Fashion talk
My name is Alex Angelino, and I design clothing. I was introduced to the business of fashion at the age of 16 by my business-minded older brother, who needed reliable, cheap labor for his small clothing store in the south of Iran. Eventually, he got out of the clothing business, but I liked it and stayed on course.
For the last 45 years, I have worked on all aspects of the business, from retail to designing textiles and clothing. I started my clothing label in Los Angeles in 1999. Due to the nature of this business, I have been fortunate to live in many countries and learn about their culture, language, abilities, and work ethics.
As I grow older in the fashion industry, I become fascinated by its power to bring about positive changes in both individuals and society by fostering:
Self-Awareness: Fashion allows individuals to develop a deeper understanding of themselves, their preferences, and their identity. By exploring different styles, colors, and aesthetics, people can become more self-aware and confident in expressing who they are through their clothing choices.
Self-Autonomy: Fashion promotes self-autonomy by giving individuals the freedom to choose how they present themselves to the world. It encourages independence and empowerment, allowing people to make decisions about their personal style without conforming to rigid societal norms.
Self-Expression: Fashion is a powerful tool for self-expression, enabling people to showcase their creativity, personality, and values through their clothing, accessories, and overall appearance. It allows for diverse forms of expression, from subtle and classic to bold and avant-garde, fostering a culture of individuality and authenticity.
Diversity and Inclusion: Fashion plays a vital role in promoting diversity and inclusion by celebrating various cultures, identities, and body types. Embracing diversity in fashion campaigns, runway shows, and advertising helps challenge stereotypes, break barriers, and create a more inclusive and accepting society.
How many of you believe fashion is art?
Fashion is an essential part of culture and daily life. It represents an art form that allows individuals to perform better and express their inner emotions and feelings that cannot be expressed with words. Fashion elevates the state of mind, and like any other, art satisfies a need and communicates a message.
Fashion and its history, achievements, and offerings result from the courage and struggle of many individuals before us. Fashion, like other arts, contributes to the advancement and progress of societies and individuals. In addition, fashion communicates silently and undoubtedly has therapeutic properties.
Fashion puts the very basic human rights of individuals in their own hands, right over your body. Therefore it helps to democratize society. Moreover, fashion helps individuals perform better, achieve more of their daily tasks, and create a better state of mind to appreciate life and achieve bigger goals.
According to studies, we read so much of each other only in the first 7 seconds, and as we go further and have the conversation, we look for clues to affirm our judgments. That is why it is said that first impression is everything.
If I had to use an analogy to help you understand the potential of fashion, I would say that you are sculpting yourself every day with colors, textures, and shapes. If you are self-aware and autonomous, you sculpt the best version of yourself to not only benefit yourself but also inspire others.
The truth is that fashion is a combination of technology, industry, and the arts. Drawing and sculpture, however, are the two main artistic mediums influencing fashion, much like any other object you see around you.
Everything from yarn making to fabrics and garment designing links art and craft; even the act of assembling an outfit, taking into account style, color, and texture, is itself a work of art.
Yes, fashion is an art and is directly related to social liberty, justice, and freedom of expression. Interestingly, it is art where the consumer, as a king, not only consumes it but also has a role in its design, color, and style.
"The customer is king." I love this business mantra, reflecting the importance of customers.
My main challenge as a designer in each season is to create a collection that is king-desire. Remember, the king dislikes being given orders.. It's he who commands. To do so, I need to understand consumer preferences and tastes. This is very important for my business survival, and I have to get it right.
Designers have various methods to predict and discover the king's desires. Fashion shows, trade conventions, pre-sales, and so many other techniques are out there, but the one that interests me the most is almost obsolete in most western countries except Japan, called Cool Hunter, or "trend spotting."
Cool hunters are photographers hired by fashion organizations or magazines to stand at busy intersections looking for people dressed uniquely and asking them if they would like to be photographed. Some newspapers, like L.A. Times, have a section even today called street fashion. However, Tokyo Harajuku is the hotbed of cool hunters.harajuku fashion.
Harajuku Fashion
Harajuku Fashion and Environment, at its heart, is an open-air laboratory for innovative youth fashion concepts. People gather in this area to experiment with fashion, free from the fear of judgment or rejection, and encouraged to try innovative aesthetic concepts and theories, receiving immediate feedback from the public.
Fashion empowers
The extent of knowledge and understanding of fashion varies in different societies. In the more traditional society have little or no understanding of this powerful tool. And often see it as western culture and do not see it helpful to their society, what an unjust and disservice to society by patriarchy. Fashion designs don't have a nationality.
fashion and self awareness
fashion and self-awareness intersect in multifaceted ways, shaping personal identity, confidence, emotional expression, cultural connections, professional image, and ethical values. By cultivating self-awareness about various aspects of oneself and the world, individuals can use fashion as a tool for self-expression, empowerment, and positive impact.
Extreme case of misunderstanding fashion is among conservative societies. Enforcing certain rule over clothing and makeups, Like some Muslim societies.
