@@BlissFoster Brother you do know Avant Garde's meaning is an art and philosophical term about being at the forefront of a movement. There's no made up definition for Avant Garde specifically in fashion. It's the advanced guard literally, they guard a new and complexly challenging movement. I don't want to say your video is declassified but I can say you should have left the words Avant Garde out of it before you knew what it was.
I think the Avant Garde that is propelled by the likes of Yohji, Rei, Ann and Rick are leaning more into Anti fashion as well. So anti fashion combined with avant garde create a style language that is blind by age, class, gender , trends and every element that the “regular” fashion stands for. I love Avant Garde and Anti Fashion! thats why i personally dm-ed you behind the reason of your interest in Avant Garde because I also wanted to know discern why I love it myself ✨🖤
I agree 100%. The cross grain perspective, anarchy against the societal norms, the expression of the “under dog” “ the miss understood “ child of fashion standing up and expressing in the weird way that makes us question; what is a garment’s purpose (and more).
Avant- garde is about eternity something you would look at from the future and still see that it’s forward thinking and can be worn at any time into the future regardless of societal acceptance. It’s novel in the way it is presented it is about the designer thought process that lead them to this creation of intellect. Avant-garde DOES NOT CARE ABOUT TRENDS and what sells but rather the designer’s way of showing the world what is in their minds, the imagination. That’s why it’s futuristic and timeless, by imagination is not bound by time.
I believe avant-garde fights for the quality of life, and thru the creative process by which we use it to influence others. I believe Avant-Garde should be defined precisely, based on those who have started it, led it and for what purposes? We cannot leave it open to interpretation because the way nutty people are acting now? They could adopt it and turn it into something that has no place in any society. Therefore it is people like this why Avant-Garde took off in the first place! To question authority.
I printed this comment out for my classroom wall. This comment + this video has given my students a clear understanding of what avant-garde in fashion means. Many thanks.
The word, at it's core refers to those warriors who go first in an army during war. It only got applied to art around the early 1800s and made it's way into fashion for the same reason - like the artists who were doing things that were not done before at the sake of creativity, and those warriors "brave" enough to challenge the opposing army which we could call popular art / fashion.
yeah i'm really surprised he didn't mention the etymology of the word, as i have always found that the easiest way to understand what it means for artists
Your channel has inspired me to think more deeply about both fashion and art altogether, especially as a physical manifestation of philosophical ideas- thanks Bliss
Nah thank you Bliss, I appreciate this as I am doing some research to deepen the actual knowledge behind where I want to take my brand and how I'll push my own boundaries to come out with something that I can define as amazing to me. Avant-Garde is definitely the route I want to go down but I know all this can not be done in one day and I will have to put these puzzle pieces together.
That's because it is a faulty explanation, there is no one definition but Avant Garde is supposed to mean the birth of a new movement within art or philosophy and those who lead it
Look deeper into it. There is a lot more to this movement, it's much deeper and you have to really study the definition of what this movement was, is still today. Avant-garde thru the art scene has not only influenced the masses, but it has also influenced them to think deeper and that deepness has led them to help make real societal change over the years. The advanced arts have always been the forefront of societies progress.
Love your thoughts on this topic. I also like to add Alexander McQueen his house speak to issues using unconventional understanding of garments expressed as art exposing the good the bad the ugly and yes very much in sync with the zeitgeist of the time
Interesting video Bliss. Surprised you used Sontag's Against Interpretation however as you engage exactly in what she was arguing against - a focus on complicated hermeneutics rather than viewing the art (in this case fashion) simply by how it appears and how it functions. Western philosophy's (particularly Postmodernism's) need to compartmentalise everything under unique terms is a constant thorn in the side of all creative practices. I think Yohji Yamamoto's work provides us with a good example - Yohji is avant-garde in the purest sense. His work is not about exterior references or providing the viewer/the analyst with layers to interpret. His work is pragmatic and for the wearer - it is about the form of his clothes and how they functions when worn. Can't get more "inaccessible" than that.
Strong agree! Susan definitely argues against what I do. A big part of why I picked up that essay is because I hoped to learn from her. I have a lot of respect for Susan‘s writings. I’m hoping that reading more of her work will make me better at what I do 💫💫
@@BlissFoster 100% with you! It's only beneficial to read broadly and from opposing perspectives. I think Kant's Critique of Judgement (specifically the concept of the Sublime and the four moments) could potentionally be used to argue for the purpose of the avant garde fashion as well. Derrida (Deconstructionism) could be another option too - especially given Alison Gills' book Deconstruction Fashion: The Making of Unfinished, Decomposing and Re-assembled Clothes (1998) providing a precident for his ideas being applied to fashion.
