By MAEVE WALSH
COLUMNIST
Street style, runway looks, storefront displays: beyond the clothing, fashion is selling a fantasy; one of elegant parties and glamorous dresses, plane rides and beautiful people. We live in a time of extreme openness, where we can all but taste the lives of models and celebrities through their Instagram accounts. We’ve gone beyond imagining what its like being inside the fashion industry, given how complete openness has overcome selective privacy. So now lets reminisce, back when models were more than clothing hangers and more of cultural obsessions: an Ode to the supermodel, a TBT to the pre-social media era.
The Grunge Look: In a monumental moment that would define his career entierlly, Marc Jacobs (who was then working for designer Perry Ellis) showed a grunge-inspired collection consisting of layered plaids, beanies, and doc martens. The show promptly got him fired, but the controversy worked in his favor. Jacob’s iconic collection became staples of the entire generation, reaching into the likes of It Girl Drew Berrymore who incorporated grunge looks into her bohemian image.
The Business of Bad: of course, the ode to the model would not be the same without Miss Moss. Addictions, incessent partying, and a “heroin chic”, waifish look that every girl with a magazine subscription coveted; Kate gave us “being bad a face,” and it was a beautiful one. Combined with rebellious, and fabulously successful movies like The Virgin Suicides, the public hated how much they loved her. One could easily blame the superficiality of the modeling industry for Kate’s success, but just as much to blame was her elusive, careless, consequence-less attitude. While Kate now is a fresh-faced mother with a successful line for Topshop under her belt, Kate remains the enigma we love to wonder about.
The It Factor: If you look inside a magazine today, what is the first thing you notice in the ads? Is it the way that button-down shirt has pearl buttons? Is it how those floral tennis shoes are absolutely to die for? Or is it the face of the model wearing it all? Let’s not forget when a fresh-faced Anna-Nicole Smith became the face of Guess, and the publics love for the fresh faced blonde beauty went well beyond their love for the brand. In an industry constantly pushing for over the top glamour, models and photographers who challenged this mentality, even if only for a picture, created what today we consider: a beauty movement.
Today’s standardization of models has taken the focus off the behind the scenes fantasy world of high fashion, and directed the masses to pay more attention to the clothes themselves. While this has had fabulous implications for the clothes industry, lets not forget who paved the way for those whose Instagram pictures your are throwing a like to-the god and goddess, the models of the 90s.