My Tribe

(a photo of the Mursi tribe)

Well like any true air sign, my style identity has changed severely since the leather overall post. I like the idea of tribe, not tribal, like oh here is my stupid leather skirt and dumb played out jewelry. I mean more along the lines of identity through tribal spirit. How tribes use clothing as symbolism instead of "oh hey Tina look at my $600 jeans that my mom bought me, you know the ones you have but in black". I've recently got back into skating, which was one of my favorite things as a kid, and isn't something you should stop doing if you ever wanna start up again, because finding balance on a new board is madness. I love the idea of how the participation in the sport of skating adds to identity in a way that most don't realize. I think if we focused more on the idea of unity and compassion that comes with tribal identity, clothing could slowly evolve into a much more significant, less superficial mode of portraying more abstract notions we have about ourselves.

Even though I think Nicolas Ghesquiere is really self important, especially when he talks about his work at Balenciaga, it's like yeah you're very creative, but don't play like you don't use futurism as a foundation for your designs, and say that it's only called futurism because there isn't a word for it yet, that is futurism you fool. ANYWAYS his collections always have a sense of tribe, like a universal identity that each look co-exists with the other. it's pretty evident even through the campaigns.

(Balenciaga S/S 2010 ad campaign)

A sense of strength, unity, and individualism sort of seeps out of the seams of his clothing. A sort of esoteric identity that only other devotees of the brand sense when in the presence of the other devotees. A sort of appreciation that is understood without actually speaking about it. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist with other brands, but with Balenciaga, it seems to be extremely evident within his collections. I think he could be onto something.

(Rick Reitveld's "Tribe")

Now I'm not suggesting gang violence or tribal warfare of any sort, but if there isn't going to be a revolution of individual identity anytime soon, then i think this could be a good step in the direction of material representation of abstract expressions one wants to share with others. Like the cave paintings of the cro-magnons. At any cost it's something that could at least be acknowledged by fashion publications, rather than BUY BUY BUY, oh wait now it's out of style sorry Courtney! Just a thought to ponder. Another bridge away from materialism at its worst.