@@jcg_001 Gill's essay is a journal article in Fashion Theory (volume 2, number 1) - I don't think it exists as a book but I could be wrong. I'd agree, it's a very important piece, though its main task is dispelling the lazy use of deconstruction to simply apply to its literal translation in fashion - taking things apart or not finishing them. She starts to reclaim a potentially more useful application, using Margiela's inside out and construction exposed garments. I need to give it another read!
@@iantrowell9123 @Ian Trowell I put book as a simplification, felt it was only a minor misnomer - should have gone something more nebulous like "text". Yeah I mentioned it since I feel it's a good starting point for defining what can be deconstruction within fashion.
This was brilliant! So glad I've found your channel, I love how you explore fashion in an in-depth analytical way, you're also easy to follow (coming from someone with ADHD so you really are!) Hope you're having a good summer.
So I was thinking lately and there are 2 linguistic points, it is fair that we should follow the pre-established meaning of words to correctly express notions behind them, but what about the second point in which the language is defined not by the dictionary, but by the usage of people in communication, that's a whole different perspective as if we remember the one who create dictionaries base their decisions about words meaning on the one they have already heard or found in literature, not the one that already exists. So taking into account the dynamics of the word meaning may be useful not to set borders too strict.
In my youth when I first started to develop my love for fashion, I was drawn to the idea of Avant Garde as inexplicably different. I would try to scrible on fashion figures and look at it as Avant Garde. Overtime as I start to expand my knowledge on fashion, My definition of Avant Garde has change. For me it's all about defying the norm. Innovation's are one of the most common form of Avant Garde but it can also be applicable to those who deconstruct and forms satirical crticism. I love how the video say something about how Avant Garde changes over time. That's usually the goal of Avant Garde artist, to push change and perspective. When something Avant Garde is considered a norm over time, it's a success for those artist.
This is a difficult subject, so thanks for kicking it off. I think form and content mapped across from fine art and applied to fashion is tricky to conceptualise. It crosses over with the form and function dichotomy, so maybe a discussion from avant-gardism in architecture could be useful. I need to go away and give it more thought. For example, wearability is possibly a function (with warmth, decency etc if we are talking about classical functions of clothing). Fashion is a function - an articulation of differences if we want to use the definition evolved from Saussare's functionalism via Barthes, Baudrillard, etc. I need to watch your film on anti-fashion, that might help me!
What is Avant-Garde? I've always taken it to mean the intentional breaking of convention at it's core. The reasons for, or methods of the breaking of conventions are what is of most interest to me in this area, since I personally don't enjoy breaking convention for the sake of it, although I very much enjoy discovering new ways of doing things. The Avant-Garde is not the paradigm shift, but precedes it. After a paradigm shift what was considered conventional has changed and therefore, to my way of thinking, that necessarily affects what can be considered Avant-Garde from that new paradigm. At least that's my point of view after studying the photography and painting side of art history for a little while.
It really helps to understand avant-garde art as pushing the art FORM (or all art) forward. It’s not about the art itself, more about the progress or newness of the art pushing the boundaries.
I’m so glad it was useful for you! There’s so much more to fashion than just “SIX HOT TRENDS FOR SPRING” etc. if you want to have your mind blown, go check out my video on Margiela’s Spring 1990 runway show. Absolutely wild stuff
as someone who was randomly recommended this video out of no where while knowing nothing about fashion this was interesting and fairly easy to follow!! i guess i'll be getting into fashion now l m a o
Bliss, i'm following you for like 2 years and even more. You always share new ideas and inspirations. Most of the time, you force me to think the opposite side of the current. I love your content and have respect for your dedicated research. I mean it.
I think I've finally wrapped my head around the concept! Took me a hot minute there. I think after watching the terminology video as a 101 this makes more sense. I feel like I wasn't quite latching on to the relation between avant garde, and time.
It's really more about the concept of future, how to read that future, to see it when you know you see it. It's like swaying society but only for the future.
Martin Margiela : “doesn’t care much if the proportions seem strange to the eye, if the way he puts his pieces together . . . look unlike what women wear today. That’s the point of being avant-garde, isn’t it? To disturb in some way.”