"Fashion is manifest of human knowledge, struggle, experience, and feeling."
However, in the West, we have a much better understanding of fashion than in undeveloped countries, but we are far from what we could be.
Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers,
As history proves french were wrong more than 200 years ago and are wrong by imposing ban on face veils. Fashion could be repressive if it's inforced and only is liberating if is by choice.
But even in the most powerful nation on the earth, we have a long way to go to realize the power of fashion, its application in our lives and society. We know more about Mars than this everyday ritual called fashion.
To demonstrate how little we know, I refer you to the smartest person we chose to decide on our interest from 2008 to 2016. Present Obama interview on MTV Henderson Nevada. When Eric from Huntington, California, ask his opinion regarding anti-sagging-pants ordinances. He didn't know about the disservice that he would do to communities that he tried hard to improve. He dodged the question and said,
"Here's my attitude: I think passing a law about people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time. We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, getting health care, dealing with the war in Iraq..."
"Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants". this didn't look like "yes we can slogan,Is more of No you can't. He ( sagger ) is Satisfying a need, communicating a message. He screams his message and manifests disrespect that brings him discomfort, yet he is satisfied.
It's not that Sagging is my favorite style; in fact, I am for a more disciplined and objective styling. But I value the art of clothing. We are not all the same, and we are different; some of us like colors, and some don't. Some even are Colorblind and see everything as gray. Some like baggy clothing, some like fitted.
I believe the discussion of what to do about art and fashion trends should never focus on legislating codes and ordinances against the wearers or the artists but rather looking to the social conditions that need to be changed for people to feel more hopeful and ultimately express themselves differently.
Indeed, generations express themselves by their appearances, make-up, hairstyles, and accessories. Jeans have been a weapon of choice to exhibit rebelliousness, and disobedience.
The Hippies movement in the 1960s. punks, Hip Hop and Sagging are fashion trends and a way of expressing ones inner emotion toward life and society.
I believe that inner feelings and dress choices are linked. Choosing an outfit to wear involves a complicated thought process including both the conscious and subconscious minds.
It's important to note that perceptions of fashion are subjective, and what one person finds offensive, another may see as a form of self-expression or style preference. Open dialogue and understanding different perspectives can help bridge the gap and reduce misunderstandings related to clothing choices.
Knowing the principle of choosing clothing
There is no doubt that external forces influence our clothing choices: peer pressure, community, culture, and advertising are just a few of these forces.
It would be beneficial to minimize the effect of these forces and take control of this intimate, powerful tool.Not only do our subconscious influence many of our clothing choices, but we all have cognitive biases that develop over time as a result of our life experiences, influencing our overall fashion preferences. I'd like to go over three of them.
1- Halo effect
The halo effect is the likely hood of positive impressions of a person when we approve of their appearance. This halo of positivity will have a long-lasting effect on our judgment of the person. We have a favorable view of the person throughout the time, even though other characteristics may not be satisfactory. That's why we say, "first impression is everything."
2- Horn effect
The horn effect is the opposite of the halo effect. When we don't like a person's appearance, we will disqualify a person from another characteristic that may not be true. Sagging and Tattoo falls in this category.
3- Reward effect
Reward effect is when your clothing behavior looks discomforting, unbalanced, and unpleasant, yet the reward influences the user's judgment. For example, high heel shoes, Sagging, tribal and cultural clothing falls in the Reward effect.
Now that you know the importance of the individual role in fashion, let us go through some principles of fashion clothing designs and appearance.
Style, color, and texture, are primary elements, as well as the fit and proportions of the garments. Shapes and their proportion are the two main factors for expressing oneself as funny, serious, victorious, indifferent, sexy, conservative, etc.
Style and silhouette of the clothing is made from different shapes and forms sewn together.
psychology of shapes
Geometric forms can evoke specific emotions, perceptions, and associations in the human mind. Every visual object may be seen and analyzed in forms and mathematical calculations. If you want to make a home icon, the first thing that comes to mind is a rectangle with a triangle on top. That's how it's viewed at its most fundamental level. Symbols and forms have a big influence on our perception and behavior. The science of ' shape psychology ' is concerned with the impact of forms on humans.
Psychology of Shapes, square, triangles, circle
Over the years, specialists have used research and experiments to determine what each form means and how it affects human perception. I just like to go through three most basic of them.
Squares and Rectangles in fashion designs
The most commonly utilized shapes are square and rectangle. We see them daily. The majority of the items we use daily, such as our homes, cellphones, walls, furniture, books, monitors, and so on, are square or rectangular in shape. These two forms have straight lines and 90° angles, which give them a sense of dependability and stability. In addition, squares and rectangles are strongly associated with buildings because they provide a feeling of order, power, courage, balance, logic, trust, and authority. Japanese culture uses the square and rectangle the most.
However, rectangles may also represent restrictions, stiffness, and captivity. This impression comes from the rigidity of straight lines and 90 dgree angles, which in some situations might appear constrictive or limiting.
