The Worst Trend in the World

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Alexandra

A typical "Nu-Rave" ensemble. Disgusting.

Every now and then a fashion trend comes into existence that is so bad, so tragic, and so hilarious, that the only thing you can do is make fun of it and hope that it goes away. Nu Rave was one of those trends, one of the worst trends I have ever seen. EVER. This premise of Nu Rave, which was very 2007 in London, was that it was a revival of the 90s rave scene. Now, I hate to admit it, but I was part of that 90s rave scene, and I can assure you I never wore the disgusting clothes that the Nu-Rave trend regurgitated.

Cassette Playa menswear from Spring Summer 2007. Note: this was NOT a joke.

The worst Nu Rave brand of all was Cassette Playa, designed by the worst dressed woman in London, Carri Mundane.

Carri Mundane. The outfit says it all.

Another really bad brand was KTZ, which was created by the founders of the Nu Rave fashion store on Greek Street, Kokon Tozai. I used ot go into Kokon Tozai with my friends Daniel and Dean just to laugh at the clothes. Seriously. They were so hideous, and so over priced. I mean, a $250 cashmere baby rattle from Hermes seemed good value compared to this stuff. I once asked the sales assistant at Kokon Tozai, what person actually bought the hideous $300 Cassette Playa t-shirts, which were basically an XXL Hanes tee printed with a three colour screen print motif. He said “Fashion students at Saint Martins.” No fashion student at Saint Martins will spend $300 on a shitty, ugly t-shirt that they can whip up on their own in the print room in about half an hour (I know, I WAS a fashion student at Saint Martins.) This stuff was a joke, and I am so glad the brands have sort of disapperaed…well, sort of.

A £215 Cassette Playa t-shirt. That's over $400CDN. Nope, this is still not a joke.

The reason why I brought this up is because my friend Michelle emailed me today and asked me whether this was KTZ for Topshop dress was serious. I had to tell her that unfortunately yes, it was serious. She couldn’t understand why anyone would pay $400 for this hideous monstrosity. I can’t understand either. It is just gross.

Pearl Dot Priss Dress by KTZ for Topshop. This dress sells for £200. That's a lot to pay for a dress that will make you look fat and ugly.

However, I’l take this moment to say that despite this disgusting dress, Topshop is usually pretty amazing, and I’l be dropping a lot of cash when I go there next month while I am in London. Can’t wait!

Cassette Playa images from their website. Carri Mundane image from here. Topshop image from their website.

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  • anon

    for starters Cassette Playa is NOT a nu rave brand you brain dead idiot! For someone who rates topshop this all quite makes sense. As for the brand disappearing you need to learn the facts before you start spouting shit on the internet! CP showed at LFW earlier on todat was fucking amazing!

    Your blog is awful, you need to give it up mate! especially when it is called searching for style when you clearly aint got a clue

  • http://www.searchingforstyle.com alexandrasuhner

    Firstly, I am sorry for taking so long to approve and respond to your comment, but I have been busy, and since this is my blog, I decide when I am going to publish rude comments.

    I’d like to know how you describe Cassette Playa, if it is not a nu rave brand, because as far as I am concerned, it came to be during the nu rave trend, and then disappeared when nu rave was over. Also, I should clarify that when I say disappeared, I don’t mean the brand no longer exists, I mean that the brand is no longer on the radar of the fashion industry. In the case of Cassette Playa, the only people still checking out the brand are people stuck in 2007, or wishing to have a good, hearty laugh.

    I struggled to find any press about the Fall Winter 2010 collection, probably because there are very few blogs or websites that bothered to cover it, although there is a video clip here. I’ll have to disagree that it was “fuckin amazing”, it looks like the same ridiculous clothing, from 2007, with a few minor changes to the shapes and the way it is presented.

    Also, I’d like to suggest that if you, Mr or Ms Anonymous, wish to be taken seriously in the future, perhaps you’d like to substantiate your claims and back up your arguments, rather than just saying things are “fuckin amazing” or “awful” With regards to your suggestion that I should “give it up mate”, I’ve had a 90% increase on unique visitors every months for the past three months, so I am guessing there are some people out there who like my blog, which has encouraged me to keep it going.

    Finally, I’ll accept many insults graciously, like “bitchy”, “rude”, “mean” or “a spazz” but “brain dead idiot” does not even come close to describing me or my writing skills, so perhaps you’d like to reflect and consider what you say, before you say it. Just a little suggestion.

