Style for a few

While reading one of the myriad of fashion blogs out there I came across to a posting that defied my ideals on individual sense of style.

In this case the author disapproves of the edgy style brought by a very few designers, stating that the strong aesthetic does not allow consumers to appropriate the style (by mixing and matching ) therefore the offered style is not individual style.....MMMMMM.

My thoughts:
" Dear writer: Style is about assumed identities, the sense of belonging to a certain urban tribe -weather one that is big enough to accommodate all individuals or small enough to think of them as a band of outsiders-.

It is a fact that somebody like Heider Ackermann has a very strong sense of style that opposes the "common" element of fashion compliance to trends. His clientele is reduced to a minority precisely for the high degree of individuality in his design. Again, this direction follows a sense of identity that differs from somebody like Jacobs (totally mass and market shaped in my opinion), Isabel Marrant, or APC to name a few of the one you find "individual" enough to wear. I actually find in Ackermann a very refreshing -and THANK GOD- alternative to flat shoes and A skirts.

Even Jacobs has confess his admiration to designers on the fringe of fashion (Ackermann being one of these gifted outsiders) for their edgy and irreverent approach to identities.

Mixing and matching designers at the center stage of fashion is probably is statistical normalcy. Maybe including Ackerman in your repertoire can ACTUALLY give a sense of adventure a very tame sense of style: a challenge for a few"


-The question still remains: is fashion something designers dictate, or people appropriate?-