House Rot
The structure didn’t weaken because talent disappeared, it weakened because tension did.
This weeks hastily written (and on my phone, sorry formatting!) is almost definitely a two-ideas-in-one piece. Kind of a weird bastard-child of both burning rage and slightly overdue apathy. Both parts born from a belief that a large chunk of working ‘creatives’ are lacking any real opportunities for creating memorable work in the luxury fashion industry (specifically ads, before I get too tangled up).
I didn’t snap. No. just kinda long exhaled, really. My brain beaten to a pulp by its own ricocheting around trying to work out how a world I’ve loved since I was a teenager, and worked in for a really long time, seemingly continues to disappoint much more than it does anything near to impress. An industry that demands the best, seemingly sticking two fingers up to many of its own people’s ambitions, investments (time snd money) and enthusiasm.
And firstly let me admit that this is all melodramatic, it’s more fun to accept things that way. Worrying about the state of ad creation is fucking weird I know, but in luxury fashion it’s kinda where a lot of the chance of earning money is. Or was. Money that has sustained creative studios, money that pays some bills. Alongside any financial gain (or loss) is what maybe equates to power for some Art Directors, Stylists and visual craftspeople, and that perceived power allows for collaborations, some of which are collected like Pokémon by a few CD’s. Each coveting the shiniest cards people, each wanting their go turn with a legend or two. Often regardless of whether it’s right for the task at hand.
By Friday just gone, my DM’s were in heat, which isn’t unusual - people messaging to share their disdain at another oncoming season of ‘meh’, a few bits of insidee-baseball, some shade, and some genuine expressions of concern over what it all means, maaaan. Are we beyond fucked?
You see: Celine tweaked their logo in a style done by MiuMiu not so long ago (and it hasn’t worked half as wel). Loewe and Jil Sander chose almost exactly the same blue for their campaigns. Givenchy and Balenciaga have both tussled for who can be the most devoid of colour and imagination. Willing to pay top money for a photographer but seemingly sod-all else for any sort of memorable image.
One over-valued, white-denim-wearing Creative Director chose to once again assign an undeniable name so that they themselves cannot be questioned. I’ve observed that to be a firm tactic for someone unable to be particularly creative. Wielding someone else’s legacy as though a shield against criticisms of his own lack of imagination… The snake oil is on 2-for-1.
I wonder if we’re almost at the point where brands, knowing the that they don’t require any set, any concept per se, will just settle for choosing which shade of greige they will be having compared to their competitor. Shot by a ‘name’, they don’t feel the need for anything else, the provenance has been negotiated with an agent at the biggest artist agency, and all that is left is their choice of how white the background should be. Luxury House A is opting for a nice Cloud White, so that Luxury House B is forced to choose Marshmallow White, much to their total lack of giving a shite…
Everything else in the process is seemingly interchangeable, clutter and identity is removed so as not to get in the way of the clothes. That’s what’s important in all of this. We’ve spent too long obscuring people’s ability to consume with silly stuff like desire, imagination or joy. Why do that when you could replicate the e-commerce images but for significantly higher rate, with someone who rose to prominence in a golden age of imaginative and desirable image making. After all it’s those 30 year old images most often populating the creative decks. WE GOT THE BIG STAR, IS NOTHING ENOUGH FOR YOU PEOPLE?
Structural Damage?
Please take a deep breath because I am going to try and explain this in an analogy, it’s how this post started, and how it’s best visualised in my mind. I’d initially gone for creeping ivy but then realised I don’t know shit about horticulture. So like many a British resident, I’ve got something else mind… shall we begin?
Like a patch of mould in the corner of the room, we knew there was a problem.
It was right there, looking at us. We looked back, some of us kinda disgusted, some unbothered, they’d “seen worse”. We talked about it (God knows I talked about it). Some of us moaned (hi, again!). Others just shook their heads. Some artists even came up with a plan to fix it, if only it were our house to even step foot in...
But mould doesn’t wait. When you don’t address it, the fucker just spreads. Quietly, consistently.
And now it’s not just in the corner: it’s in the walls, through the brick, and eating at the beams.
If something as big and broad as luxury fashion advertising was a house, then it is no longer just a bit rotten, it’s pretty much unsound.
The landlords of luxury have been cheap (at least where it matters.) Sometimes they’d let an expert come and size it up, only to often say “thanks but we’ll handle it”. Others were happy to simply patch it. Flip it. Make it someone else’s problem later on. Cover the worst parts with something that looks like quality, even sometimes something (or someone) that has been quality, just enough to pass another season. Simply, redecorate.
Throughout this though, let’s be clear:
The structure didn’t weaken because talent disappeared, it weakened because tension did.
It’s what happens when a multi-billion-pound industry built on sheer imagination decides that survival means blending in.
The talent is there, we recognise a bunch of the recurring names/studios attached to some of this work, they sometimes get a nice grandstanding credit on the Instagram too. Many of them are far from talentless, some have created the best work of the 2010’s (or earlier). I don’t think it’s always their fault. No, what is missing now, so often, is a distinct lack of trust in the process, nor the time to explore how to get around the desire for the plain image. Perhaps most able to lay at the Tabi-toed hoofs of all involves is to have more belief in the next generation of creatives, whose fees don’t swallow up the budget. Whose names won’t shield ‘bad’ work, so as not to allow for bad work.
Ideas now feel rushed. The craft feels budgeted instead of celebrated. Creativity was Managed.
CEO’s, CMO’s (and other C-words) push back on things usually outside of their purview: set design choices (“wood is luxury”), input on casting or locations, like over-keen homeowners telling the tradesman how to do fix what they were hired for. They have the wallet, why shouldn’t they remind you!?
So this isn’t about redecorating anymore. It’s about deciding whether any of these key players are actually willing to rebuild with stronger materials, or if they wanna keep pretending this rotten frame will hold out, in hope that the next tenants don’t care as much as we do.
After all it’s just pictures, innit?