    Btw, Cassette Playa SUCKS.

  • anon

    well done alexandra for sticking to your ideas, I do enjoy this blog and I feel you are justified in sticking up for yourself. At the same time I can not help but thinking you are quite opinionated in that you have a SET taste and as a result fail to see the credits of dissimilar tastes. Whilst I personally HATE Nu rave, I quite like the KTZ rugby style body ( not the dress posted)which gives a huge nod to the whole sportswear trend (mainly seen on Alex Wang). IO feel credit must be given where credit is due, I think carrie is a clever designer who does not just throw her collection together., She spends ages researching in the library, for an aztec collection in 2008 i think, she researched different Aztec symbols and patterns and incorporated these into her own way. She has created a design trademark that would be a dishounour to just simply call a passing nu rave trend. Her prints are psychedelic but highly original and the accessories in the catwalk shows are well thought out. Finally, I must say that there may be too much emphasis in high end designer fashion at times for pieces that are simply, clean, sophisticated and well tailored. I find this can get a bit mundane and I personally like a designer who has their own identity and breaks the fashion laws. With the rise in diffusion brands such as see by chloe (from chloe), Paul and Joe sister (Paul and Joe as well as the emergence of Acne, it would seem that there is a growing consumer market for edgier more casual clothes. Obviously Cassette playa may be right at the other end of the scale and may not be the kind of thing you would wear everyday if you worked in the city.

    best of luck with your blog.

  • http://www.searchingforstyle.com alexandrasuhner

    Thanks for your comment, I’ll agree that the Carrie Mundane could potentially have some success as a print designer, with her bold, graphic motifs. I just really don’t like them when they are on oversized pieces, that are not very well made (check them out for yourself) and styled in a way that dates five minutes after its been presented. Take the print concepts, apply them to different clothing, and yes, you could have something interesting that is not “Nu Rave.”

  • Christopher

    Loving your blog & could not agree more on this.

    Cassette Playa is what I can imagine Timmy Mallet (((google))) would wear on a ‘dress down Friday’.
    And be sent home to change.

    Quite how anyone beyond teething age could possibly ‘like’, let alone WEAR, these gawdy monstrosities beggars belief. Unless of course they are, as aforementioned, toddlers who I understand are attracted to such colours and shapes; or conversely the more flamboyant of paedophiles who dress with the rheumy-eyed intention of attracting children.

    It’s not as if there’s even anything remotely original about these clothes anyway. Body Map was doing the same sort of thing on the mid ’80s (though thankfully , distracted by the hair-cut horrors abounding then, one hardly noticed the clothes!) whilst in more recent times, Australian surf brand Body Glove has been producing such eye-cauterising abominations since, oh… the first wave of rave, circa 1990. Acid-coloured outsize tops that change shade the more you sweat, anyone?

    And as for the Cassette Playa ‘Aztek’ influenced collection, surely Carrie wouldn’t have had to spend TOO long ‘researching’ once she arrived at the rather lowest common denominator concept of crossing Jean-Michel Basquiat’s iconography with Keith Haring’s presentation.

    Whilst these ‘Nu Rave’ designers themselves seem to have fallen into a vat of fluorescent ink and not been missed, their legacy lives on, most notably via the cross pollenisation with American Apparel. Like Polio spores in a stagnant pond. Still, AA doesn’t have pretentions above clothing teenagers and students. That’s when you’re SUPPOSED to look a mess!

    But, really, if you want to adorn yourself in anything as unflattering and unattractive you should simply ask a friend to drink some paint and vomit over you.

    At least you’ll save yourself a few hundred £££s.

  • Christopher

    Uggghhhh… and white ‘hi-top’ trainers with stone-washed jeans??!

    Is this meant to be fashion – or an audition for the drumming stool of Iron Maiden?

    That foolish fellow in the photo above looks like he has been photographed trying to defecate into a wall-mounted urinal. Still, such deportment really wouldn’t be any great surprise coming from the wearer of a Cassette Playa shirt.

  • http://luxhedera.livejournal.com/ Lux

    I've been wondering the same about KTZ. How they make any profit still baffles me. Great post :)

  • alexandrasuhnerisenberg

    KTZ is equally as bad, no doubt about that! Thank god minimalism is back in

    fashion!