In the Name of Fashion

What do fashion and style mean to us?

For somebody, it's a coloured outfit, accessories or a fancy car, for others it's a t-shirt or a pair of shoes; for others still, it might be just a way of being expressive creating their one. Moreover, there might be a small segment of people who don't quite care or, perhaps, never known what fashion word is.

At this stage of our society, with a constant rising demanding pace, life, especially for girls, is articulated by high standards of glamour and beauty, creating the obsession of the perfect body, perfect hair, flawless skin. Most of these stereotypes are carried on by the cover of fashion magazines.

It has been now almost a month since the icon Karl Lagerfeld passed away leaving the world of Fashion quite disoriented and in a gloomy feeling; he worked for the Maison Chanel for over 30 years, keeping alive the feminine versatility and integrity which always been the groundbreaking elements in Coco Chanel revolution.

The city of Melbourne has just hosted, like each year, one of the largest Australia's fashion event, the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, with ten days of runaways around the city, fashion Summits, with independent events and shops stalls, celebrating style and creativity in a beautiful variety and bubbling scenarios.

Chanel is just one of the spark in the world of fashion amongst the multitude of the other influential people: she was revolutionary, bold, courageous, irreverent with a deep strength which endured for all her life. The innovative look she had on women gave her the chance to stand up for them, rescuing them from their constricted clothing and cultural patterns, revealing their both natural and bold essence. I admire her work dedication and personality.

In the early 40s, the famous magazine Vogue stated, “As long as there is a desire for change and sense of fantasy—there will be fashion.” From that now on, the vast industry has kept reinventing and transmuting Old with New, make it possible to relive the trends from the past.

Fashion always changes over time; we also change with it, along with our appearances and our style choices determined by what it's on trend and what it's not any longer. We could line up in front of a clothes store during sales or starring at the luxurious windows of our favourite brand's store dreaming about that bag or that dress we cannot afford. I have been eyeing off the Chanel handbag since my early 20s.

We are that part of people that walk down the streets in everyday life, getting dressed quite randomly with the same boring clothes we have in the wardrobe. We want to dress to impress, hunting the best bargain rummaging around in some second-hand shop, now and then.

What being fashionable does mean? The first name that comes up on mind could bethe one of Anna Wintour, the British editor-in-chief ofVogue since 1988. She became a landmark in her kind, and a quite coveted figure for the fashion world: her always-worn dark sunglasses, her bob haircut, and her personality make her presence remarkably charismatic. She recently donated two of the Chanel pieces from her collection to the National Gallery of Australia, that was on display at the VAMFF. Anna Wintour said she donated the dresses to give tribute to Karl Lagerfeld, the only fashion designer who was able to continue and preserve Chanel legacy.

Fashion has always been both a cultural and expressive way of Art over in time; thus, I consider myself a girl who find enticing how fast this industry has changed and moulded our habits over the past 20 years. It was reasonably strong the influence that I felt from the city of Rome, where I have lived most of my early life, and where the sparkle of fashion is always ready for the next "on trend," overwhelming you by tons of glittery images, fancy stores, and elite events. As a result, you are in a persistent pressure to question your outfit, in the attempt to be accepted or feeling better with yourself.

Fashion offers us, undoubtedly, a versatile and multifaceted interpretation of every single period of life. On the other hand, I believe the whirlwind of trend doesn't have any control or authority to define who you are according to your style choice: we contribute to Fashion development to a large scale, taking on the essential leading role rather than that of the spectator.

A Personal Donation from Her to the Global Fashion Industry