cultures in a fashionable way.
Image of Paul Poiret “The Thousand and Second Night”
In the 70s, the world got a little smaller, since air travel became more affordable. Designers played with global references again, Kenzo with his native Japan and Yves Saint Laurent with Africa and China. Souvenirs from the hippie trains worked themselves into women’s wardrobes, like shaggy Afghan coats, Indian jewelry and South American ponchos. We were free to choose from a myriad styles.
Image of Yves Saint Laurent Africa inspired collection
Today, with the world in reach and the fact that we are always ‘connected’, the world became a ‘real life never ending inspiration board’. We can buy everything. We learned how to create pretty looks by copying our favorite bloggers. It does makes me happier to live in a more visual attractive world. But I often wonder ‘why did it become so normal to just follow fashion’? Why do we often only get inspired through others? What happened to following our instincts and guts?
A lot of fashion designers already take inspiration from their trips around the world, fashion chains copy catwalk and you, who do you copy or what’s your inspiration?
* credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Poiret
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