Contemporary art to save the nature – A collaboration with Fondation Cartier Pour L’Art Contemporaine
Yesterday we attended the opening of “Siamo Foresta” exhibition at Triennale Milano in collaboration with Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporaine. We are forest is the language of contemporary art focused on nature and aiming to save it from human impact.
Beyond anthropocentrism
“Siamo Foresta (we are forest) draws its inspiration from an aesthetic and political vision of the forest as an egalitarian multiverse of living peoples, human and non-human, and as such offers an allegory of a possible world beyond our anthropocentrism. The exhibition stages an unprecedented dialogue between thinkers and defenders of the forest; between indigenous artists – from New Mexico to the Paraguayan Chaco passing through the Amazon – and non-indigenous artists (Brazil, China, Colombia, France).” – source
Siamo Foresta: the artists involved
“Focusing on artists from Latin America, We Are Forest presents, amongst others, the works of Jaider Esbell (Macuxi, Brazil), Cleiber Bane (Huni Kuin, Brazil), Floriberta Femin, Angelica Klassen, Esteban Klassen, Marcos Ortiz (Chaco, Paraguay), Sheroanawe Hakiihiwë, Joseca Mokahesi, and Ehuana Yaira (Yanomami, Venezuela and Brazil), Johanna Calle (Colombia), Alex Cerveny, Bruno Novelli, Santidio Pereira, Solange Pessoa, Adriana Varejao, and Luiz Zerbini (Brazil).” – source
We recommend you visit the exhibition, it’s open until October 29!
As we entered the rooms, a quote caught our attention:
“The forest is alive. It can only die if the white people persist in destroying it: if they succeed, the rivers will disappear underground, the soil will crumble, the trees will shrivel up, and the stones will crack in the heat. The dried-up earth will become empty and silent.”
David Kopenawa, The Falling Sky 2010
Siamo Foresta: nature-focused contemporary art
Captured by green in every shade, and two corners of a forest installation with large, lush plants we could walk through. And bright colours. But also some impressive black and white imagery, all with potent imagery and a touching sense of light. Indeed, we were amazed to discover the drawings created by some indigenous self-taught artists using just a ballpoint pen. A fun detail: a man saw Cri standing next to a painting in her anis slipdress by Marc Le Bihan and said: “Your colours perfectly match this painting. You should be in it! Let me take you a picture!” Indeed, we all wore colours in line with the exhibition. Perhaps when we made our Spring-Summer 23, the forest mood inspired us!
In the end, another quote made us reflect:
“It began with separating man from nature and establishing him as a sovereign kingdom; it was thus believed to erase the most irrefutable character of him, namely that he is primarily a living being. And, remaining blind to this common property, the field has been given free rein to all abuses.”
With Spring-Summer 24 selling season-opening, fashion experts are meeting sustainable brands. And so, we received invitations for panels and fashion events, aiming to facilitate the shift towards eco-conscious products. But the ultimate goal isn’t sustainability. It never is so.
Unfortunately, brands that have an idea of what sustainability is, aren’t understood by fashion buyers and showrooms. Indeed, both industry players had the same comments, which seems weird and leaves little hope for specific brands to find a market that would sustain their business in an evolved fashion panorama. But fundamentally, these comments say a lot about what sustainability represents in the fashion industry.
Fashion experts’ remarks on sustainable brands
We’ll guide you through some opinions we heard about these new brands: 1- Is this clothing collection sustainable? 2- This collection is too small. Why just a few pieces? 3- It’s expensive! Prices are too high. We want the same clothes at a much lower price.
Now the responses we would love to give, point after point and face to face, to the fashion experts: To the very first question everyone asks when approaching a booth: is it sustainable? What do you mean? Can’t you understand it from the size of the collection, style choice, quality and materials? Do you need a tag stating if a garment is eco-conscious?
The second one: your collection is too small! Guess what! Capsule collections should be the way out from decades of racks packed with new items. The way out from overproduction. Isn’t a capsule collection more sustainable? It seems showrooms and buyers still need endless items, fabrics and colour options, which is the opposite of sustainable fashion.
Then comes the third request, which makes you understand these experts have no idea what they say: it’s expensive! We want this dress, but cheaper. Well, sustainable materials are expensive, and if the designer were to create that specific dress in a much cheaper material, it wouldn’t make sense.
And so, the last request takes us back to the first: is it sustainable? Why do you ask? What do you expect from sustainable brands if you ask for much cheaper materials?
Is sustainability the goal?
Dear fashion experts, buyers and showrooms, are you sure you want sustainable fashion brands? Do you know what sustainable means? It seems your ideas are confused, indeed. And perhaps those panel discussions have a different goal.
What’s the point of fluidity if brands still present gendered fashion shows?
“Man comes, and man goes” is the feeling we get analysing this men’s fashion week. First, there were men’s fashion shows. Then designers said, “man no, not anymore.” It was better to present men’s and women’s in one event. And now men’s shows are back again! So, what’s going on? Do designers have an idea of what the world needs, or are they just babbling?