The Avant-Garde is about fighting for and maintaining freedom, while defining who we are thru meaningful art that speaks to the masses! Before one tries to explain what it is, it is equally important to talk about how it started, what the original meanings meant, and what it was meant to do. Avant-Garde is the Vanguard (French) of an Army. The part of the army that goes first into battle. Progressive artists in the beginning adopted this term to define themselves as going into battle, to be bold and create art that would, could influence, even change thinking of the masses. To move people, or at least open doors to open thinking about societies fairness and inclusiveness. To break free of the old outdated stagnate thinking that suppressed peoples views and freedoms pre-1960's. The 1960's counter culture movements are a great example of this. The arts HEAVILY influenced this movement, as vise versa the movement influenced artists. Over the years there have been many, many artists in literature, music, film, even fashion, as well as visual and performing arts who have experimented in finding ways to help society break free, to help create a more open free'r society, to advance a more inclusive society, not only here in the states but around the world. Whether its the early expressionists of Monet, or Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, or todays Ice Cube, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, these artists are a HUGE part of the art movement. Lately extremists have coined it "woke" but there is nothing wrong with being woke. Being consciously awake is actually a good thing. It benefits everyone. And who knows? Maybe it is possible that the next movement could be woke-ism! Perhaps under the heading of pop as there are numerous sub-movements going on right now? And we cannot forget the fact that all of this is art driven. It's why modern art museums exist beyond old art museums. We can enjoy and learn from the past, the present or both! There have been many movements under the avant-garde in the last 100+ years and the latest, and the biggest movement of today (that basically umbrella's the entire movement) is Pop Culture! It is called pop culture because it is 'popular'. All of these movements in the past that have tried to create popular culture has now collectively developed in the past 60, 70 years and grown into one true pop, and it has at one time or another touched all of our lives. It is a culture where we as artists, our job is to move people into an open direction, to examine the world closer as we create its beauty. We can only do this thru constant experimentation in our quest to define who we are as people and how we coincide with each other, as well as life here on earth. This is vital for human survival and our freedoms.
Very interesting video. I only would like to add that there should be designers or trends that follow, however many years later, to be considered Avant-Garde. Maybe there's a need for a word for fashion outliers? Designers who stay true to their vision (e.g. Yamamoto in this video) but doesn't inspire others. Who function like "musicians musicians", not inspirations but neccessary palate cleansers, if you will.
Hi Bliss, luv ur videos! Could you include all the fashion designers you mention in your videos in the description? I’d love to learn more about them and it’d really help me find out more. Thanks!
My thought on avant-garde, which translates in literal fashion from the French as "advance guard," is that many designers can be seen as having an avant-garde moment. I refer to Madame Vionnet's introduction of cutting on the bias; Dior's 1947 "New Look;" Chanel's "Little Black Dress" in the 1920's, and her 1953 suits: four-pocket jacket with metal buttons and matching skirt; etc. They each gained an image of being "the wonderful 'next new major thing' that no one else had thought about, yet, but should have." However, they are not in any way perceived as avant-garde designers. It seems that designers only achieve that attribution over time in an authentic manner by remaining outside of (or ahead of) the current's mainstream, collection after collection and year upon year. This "outside" quality allows the designer to keep the same look year after year, if she or he wishes. Paradoxically, this "keeping-the-same-silhouette-forever" ability plays into the definition of avant-garde. This is not something the "inside" designers could do, as they are expected to continually innovate and evolve. Avante-garde fashion has the capacity to startle the viewer upon first sight, which might be another aspect of its definition.
I'm intrigued. If I take videos of things that I find visually appealing but don't have a concept behind me taking the videos. Do you mean that I'm driven by unconscious concepts?
Its your reaction to the beauty of the material world you observe. You capture it for it’s beauty. Just filming random footage would again be purposefully random/meaningless that again is then the meaning.
Maybe there should be a word that we could use for things that arent avant-garde because they don’t sacrifice anything to push boundaries; but are still bringing something new to the fashion scene
Surprised Carol Christian Poell was not mentioned. The drips, prosthetics, material use, dyeing practice, and more make the label’s work a no-brainer for avant-garde.
