There’s been a lot in the press and blogosphere about the attention bloggers are getting, and whether bloggers have the right to be sitting front row at fashion shows and being recipients of free stuff.

It started off with an article in The Independent entitled “Fluff flies as fashion writers pick a cat fight with bloggers” which talked about the fact that many people in the industry can’t believe that bloggers are getting showered with free gifts, and that blogs “have turned into little more than mouthpieces for fashion brands, which are increasingly using bloggers to regurgitate their press releases.” (Read Kanye West’s hilarious and absolutely idiotic rant against bloggers here.)

Tavi’s hat that blocked everyone’s view. Image source.

Business of Fashion then wrote a good article about how the Independent interviewed many bloggers for the article, but failed to use any quotes from them and therefore the article was quite one-sided. There was also some other really good points made (as usual) by Imran Amed, editor of Business of Fashion, so I’d suggest you read both articles if you are at all interested in the subject. (Links here and here.) They also link to Grazia magazine’s outburst at Tavi, and her response. I don’t want to spend too much time on this but I’d like to have my say, so, here are some of my points.

Yes, there are bloggers that are not always professional and maybe they don’t all deserve the spotlight they have, but if the public support them by reading their blogs, whose exactly is judging that they “don’t deserve?” Also, there are many very interesting, intelligent, or beautiful blogs out there, and they DO deserve the attention they are getting.

Susie Bubble from Style Bubble, a well-respected fashion blog. Image source.

How can magazine criticize bloggers for getting free stuff? The whole concept of a magazine is based on advertisers, if you can’t afford to advertise on their expensive glossy pages, they won’t talk about you. 90% of Vogue’s content is covering advertisers’ product, so those are the brands that can afford $25K per page. And I can guarantee you, the magazine staff gets TONS of free stuff, it’s disgusting how much. Magazine staff generally gets paid quite poorly, but the perks are well worth the low salaries. So if editors are allowed free stuff, why aren’t bloggers?

Plum Sykes, another Vogue-employed boring socialite. Image source.

But the main point I’d like to make is that the fashion industry is extremely critical, brutally unethical, and totally elitist. And the way that people make it to the top is highly unfair. Will someone find me a major fashion industry player who WAS NOT born into a rich family, or has famous parents? Because seriously, nearly everyone (aside from designers) in the industry comes from money and fame, and that’s how they get their break. I like that bloggers don’t have to be socialites or from a rich family to get their voice out into the industry.

There are some exceptions of course, and particularly in Britain, you can come from nothing and make it as a designer, but if you look at who is making it big in the fashion industry, most of them come from money or fame.

Lou Doillon. Image source.

Take Lou Doillon as an example. Famous mom (Jane Birkin) meant she got the chance to be famous herself. I worked on one of the Sonia Rykiel shows that was her first catwalk show, and I had to teach the girl how to walk! She had no clue what the hell she as doing, but everyone loved her because her mom was famous. She is pretty, but I’m sorry to say it, never was model material. But who cares, famous mom = you are famous too.

How about Stella McCartney, Jade Jagger, Leah Wood. The Rolling Stones and The Beatles offspring make up a fair percentage of famous people at the moment.

Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue may have started as a model, but let’s not deny the fact that she is bourgeois through and through.

Tamara Mellon, CEO of Jimmy Choo, whom I respect, would have never gotten anywhere without Daddy’s£150K “loan” to start up a little company with her friend Jimmy Choo.

Nearly all the girls at Vogue have come from money, and you’re seriously looked down on if you aren’t.

I’m just flipping through January’s issue of US Vogue, and who is mentioned in the magazine? Sofia Coppola, talented, but would not have stood a chance without her last name. Vanessa Traina: famous for nothing except having Danielle Steel as a mother.

Check out Vogue’s masthead:

Anna Wintour: father was a newspaper editor, and rich.

Alexandra Kotur: grew up in a rich family and mother worked as an illustrator for Vogue.

Plum Sykes: came from a rich family in England.

Rosamond Bernier: Was friends with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse when she grew up.

Marina Rust: great great granddaughter of Chicago department store magnate Marshall Field.

Tonne Goodman: husband is a Gimbel of the Gimbel’s department story family and the stepson of director Sydney Lumet.

The list could go on…and it’s the same at nearly all of the major glossy magazines. They are almost all socialites or from money.

