On Finding Inspiration
"I'm not feeling inspired by my clothing."
How often have I heard this phrase over the last nine months? More than I can recount. Perhaps knowing this offers you some consolation that you are not alone. If that's not the case, then it may solidify that feeling of what you were looking for wasn't out there. Either way, there's a hurdle we need to overcome.
Inspiration is defined by the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. As I continue to look for my own areas for inspiration, a few clients express their wish to be in my head and get a glimpse of how I navigate the choices that are available. Why is it that this particular season feels so confusing? One hypothesis is that all those visual prompts on the internet diminished throughout 2020. With no one out on the streets, there were no photos of street style. Many fashion bloggers had to pivot for survival, and we no longer have a window into invigorating ideas to satiate our hunger for fashion. Now left to our own recourse, the general opinion is a lack-luster malaise in our own closets. So, what does a style famished clothes horse even consider buying these days?
I find irony in the term "lacking inspiration" since the answer is usually indirectly in front of you. When we feel void of new ideas, it's usually due to ruminating too long for preconceived solutions. I am a self-proclaimed participant in this practice from time to time. Breaking the cycle means releasing yourself from those preconceived expectations - in other words, free your mind. Sometimes we have to pull everything apart to be able to rebuild it for a new reality. Things will usually evolve without such a definitive stop/start as we've experienced, and the metamorphosis occurs without even being aware that it's happened. While I don't believe any of us knew exactly how 2021 would unfold with any number of back-to-work rollouts in place, we may have imagined feeling a sense of control again in our closets. Unfortunately for many, the feelings have been only those of confusion and uncertainty.
Where does a fashion wasteland find inspiration?
This past week the fashion industry lost an incredible multi-talent in Virgil Abloh, the creative head of Louis Vuitton menswear and founder of Milan-based label Off-White. Abloh lost his private battle with cancer on Sunday. He was 41 years old. Trained as an architect with a master's degree from Illinois Institute of Technology, Abloh's gateway to fashion opened when he interned at Fendi with Kanye West in Rome. His dynamic career is peppered with accomplishments where he continuously challenged the constraints of creativity and reimagined an industry. Virgil Abloh initiated seizing streetwear to inspire the future of fashion.
While I run down any number of rabbit holes each week searching for solutions on a client-to-client basis, Virgil Abloh's life accomplishments leave me in awe of a force that drove him to recognize how to reach and connect on a multicultural scale with mash-ups. For a creative, the problems fuel the desire to dig deep to identify the common thread that connects us to each other. Mash-ups in fashion can be interpreted in a number of ways - i.e., designer collaborations sometimes surrounding a seasonal transition, a product introduction, or a hi-lo marketing strategy. The exciting part of mash-ups is the unexpected or odd pairings that spark fresh ideas.
One such mash-up could be defined by Virgil Abloh and his buddy Kanye West at Paris Fashion Week in 2009. Turning heads as unlikely sartorial disruptors, it seems Abloh manifested his shot at claiming a new generation's yearning for inclusivity. He takes the fearless leap into steering fashion to the street. And what an influential effort that has been! Certainly, there are plenty more threads of wisdom I will garner from Virgil Abloh's legacy, and perhaps he can offer you pause before that next wave of feeling uninspired hits.
"Don't focus on hurdles." In an article for Vogue, Virgil Abloh was asked to identify five career lessons. The very first one was, "Don't focus on hurdles." It's too easy to pick apart what doesn't work in any arena - jobs, relationships, diets, wardrobes… As long as we continue to acknowledge our limitations, we will continue to be held hostage to them. As long as we continue to acknowledge our limitations, we will continue to be held hostage to them. You can read more about Virgil’s legacy and fashion inspiration here.
A frequently ignored closet can feel like a tomb that keeps us stuck in past memories. It's time to make new memories. The visionaries of the world can identify what to take from the past and reconstruct a better version for our current requirements. Stay on that razor-sharp edge by releasing the parts of your sartorial past that no longer work for you. Get help rediscovering what has potential for your future in order to remain excited and engaged at the possibilities. 2022 can be the year to conquer inspiration with a much-needed mash-up in your wardrobe!
