Do You Do Fashion?

Content Editor: Alice On

I was talking to someone at the Prada show in Milan when she asked me if I “do fashion”? Looking around us at the flashing lights, people pressed to the gates for the chance to see a celebrity, young people, obsessed with the star-studded fantasy world just beyond the slowly closing doors, in a show they cannot see, I said no.

Too many times I have conversations like this - a snake pit of who you know, how many followers you have; a prerequisite to be worthy of someone’s attention. We are all unique, dignified beings worthy of respect, with or without fame, yet conversations like this are reminders of how easily ideas in fashion can lend itself to toxic elitism. As a starlet of the moment invited to the show to represent the new generation of Taiwan, I know its experiences like this that will give her and people with the same mindset the leverage to continue feeding the tyranny of fashion.  

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What is Fashion to DaisyCode

At DaisyCode fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. Individually, style tells the story of how we want to be seen in the world - our ideals and goals, it can also be a powerful tool of self-actualization - a manifestation of how we choose to feel about ourselves. As a whole, fashion is a reactive conversation about culture - a mirror of the times in which we live. In understanding culture, our everyday lives will be enriched by understanding how we, and the world, are changing. That’s why institutions like Fondazione Prada, housing contemporary commissioned works from international artists like Lucio Fontana, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, and Mariko Mori are intrinsically valuable. Hosting art events and contrasting ideologies come unpredictable products of cultural intersections. Fashion is an open invitation for voices and contributors with unique views on the present moment, it can be something for Artists, Presidents, Scientists, students or grandparents. Fashion does not mean trying to take on airs of someone else, rather it's about who you are evolving in to in this changing world, what steps did we take to get here, what is the next evolution for humanity?

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Miuccia Prada started the Prada garment collection in the 70s and it's everything I love about fashion -  light hearted, artful and inviting. But honesty watching a “real” fashion show in Milan left me questioning has it all boiled down to this - to exist online in beautiful photos with celebrities? The world is changing, classic designs like Coco Chanel and Dior and Prada all have their own stories and missions, but all we want is new - constant stimuli to validate and distract us from the hurtling speed of modern life. Perhaps a sport for some, it was disheartening to me that the most prominent question was who is watching. 

I have a creative mind and a passion for creating. I do not identify as a fashion influencer and my goals are not to be fancy. Technology gives us more access than ever before and I believe we have a responsibility to this and future generations to create better spaces for mental health. Those obsessed with fame, will lose themselves in thinking happiness is to be included in this glamorous world.

Unlike most other designers, Prada doesn’t come out to take a bow at the end of the runway because she is a very private person. I wonder how Miuccia Prada feels watching the industry change as it has? If she had a chance without the legacy of the family brand, would she choose a “normal” life, continue in her passion for collection art? Is it something she would want to pass onto her son?

She is someone who has the authority to make great changes in the world, but there are thousands of families under Prada’s employ that are affected by her choices. In Italy, you get the sense the Prada team are much more than employees. I’ve met lots of professionals in the industry, but I’ve never seen people love and embody the brand the same way as the huge Prada team. Their creations are their passion and you get the feeling they truly live for Prada.

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