Now, you don’t go into the fashion industry because you think it will be ethical and fair and nice. I am used to it, and I’ve learned to accept I’ll never be an editor of Vogue because my Dad isn’t famous and my mother is not a socialite, and I wasn’t a model when I was growing up. But the thing that ANNOYS the hell out of me is that all of these elitist journalists are getting in a huff because there are bloggers that aren’t socialites from wealthy families are getting attention and free stuff. Well, if the growth and popularity of the fashion bloggers means that the socialites are going to get less front-row seats at shows, and less free stuff, I am all for it.

I LOVE the idea of public opinion and readership numbers being the reason why someone gets attention, not because they’re rich so they got a job at Vogue.

(One day I’ll tell you the story about a Vogue-ette I know who used to be completely normal and then suddenly developed a pout and a posh accent when she started working for Vogue. There are probably many stories like that…)

The fashion news of the day is that Puma has sold its majority stake in the Hussein Chalayan brand back to Hussein Chalayan himself. However, he will apparently stay on as Creative Director at Puma.

I thought this was pretty interesting. When Puma bought a majority stake in Hussein Chalayan in 2008, we presumed the brand would become a bit more commercial, and at the same time, Puma would become more exciting because Hussein was going to be the Creative Director. The fact that he bought his company back, would imply that he wasn’t happy with the arrangement, but since he is staying on at Puma, I’m guessing there are other reasons behind todays. news, and maybe this was part of the original plan.

Hussein Chalayan is another one of London’s super edgy designers, although he is from a Turkish background. His career has been bumpy, because he has often refused to do many commercial products, and therefore has often been tight on cash. He is best know for his incredible fashion shows, but some of his other career highlights included designing clothes for Björk, working with TSE cashmere, designing for Marks and Spencer, and receiving and OBE from the Queen (Order of the British Empire.) I also found this quote on Wikipedia: “A passionate fashion designer, Chalayan has made his feelings for celebrity-based fashion clear when he publicly announced how he felt about Kate Moss’s collaboration with high-street clothing label Top Shop, calling the move ‘insulting’” Go Hussein!

Puma is also a really cool brand, when it comes to sportswear. They have always been the edgier than their competitors, and I feel that in many ways they have more integrity than Nike, Adidas or Reebok. Puma is more of a fashion designer’s brand than the others. They dedicate their efforts targeting the early adopter community (the cool people who pick up trends first) instead of the mainstream, which means their products are usually more interesting and innovative. It made sense when Puma and Hussein Chalayan joined forces, as Puma would benefit from his creativity, he would benefit from their cash, and the brands would not clash. By the way, Puma is controlled by Gucci Group PPR, so there was also the involvement of a luxury conglomerate.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the brand now. I hope he works on expanding his diffusion line, Chalayan, and widening the stockists, so we can buy it in Vancouver. Let’s look at some pictures from Hussein Chalayan’s collections.

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 1998. This show caused a lot of controversy, for obvious reasons.

Hussein Chalayan Autumn Winter 1998

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 1999

Hussein Chalayan Autumn Winter 1999. The last two images show the dress as it opens up.

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 2000. Second and third rows down show another dress opening up.

Hussein Chalayan Autumn Winter 2000. This incredible collection shows a set of living room furniture turning into clothing, the highlight being the coffee table turned skirt at the end

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 2007 featuring the famous Bubble dress.

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 2009.

And here’s a little bit of interesting information about Puma. Their red Clyde shoe was considered to be the shoe of the best breakdancers in the 1980s. In fact, you couldn’t wear this shoes unless you were one of the best, it was a status shoe. Here’s a image and some more info from the Classic Sports Shoes website.

“Definitely the most legendary and popular Puma style of all time, this classic has a place in history and in every Hall of Fame. At the 1968 Olympics, the newly released Puma Suede was worn by Tommie Smith, the prominent Olympic athlete, when he took to the Olympic awards podium with one fist held defiantly in the air.

Walt Frazier wore this style in the 1980’s and this shoe became known as the “Clyde”.

The Suede is widely regarded as the original B-Boy shoe. It was made famous by early break dancing crews, such as the New York City Breakers and the Rock Steady Crew, who rocked them religiously at early Hip-Hop jams in New York City.”

Catwalk images from Hussein Chalayan’s Website.