Hi Ellie 💫💫 you’re very welcome! Camp is an aesthetic, avant-garde is a design philosophy. Camp is really over the top, cheesy-almost-on-purpose type stuff. Things like Rupaul’s Drag Race are camp. Avant-Garde is an artist that’s trying to create a totally new kind of art. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the quick version 💫💫
While Avant Garde is the only way, fashion can still, innovatively progress with the cultural Zeitgeist,it can never be the answer to anything. Avant Garde is about finding new ways, so Avant Garde is simply the definition of the exact question we have to ask ourselves, in order to find the way, that reflects our vision.
I believe the Margiela collection could arguably lose wearability when you view it through the lens of the fact that the garment itself (devoid of its print alteration), the plain simple dresses, should in theory be considered articles of clothing too "low brow" for the buyers of the goods and would be unseemly in many social contexts due to this fact. This is especially important given the context of the period it was made in, and the lack of prestige low-brow fashion aesthetics were given during the period.
I have been thinking about my definition of avant-garde since i watched this video. Just now i think i hit the nail on the head for my interpretation. I define avant-garde as experimental and new with an ability to break norms. This would bring the problem of how designers such as Johji could stay avant-garde. As by my idea of avant-garde it is a concept that should be different everytime new “norms” are formed. So maybe avant-garde is the point from where on a designer introduces a new aesthetic against the norm of the time
I was thinking about this recently: will an artist/ designer label themselves as 'avant-garde'? Any designer is considered avant-garde is because WE do so. In fact, to be truly avant-garde, one must not label themselves at all. Because once you do that, you are putting yourself in a box - which would go against the very idea of avant-garde. Sooo to be really truly avant-garde is to try not be avant-garde at all? Any other category of fashion, like streetwear, couture, etc. will always have certain rules or criteria to be considered that. And even it looks visually changes over the years, the core idea will remain the same. But avant-garde has to change with time. Even it's very core ideas perhaps.
kind of yea, I don't think you have to be completely unaware of your own impact, that would be intentional naivete in my opinion. I mean when vivienne westwood introduced punk looks, she was well aware it was new and innovative idea, and therefore in retrospect, she could consider her work avant garde. But I get what your saying, calling yourself a couturier or a streetwear designer is saying you do things a certain way, and therefore giving yourself expectations (which you may match or fail to match) whereas calling yourself avant garde is like saying, "the only rule is there are no rules"
From the art lecture i took, avant garde is the french word describing the soldiers up front pushing the boundary, so it implies the idea of challenging old ideas and looking for new forms in the art context. Hence, i believe avant garde is a relative concept along the flow of time. When Saint Laurent brought up the idea of Ready to Wear during the era when everyone is making bespoke suits, that was considered avant garde. Yohji brought up collections in monotone when Paris was all about the glamour and colours, that was avant garde as well. Now? Not so much. Not saying that the designers are trapped in their signature style after they saw the path to success, instead, ‘avant garde’ is just a label for people to easily understand the rebellious ideas that challenged the norms and were against the contemporary values. If i say so myself, man like Yohji, who said making clothes is like walking in a dark alley, is now doing a collab with supreme, now thats avant garde. Jk
I like this approach. Personally, I prefer the term to be more specific, BUT I feel like any definition we use needs to have a clear way for it to be used. And that’s what you’ve laid out here. I appreciate the nuanced comment, Laurese 🦾 Keep it up 💫💫
True, that avant-garde is tied to it’s current time. Avant-garde 50 years ago may not be avant-garde 50 years from now or even today. But the point is not that, atleast, for me, the point is that it pushed the artform forward
So another example is all the fashion shows competitions on vh1 …. Where they would be like the inspo is city life n you have toothpicks and plastic bottles to create a timeless piece ….. right?
Hi, I would like to hear what you think of the cult designers i.e. Geoffrey Small, Paul Harden etc. Exclusive stores carry these lines verses the mass designers.
I absolutely love Geoffrey, Harnden, CCP, Guidi, Deepti, Ziggy Chen, etc. that whole category is awesome. I have an analysis episode about Carol, but I still need to do more feature episodes on the artisinal avante garde designers 💫💫
The private discord is a perk to joining the Patreon. I keep the price as low as I can so anyone who wants the benefits of the community can join up. The link is in the description 💫💫
Do you think a very commercially successful designer can still manage to be avant-garde and be hugely commercial at the same time or one thing excludes the other? Michele in Gucci has managed to bring fashion forward elements mixed with modern day cultural influences in an already famous and commercially successful brand, mixing it with the brand's heritage especially in accessories which is what is really pushing its sells and success in my opinion, but what about new up and coming independent designers with a strong artistic, aspirational and somewhat philosophical approach to fashion? Can they maintain elitarism and combine it with the need for commercial success aka money? Similarly to what McQueen did
@@BlissFoster This kind of echoes your trends video. Is it at the point that large trend predictors pick up on something---a new technique, a new conceptualization, a new process, etc---that something ceases to be (or transitions from being) avant-garde? Or are the designers that showcase the avant-garde on their runways then no longer making something avant-garde because of the fact that it is on a runway? In bringing the avant-garde to the runway, the avant-garde is then no longer unexplored and so, stops being avant-garde. This then begs the question: is 'avant-garde' as a concept ever attainable--the perpetual expression of that which is NOT current fashion? (I'm getting a bit dadaist in my ramblings there haha).