Circles, Ovals, and Ellipses in clothing design
Circles and ovals have no beginning or end, these forms perfectly depict the impression of eternity. Most celestial objects, such as the sun, moon, and earth, are round or circle. The ellipse is similar to the entire universe. That's why spherical forms evoke a sense of magic, mystery, and secrecy. Unlike other shapes, circles don't have angles, and they are gentler and milder than other forms. Eternity, enchantment mystery, and the cosmos are connected with circles and ellipses. Circles are widely associated with unity, wholeness, and continuity.
Triangle in clothing design
Triangle is a form associated with motion and direction that is dynamic, energetic, active, and forceful. The positioning of lines draws the eyes to the top of a triangle or in the direction in which it is placed. Triangles, on the other hand, can have a variety of meanings depending on their arrangement and orientation. The impression of stability and balance is evoked by an upright triangle, but the emotion of danger, instability, and uncertainty is evoked by an inverted triangle.
Their angular lines and pointed tips suggest action, progress, and momentum. In psychology, triangles can evoke feelings of ambition, assertiveness, and forward motion. They are often used to symbolize growth, aspiration, and striving for goals.
Triangles symbolize stability and equilibrium. However, asymmetrical or irregular triangles may convey tension, imbalance, or conflict, depending on their orientation and placement.
Clothing color
Color: Choosing colors palette that work well together is knowledge about human optical ability, psychology, and culture. Colors can allow us to create different types of feeling, desired and emotions.
Dark colors are associated with formality, dominance, and authority.
Light colors make the wearer look more accessible and welcoming.
Some vibrant colors build confidence and vigor.
Colors that are muted are more conservative and less intimidating.
Color effects can be measured. Warm hues like red, yellow, and orange trigger stronger excitement emotions like love, passion, happiness, and anger. Blue, green, and purple are cool hues associated with peacefulness, melancholy, and neutrality. Colors have the power to evoke certain sensory states and emotions. Below is a summary of the meaning of ten colors.
Black color: Authority, power, death, evil, magic, elegance, and mystery.
White color: purity, cleanness, peace, innocent simplicity, and minimalism.
Blue color: royalty, tranquility, serenity, stability, inspiration, and wisdom.
Gold color: Money and Prosperity, luxury, success, and wealth
Red color: Anger, aggression, stop, danger, passion and love.
Purple color: Ambition, novelty, creativity, extravagance and pride.
Brown color: Dependability, strength and reliability.
Orange color: Happyness, creativity, sweetness, and creativity.
Green color: Growth, harmony, nature, and abundance.
Gray Color: modesty, neutrality, indifference, and conformity.
Clothing Texture
The texture is the apparent physical aspect of a piece of clothing. It can be felt with the hands, seen with the eyes, or both. Therefore, our texture understanding is influenced by our experiences. Some textures are inviting and warm; some are shiny and some dull. All textures invoke a certain feeling in us.
Textured long coat for men
Clothing Fit
Well-tailored clothes make a huge impact on how you look. By well-fitted, I mean clothes that conform to your body's shape, allow you space to breathe and move, and yet do not restrain you. Extra fabric adds bulk to your frame. Fit is very personal, and our taste of it goes through changes. Regular fit, relaxed fit, slim fit are some options.
Fitted suits for men
With all that being said, fashion is an Art, and perfection and skills come with experiment and practice. Knowing that we are all different and need to express ourselves differently, fashion is an accessible tool to experiment and participate in improving our lives and society.
Accessories, makeups, and other pieces of appearance
Completing a polished appearance involves thoughtful consideration of accessories, makeup, and additional style elements. Accessories play a pivotal role, adding flair and personality to an outfit. Consider tasteful choices such as a watch, cufflinks, or a stylish belt that complements the overall look.
Makeup, while often associated with enhancing facial features, should be applied subtly to highlight natural beauty. A well-chosen lipstick or eyeshadow can be the finishing touch. Beyond clothing and makeup, hairstyles contribute significantly to one's appearance.
Whether opting for a sleek professional look or a trendy, hair completes the overall aesthetic. Lastly, maintaining good grooming habits, such as manicured nails and well-kept skin, showcases attention to detail. The key is balance; each element should harmonize to create a cohesive and confident appearance that aligns with personal style.
Throughout history, Art is the foundation of human civilization. No civilization was raised without being the best of their time in art. The growth of Greek Hellenistic culture and Alexander the Great, a 20-year-old ruler whose culture became the foundation for European civilization, as well as numerous historical instances, show that Art is the primary vehicle for progress.
This is relevant today. The top economies are the one that produces the most of art business and production. The United States, the united kingdom, and China are respectfully the first three art producers.
You have a tool at no extra cost to help you create the greatest version of yourself and the world you love ❤️ , if you just get off the autopilot mode, and take control of this everyday Ritual called appearance.
You should seek to minimize the impact of external influences and explore fashion objectively. Every day as you leave the house, dress appropriately for the setting, duties, and role you'll be playing, and expect better performance and feelings.
Shop mens stylish suits
More on fashion: wikipedia
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Alex Angelino,
Los Angeles, California.
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