Modern Fashion

My friend Jessica asked me if I would write something about the correlation between fashion and music.  I had been contemplating what to write for days, when I came upon this article featured in W magazine for the July 2011 issue: "Behind the Muses".  Eight different designers are paired with musicians based on current collaborations and mutual admiration.  Max Vadukul photographs the pairs.

This fabulous photograph depicts one of my favorite new artists, Esperanza Spalding and the creative director of Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa.  What I love about Spalding is her jazz background, her ability to play several instruments and sing well and her class and sophistication.  My feelings about Costa are no different.  His minimalist silhouettes and color palettes are exceptional.  I think this is an excellent pairing.  I have been listening to jazz music for 12 years, I discovered mod fashion in college.  It was then I realized the two are very interrelated.

In the following excerpt from Wikipedia, we learn about the link between "modern jazz" and "mods".

The term mod derives from modernist, which was a term used in the 1950s to describe modern jazz musicians and fans. This usage contrasted with the term trad, which described traditional jazz players and fans. The 1959 novel Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes describes as a modernist, a young modern jazz fan who dresses in sharp modern Italian clothes. Absolute Beginners may be one of the earliest written examples of the term modernist being used to describe young British style-conscious modern jazz fans. The word modernist in this sense should not be confused with the wider use of the term modernism in the context of literature, art, design and architecture.


Basically, what I am saying is Costa's simpler aesthetic pairs nicely with Spalding's music.  If you haven't listened to it yet, get on the bandwagon here: http://www.esperanzaspalding.com/cms/.

Music and fashion make perfect sense together.  Think of punk, alternative, metal, disco, classic rock, reggae, funk, etc.  The musicians create trends we all follow.  Most of us know what these genres looked like but what about today?  I thought it might be interesting to look at our culture now.

Indie Rock:

From top: The Kills, New Young Pony Club and The Strokes

After looking through the Resort 2012 shows online and current Italian fashion, I realize the most fashion forward are moving away from this look.  My question is, "where is fashion headed?"  Is there a particular icon or group that is going to influence style, or is fashion's interest in music fading away?