Absolutely. Avante-garde is pushing the art form forward, that’s all it’s doing. Camp is an aesthetic. Camp *can* push the art form forward, but that’s not it’s whole purpose 💫💫
I don’t think Avant-garde fashion cares more about the content than the form of it. If anything they would be equal, since with Avant-garde fashion the form is (well obviously) experimental and much paid attention towards. Of course the content is often also strong, but it doesn’t seem smart to ignore the form either. Whether the pieces are actually WEARABLE is up to the individual, but for me personally most of it looks incredible, so I’m all for it.
To be honest, I feel like a case can be made for "bringing ideas that are outside of fashion into fashion" as a definition of avant-garde. Because in a way, what most designers do is recycle pre-existing ideas into new ones (amazingly so, by the way). But by leaning into the fields of architecture, art, technology, avant-garde fashion takes inspiration from something else, and brings a new narrative. In this regard, I think the gender-bending fashion of now is only partly avant-garde, because it brings ideas of philosophy (queer philosophy) into fashion, but it's already something that was existing in fashion, be it the garçonnes of the 1920s, or the gender neutral work clothes (like a lab coat). And a new idea that's neither art, nor architecture nor anything else, truly new, can also be seen as "outside of fashion". Now fight me :)
So by definition, what would be the complete opposite of avant grade? As in what would be the art form that would describe something that is trying to not only say a message but tell a story
Margiela Spring 1996. I’m not sure I understand your other question, could you try rephrasing it? My understanding is it’s just called the airplane dress 💫💫
The designer who made the glass slippers is SRULI RECHT 💫💫
Brother could have at least given me a warning for the guy getting his skin taken off
Yeah, that was pretty rough. I gave 2 trigger warnings: one at the beginning of the video and another one 30 seconds before the clip 💫💫
@@BlissFoster Brother you do know Avant Garde's meaning is an art and philosophical term about being at the forefront of a movement. There's no made up definition for Avant Garde specifically in fashion. It's the advanced guard literally, they guard a new and complexly challenging movement. I don't want to say your video is declassified but I can say you should have left the words Avant Garde out of it before you knew what it was.
he do be giving knowledge
he do knowledgeable tings
Do be ? Nigga cut that out n speak right tf
Try that again with grammar
Except he butchured the whole meaning of Avant Garde
@@daseapickleofjustice7231He did say he’s open to being corrected. Bestow some knowledge on us.
I think the Avant Garde that is propelled by the likes of Yohji, Rei, Ann and Rick are leaning more into Anti fashion as well. So anti fashion combined with avant garde create a style language that is blind by age, class, gender , trends and every element that the “regular” fashion stands for. I love Avant Garde and Anti Fashion! thats why i personally dm-ed you behind the reason of your interest in Avant Garde because I also wanted to know discern why I love it myself ✨🖤
I was hoping we would get some words from our resident AG expert!! Everyone should check out Karl’s channel, excellent content 🦾
@@BlissFoster omg Bliss thank you ☺️😭
I agree 100%. The cross grain perspective, anarchy against the societal norms, the expression of the “under dog” “ the miss understood “ child of fashion standing up and expressing in the weird way that makes us question; what is a garment’s purpose (and more).
Avant- garde is about eternity something you would look at from the future and still see that it’s forward thinking and can be worn at any time into the future regardless of societal acceptance. It’s novel in the way it is presented it is about the designer thought process that lead them to this creation of intellect. Avant-garde DOES NOT CARE ABOUT TRENDS and what sells but rather the designer’s way of showing the world what is in their minds, the imagination. That’s why it’s futuristic and timeless, by imagination is not bound by time.
