There is something incredibly unconscientious about fashion, and it has been eating me up inside for quite a number of months now. I mean I do enjoy it on a consumer level– shopping, getting dressed, that sort of thing– but I can’t stomach phrases like “on trend,” or “this season,” or “of the moment,” which is extremely problematic because I write about fashion every damn day.
I have always tried to make LOfficielManila.com the unfashion fashion girl on the block– it has a bit more heart, a wider range of interests, and much better writing, I believe, than other fashion sites out there. Sometimes I feel constrained by my subject matter– Taylor Swift, kiss curls, Gucci– because I don’t believe in single-mindedness. And I do know there are other things happening in the world but I don’t know how to address them given the limits I have and the expectations people have. I think fashion too often confuses time with relevance– just because it was released or launched now doesn’t mean that it has any real bearing on the world– and that’s given me the most grief.
Which is why we did this Generations shoot. I needed to see some life. I will never feature someone for the sole purpose of being beautiful or stylish, because the hollowness of simply being that bores me. I like talent. I like courage. I like aggression. And I like them all most when I see them mixed together in a perfectly stable career. People always say do what you’re good at– and there is something so admirable about being able to monetize your life skills.
Sometimes I fear that if someone reads my work too closely, they’ll see my psychology– so here it is, front and center, to let you all know that I’m perfectly aware of what you see.