Man’s fashion and style
On the one hand, the vision of men lately has become more free. They can wear clothes that weren’t appropriate a while ago. Although man’s image sometimes appears confused, it is almost entirely devoid of elegance. This is because fluid style is often associated with a caricatured portrayal.
Furthermore, we wonder who brands are talking to. Young boys? In fact, the target age seems significantly lowered. But can teenagers afford luxury designer clothes? Apart from a tiny audience, it doesn’t seem likely. So, again we wonder what worldview these top brands promote.
Women and gender-fluid
On the other hand, the idea of women remains quite antiquated and vulgar, even when approaching gender-fluid. This is often accompanied by the claim of presenting a woman free from patriarchy and imposing her own personality. Free to dress as she likes, they say. In other words, a woman’s style that reflects her liberation from man-imposed rules. Of course, we do not agree with this storytelling at all. It’s just a fake representation in order to sell the same old things we are tired of.
Spring-Summer 24 men’s fashion show: gender-fluid and sustainability
Ultimately, as regards men’s fashion week, we touch upon a few considerations: From a style perspective, there’s no need for gendered lines, though we believe that fluidity doesn’t mean ridiculous. But what’s the point of fluidity if brands still present gendered shows?
Most importantly, from a sustainability viewpoint, we can’t see the need for a separate fashion week for men and women. In fact, it seems like designers say everything and its opposite six months later, completely disowning words of common sense they pronounced earlier. There’s no clear and consistent line of thought. Which, in times of climate change and tangible disasters we face on a daily basis, seems absolutely out of control.
Let’s face it: 90% of sustainable fashion brands would be truly sustainable if they stopped doing their collections altogether. Do you care about the planet? If you do, it must be clear that trillions of self-appointed “sustainable brands” that have oversaturated the market aren’t sustainable. Indeed, we came to this conclusion after years of visiting fashion exhibitions and showrooms, checking out lookbooks, and corporate and online communication.
Clearly, sustainable practices must be embedded in the designing process and production chains. Most importantly, fashion degrowth must be planned to reduce the massive impact of the industry on the environment. But the point is that attention has shifted from clothing to too many words and much storytelling. And everything is about that: words and empty slogans. Why? Because these designers have nothing to say with thei work. Their design means nothing. Therefore, marketing gives these “sustainable brands” a reason to exist and an opportunity to do business.
Top brands vs sustainable brands
In the fashion universe, megabrands’ communication is all about sustainability. Though we avoid listing all top brands’ sustainable activities we read daily because it gets embarrassing, if not unnerving. In fact, we find designers and many new brands, who make a lot of noise talking about sustainable fashion, but in practice, they lose sight of their job. And what is their job? Making clothes, meaningful garments, and pieces worth buying in case people need something new.
Niche fashion #formodernhumans
But, in our fashion research, a tiny niche focused on its job has emerged. Here we can find those brands that offer intrinsic value in their design, beautiful pieces presented in a contemporary key. Also featuring refined details, quality fabrics and impeccable tailoring. Brands with a unique sense of style, a timeless aesthetic, edgy and always fashion forward, but absolutely far from mass production. Indeed, they let their design speak. And so, without too many words, but through the value of their work, they show us sustainability almost achieved in practice.
In conclusion, designers part of the blah-blah-blah sustainable fashion brands bubble would better serve their cause and do a favour to the planet if they didn’t do their collections.
How do we dress for this unstable weather? It’s a question we hear frequently. Indeed, this is the season of extremely inconstant meteorological conditions. Sunshine today, rain tomorrow, or even worse, the weather changes over the day. So, you get dressed in the morning and go to work, but you don’t know what to expect when you close the office or finish your shift. Heading back home can be a real surprise!
By the way, the weather seems unpredictable all over Europe and perhaps not only on this side of the planet. You know, that thing called climate change…
Unstable weather & how to dress
The best way to dress for variable weather is layering. Indeed, for a long time now, we have been promoting this style because it allows you to wear your seasonless garment throughout the year. And so, when you purchase your clothes, you can focus on meaningful pieces only, knowing you’ll wear them for a long time.
The art of layering style
Layering means creating multiple layers of clothes, tone one tone or contrasting colours. This mix and match give good protection from the cold. But, at the same time, it allows removing one or more garments depending on the weather. However, many people find this combination of fabrics of different weights difficult. In fact, the risk is to build up so many layers that they look like a sausage.
How to dress for this unstable weather?
Layering for the spring-summer season is easier because it’s about putting together lightweight clothes. So you will not risk building out too much. Start wearing a t-shirt underneath a shirt. Also, add up an oversized sweatshirt or a blazer and complete the outfit with a scarf. Then, depending on the temperature during the day, you can take off some layers which you’ll fold up and put in a shopping bag.
Of course, do not forget to put a foldable raincoat and a pair of sneakers in your bag.