Great thoughts, Sahim! Thank you for sharing 🦾
I believe avant-garde fights for the quality of life, and thru the creative process by which we use it to influence others.
I believe Avant-Garde should be defined precisely, based on those who have started it, led it and for what purposes?
We cannot leave it open to interpretation because the way nutty people are acting now? They could adopt it and turn it into something that has no place in any society. Therefore it is people like this why Avant-Garde took off in the first place! To question authority.
agree, but by your definition avant grade would be something almost impossible to reach
I printed this comment out for my classroom wall. This comment + this video has given my students a clear understanding of what avant-garde in fashion means. Many thanks.
The word, at it's core refers to those warriors who go first in an army during war. It only got applied to art around the early 1800s and made it's way into fashion for the same reason - like the artists who were doing things that were not done before at the sake of creativity, and those warriors "brave" enough to challenge the opposing army which we could call popular art / fashion.
yeah i'm really surprised he didn't mention the etymology of the word, as i have always found that the easiest way to understand what it means for artists
Damn that really describes avant garde perfectly. Brave soldiers.
He butchured the idea of the word with a made up definition. Avant Garde is not at all tied to fashion specifically
Wow! That's so interesting! Thank you for sharing!! :D
Your channel has inspired me to think more deeply about both fashion and art altogether, especially as a physical manifestation of philosophical ideas- thanks Bliss
I’m so glad it as useful for you 💫💫
That's a great topic to think about as dialectical materialism is the most important philosophy of our time. I recommend Plato and Hegel as good reads
Nah thank you Bliss, I appreciate this as I am doing some research to deepen the actual knowledge behind where I want to take my brand and how I'll push my own boundaries to come out with something that I can define as amazing to me. Avant-Garde is definitely the route I want to go down but I know all this can not be done in one day and I will have to put these puzzle pieces together.
Wow, this is probably the most useful explanation of what avant garde is that I've ever come across, the clear distinction between content and form
That's because it is a faulty explanation, there is no one definition but Avant Garde is supposed to mean the birth of a new movement within art or philosophy and those who lead it
Look deeper into it. There is a lot more to this movement, it's much deeper and you have to really study the definition of what this movement was, is still today. Avant-garde thru the art scene has not only influenced the masses, but it has also influenced them to think deeper and that deepness has led them to help make real societal change over the years.
The advanced arts have always been the forefront of societies progress.
i love the setup before. but this one with the chair and background is just ✨✨
Love your thoughts on this topic. I also like to add Alexander McQueen his house speak to issues using unconventional understanding of garments expressed as art exposing the good the bad the ugly and yes very much in sync with the zeitgeist of the time
Interesting video Bliss. Surprised you used Sontag's Against Interpretation however as you engage exactly in what she was arguing against - a focus on complicated hermeneutics rather than viewing the art (in this case fashion) simply by how it appears and how it functions. Western philosophy's (particularly Postmodernism's) need to compartmentalise everything under unique terms is a constant thorn in the side of all creative practices.
I think Yohji Yamamoto's work provides us with a good example - Yohji is avant-garde in the purest sense. His work is not about exterior references or providing the viewer/the analyst with layers to interpret. His work is pragmatic and for the wearer - it is about the form of his clothes and how they functions when worn. Can't get more "inaccessible" than that.
Strong agree! Susan definitely argues against what I do. A big part of why I picked up that essay is because I hoped to learn from her. I have a lot of respect for Susan‘s writings. I’m hoping that reading more of her work will make me better at what I do 💫💫
@@BlissFoster 100% with you! It's only beneficial to read broadly and from opposing perspectives. I think Kant's Critique of Judgement (specifically the concept of the Sublime and the four moments) could potentionally be used to argue for the purpose of the avant garde fashion as well. Derrida (Deconstructionism) could be another option too - especially given Alison Gills' book Deconstruction Fashion: The Making of Unfinished, Decomposing and Re-assembled Clothes (1998) providing a precident for his ideas being applied to fashion.
@@BlissFoster The last syllable of Susan Sontag is pronounced tag and it rhymes with rag, it does NOT rhyme with log.
@@jcg_001 Gill's essay is a journal article in Fashion Theory (volume 2, number 1) - I don't think it exists as a book but I could be wrong. I'd agree, it's a very important piece, though its main task is dispelling the lazy use of deconstruction to simply apply to its literal translation in fashion - taking things apart or not finishing them. She starts to reclaim a potentially more useful application, using Margiela's inside out and construction exposed garments. I need to give it another read!
