culture

A circle out of the mainstream

Why do we choose words?

With words, we try to foster a culture for a circle out of the mainstream. Our style will not reach the masses, but it’s not for them. They prefer just pictures.

In our posts, we touch on several topics we like to discuss with our community, not necessarily related to fashion, hoping to leave a thought-provoking perspective. Also, we offer descriptions of the design, the quality, materials and colours of the garments we select. Those detailed notes represent a way to celebrate the brands’ creativity and the uniqueness of those pieces, things you don’t find everywhere.

Though we try to give detailed descriptions, one thing is difficult to provide via the web: the touch of the fabrics, as the feel on your skin. Which, for us, has become a real fixation. Indeed, those who had the chance to buy our selections over time are familiar with our obsession with materials. So, when we say “it feels good on your skin”, they know what it means.
But, in the case of those in touch with us, it’s a matter of trust, which we build on actual conversations and needs time to grow.

For people who happen to read our blog posts or maybe find us on Instagram, that place where everything is possible, perhaps it’s not easy to perceive the quality. Impossible to feel the hand of the fabrics.

However, searching for specific standards for clothing and lifestyle choices means coming from a certain mindset. You don’t take everything, but you are selective. And you are part of that tiny niche that doesn’t want to be the photocopy of others.

And so, this is for you. Suite123 Milano is not a place for ordinary choices. The world is full of that! You don’t need our expertise and research to get mass products.

Through words, we want to promote an alternative culture, a circle out of the mainstream. And we research meaningful garments as a way to express it.

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The diffusion of bad taste

Why elegance is dead

Bad taste has never been so dominant. You see it in fashion magazines, street style outfits, events, workplaces, everywhere.
People cannot dress properly. And dressing up depending on the occasion does not seem to be a rule, so the dress code is dead along with elegance. Definitely, we can say that bad taste has caught on. Yet, they call it fashion!

However, good taste is not limited to luxury clothes. Indeed, we see many rich people wearing expensive clothes, but without a trace of elegance. Just scroll through your social media, and the show is served with disarmingly gross images. But the same tacky style dominates television too. There are no icons of elegance anymore.

About elegance

We came across this interview Stefano Pilati released to Vice in 2012. Still very current and worth reading. We quote him:

“My idea of elegance—and this refers to women as well as men—is that someone is elegant when he or she shows a good knowledge of what fits them, where you can find naturalness and self-esteem. Not showing off. Elegance is the idea of showing an optimistic depiction of oneself and to lose oneself in the frivolity of style and fashion. Nowadays nobody gives a shit about being elegant, or chic. If you’re doing it, you’re doing it for yourself, because it’s your way of being. When you’re not thinking, “This is fashion,” and you’re not buying clothes to create statements, you’re on the right path. If fashion goes low waisted and you’re fat bottomed, well, forget it; don’t put slim-fitting jeans on. They’re going to look awful on you. You should dress in black; it would be better.

But seriously, it’s not easy to find elegant women. There are a few, the majority of whom are old—and there are one or maybe two in the world who created a new style when they were young. Today when I go to New York and survey art and fashion, I see smart women and the level is high. But there’s a difference between this and saying a woman is elegant.”

Clearly, the downfall started a while ago, it’s just more evident now.

The bad taste era – What went wrong?

The diffusion of bad taste is a phenomenon strictly connected to the decadence of our society. To put it another way, it is a cultural issue. In fact, in a context of growing uncertainty, we lost the points of reference. Many rules and roles collapsed. We seemed to have acquired certain freedom, which unfortunately reveals more about rudeness and lack of manners than freedom of expression.

If elegance is a dying breed, the problem is rooted in our society.
Culture is at the heart of the issue, but if elegance is dead and bad taste takes its place, it signifies our culture is in a poor state.

We should rediscover a sense of limit and dignity.

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The cultural element

This is when you go to an event dedicated to sustainability, and one of the first things you hear is a journalist stating that we cannot consume less!

“During the pandemic, we saw what happened, everything stopped. It’s clear that we cannot consume less.”

We looked at each other perplexed: “Are we in the right place?”
If this is the viewpoint of someone invited as a speaker to discuss sustainability, imagine the thoughts of the average consumer.

We could not engage with those people over there, but we take the opportunity to explain our thoughts here.
In fact, we do believe the opposite is quite evident.

Consuming less is one of the most effective ways to save our planet.

Sustainability, consumption and capitalism

It is necessary to find a new economic model to replace capitalism, which has been revealed to be outdated and unsuccessful. Exponential growth is absolutely inconceivable and even harmful now.

Although a new economic model is a fundamental step, we cannot wait, arms crossed, for something to happen.
Sooner or later, the gods of economics and politics will come out with a brilliant idea, a valid substitute. At least, we hope they will.

But in the meantime, maintaining a sustainable level of consumption is crucial. To become aware of what we consume and how we consume must be at the core of our actions.

When it comes to changing the way we live, eat, travel, or shop, culture plays a central role.

Culture comes through education. In the past, we had the excuse that sources, books, and information weren’t accessible. Now we can find whatever we need.

Knowing more about environmental issues and climate change. Discovering more about ethical work and production modes. Understanding materials, craftsmanship, quality.

Educating ourselves to become conscious consumers is what we can actively do to enhance our lifestyle and change for the better.

It’s about improving our well-being rather than accumulating things and money with the outcome of waste and exploitation.

Learning more is free, and often it just takes a click!

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Fashion is culture

With the word fashion, we mean the appearance and behaviour of a social community according to a particular taste of the moment. It refers to all the style and life elements that identify a society during a specific era.

Fashion is just another way to scan our society and culture. Another lens through which we can investigate human behaviour.

We can use clothes to hide aspects of our personality or, instead, to show and express our identity. As an overall concept, we can use clothes to analyze different cultures.

Fashion, creativity and finance

Fashion is the result of a creative process that talks about our culture. The reason it became mistreated and demeaned as a vain or silly field, lies in the system itself and some external factors.
Since finance took over the industry, during the 80s and 90s, the creative process has been forcibly accelerated, pushed to an extremely fast-paced model. Very little space was left for creativity.

Later on, when the internet and social media entered the scene, the creative side of fashion became completely distorted.
Fashion has undergone such strong pressure that valuable designers, like Martin Margiela, one of the greatest innovators and game-changers, decided to leave. Too much pressure, a continuous request for something new, too many products to put out in a short time. And then also, an obsessive hunger for information, in the form of silly poses and clownesque outfits.

Rather than a place for creativity, fashion became all about budgets, money and clowns. Pure business without a soul. Tangible examples are the rise of fast fashion and fashion bloggers.

But all that fast-paced overproduction, overconsumption, massive show-off was just a bubble, a system that couldn’t sustain itself in the long run. In fact, during the pandemic, it exploded.

Now that the world is re-awakening, we need to bring a new level of consciousness that puts creativity and ethical work at the heart. Slow fashion and smaller-scale production are the basis on which we can build sustainable models.

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