@@iantrowell9123 @Ian Trowell I put book as a simplification, felt it was only a minor misnomer - should have gone something more nebulous like "text".
Yeah I mentioned it since I feel it's a good starting point for defining what can be deconstruction within fashion.
i honestly hope you never stop making videos
I couldn’t stop if I tried 🦾
@@BlissFoster BLESS
This video was linked to in my fashion design degree as a conversation around defining Avant-Garde! Such an interesting watch, thank you
Awesome! May I ask what school? I want to thank them 🦾
This was brilliant! So glad I've found your channel, I love how you explore fashion in an in-depth analytical way, you're also easy to follow (coming from someone with ADHD so you really are!) Hope you're having a good summer.
loved it, the explaination and damn casual way of telling such an intense movement !!
Such a good video, not long ago I mentioned avant-garde to someone and they asked me what it meant, I was like ahhh to be honest I don't even know
So I was thinking lately and there are 2 linguistic points, it is fair that we should follow the pre-established meaning of words to correctly express notions behind them, but what about the second point in which the language is defined not by the dictionary, but by the usage of people in communication, that's a whole different perspective as if we remember the one who create dictionaries base their decisions about words meaning on the one they have already heard or found in literature, not the one that already exists. So taking into account the dynamics of the word meaning may be useful not to set borders too strict.
In my youth when I first started to develop my love for fashion, I was drawn to the idea of Avant Garde as inexplicably different. I would try to scrible on fashion figures and look at it as Avant Garde. Overtime as I start to expand my knowledge on fashion, My definition of Avant Garde has change. For me it's all about defying the norm. Innovation's are one of the most common form of Avant Garde but it can also be applicable to those who deconstruct and forms satirical crticism. I love how the video say something about how Avant Garde changes over time. That's usually the goal of Avant Garde artist, to push change and perspective. When something Avant Garde is considered a norm over time, it's a success for those artist.
This is a difficult subject, so thanks for kicking it off. I think form and content mapped across from fine art and applied to fashion is tricky to conceptualise. It crosses over with the form and function dichotomy, so maybe a discussion from avant-gardism in architecture could be useful. I need to go away and give it more thought. For example, wearability is possibly a function (with warmth, decency etc if we are talking about classical functions of clothing). Fashion is a function - an articulation of differences if we want to use the definition evolved from Saussare's functionalism via Barthes, Baudrillard, etc. I need to watch your film on anti-fashion, that might help me!
bliss Foster ... For PRESIDENT. LOL He is just so awesome, him and Kelly Stamps!
Thanks. Just wow. This just solved the prolonged mystery in my head
What is Avant-Garde? I've always taken it to mean the intentional breaking of convention at it's core. The reasons for, or methods of the breaking of conventions are what is of most interest to me in this area, since I personally don't enjoy breaking convention for the sake of it, although I very much enjoy discovering new ways of doing things. The Avant-Garde is not the paradigm shift, but precedes it. After a paradigm shift what was considered conventional has changed and therefore, to my way of thinking, that necessarily affects what can be considered Avant-Garde from that new paradigm. At least that's my point of view after studying the photography and painting side of art history for a little while.
Am i the only one who like how bliss Foster sounds? His voice is mesmerizing.
It really helps to understand avant-garde art as pushing the art FORM (or all art) forward. It’s not about the art itself, more about the progress or newness of the art pushing the boundaries.
Avant-garde is much, much more profound than that. Few have the ability to access it as a powerful tool to reach societies consciousness.
Never really cared about fashion, but this is interesting. Thanks for the vid!
I’m so glad it was useful for you! There’s so much more to fashion than just “SIX HOT TRENDS FOR SPRING” etc. if you want to have your mind blown, go check out my video on Margiela’s Spring 1990 runway show. Absolutely wild stuff
@@BlissFoster will do!
as someone who was randomly recommended this video out of no where while knowing nothing about fashion this was interesting and fairly easy to follow!! i guess i'll be getting into fashion now l m a o
Bliss, i'm following you for like 2 years and even more. You always share new ideas and inspirations. Most of the time, you force me to think the opposite side of the current. I love your content and have respect for your dedicated research. I mean it.
Encouragement means a lot to me, Hakan, thank you for saying so. I’m so glad you’ve found all this useful 💫💫
I grew up in Cambridge, MA and live around the corner from that MIT building glad to see it in here 🔥💯
I think I've finally wrapped my head around the concept! Took me a hot minute there. I think after watching the terminology video as a 101 this makes more sense. I feel like I wasn't quite latching on to the relation between avant garde, and time.
It's really more about the concept of future, how to read that future, to see it when you know you see it. It's like swaying society but only for the future.
Martin Margiela : “doesn’t care much if the proportions seem strange to the eye, if the way he puts his pieces together . . . look unlike what women wear today. That’s the point of being avant-garde, isn’t it? To disturb in some way.”
The Avant-Garde is about fighting for and maintaining freedom, while defining who we are thru meaningful art that speaks to the masses!
Before one tries to explain what it is, it is equally important to talk about how it started, what the original meanings meant, and what it was meant to do.
Avant-Garde is the Vanguard (French) of an Army. The part of the army that goes first into battle. Progressive artists in the beginning adopted this term to define themselves as going into battle, to be bold and create art that would, could influence, even change thinking of the masses. To move people, or at least open doors to open thinking about societies fairness and inclusiveness. To break free of the old outdated stagnate thinking that suppressed peoples views and freedoms pre-1960's.
The 1960's counter culture movements are a great example of this. The arts HEAVILY influenced this movement, as vise versa the movement influenced artists.
Over the years there have been many, many artists in literature, music, film, even fashion, as well as visual and performing arts who have experimented in finding ways to help society break free, to help create a more open free'r society, to advance a more inclusive society, not only here in the states but around the world.
Whether its the early expressionists of Monet, or Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, or todays Ice Cube, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, these artists are a HUGE part of the art movement.
Lately extremists have coined it "woke" but there is nothing wrong with being woke. Being consciously awake is actually a good thing. It benefits everyone. And who knows? Maybe it is possible that the next movement could be woke-ism! Perhaps under the heading of pop as there are numerous sub-movements going on right now? And we cannot forget the fact that all of this is art driven.
It's why modern art museums exist beyond old art museums. We can enjoy and learn from the past, the present or both!
There have been many movements under the avant-garde in the last 100+ years and the latest, and the biggest movement of today (that basically umbrella's the entire movement) is Pop Culture!
It is called pop culture because it is 'popular'. All of these movements in the past that have tried to create popular culture has now collectively developed in the past 60, 70 years and grown into one true pop, and it has at one time or another touched all of our lives.
It is a culture where we as artists, our job is to move people into an open direction, to examine the world closer as we create its beauty. We can only do this thru constant experimentation in our quest to define who we are as people and how we coincide with each other, as well as life here on earth. This is vital for human survival and our freedoms.
Very interesting video. I only would like to add that there should be designers or trends that follow, however many years later, to be considered Avant-Garde. Maybe there's a need for a word for fashion outliers? Designers who stay true to their vision (e.g. Yamamoto in this video) but doesn't inspire others. Who function like "musicians musicians", not inspirations but neccessary palate cleansers, if you will.
Hi Bliss, luv ur videos! Could you include all the fashion designers you mention in your videos in the description? I’d love to learn more about them and it’d really help me find out more. Thanks!
So freaking cool. None of art is disconnected or in a vacuum
Bliss has me sitting here watching his videos like lectures
amazing depth! looking forward to more!
My thought on avant-garde, which translates in literal fashion from the French as "advance guard," is that many designers can be seen as having an avant-garde moment. I refer to Madame Vionnet's introduction of cutting on the bias; Dior's 1947 "New Look;" Chanel's "Little Black Dress" in the 1920's, and her 1953 suits: four-pocket jacket with metal buttons and matching skirt; etc. They each gained an image of being "the wonderful 'next new major thing' that no one else had thought about, yet, but should have." However, they are not in any way perceived as avant-garde designers. It seems that designers only achieve that attribution over time in an authentic manner by remaining outside of (or ahead of) the current's mainstream, collection after collection and year upon year. This "outside" quality allows the designer to keep the same look year after year, if she or he wishes. Paradoxically, this "keeping-the-same-silhouette-forever" ability plays into the definition of avant-garde. This is not something the "inside" designers could do, as they are expected to continually innovate and evolve. Avante-garde fashion has the capacity to startle the viewer upon first sight, which might be another aspect of its definition.
Every art piece has a concept, even when the concept is being conceptless. Art is always a reaction.
I'm intrigued. If I take videos of things that I find visually appealing but don't have a concept behind me taking the videos. Do you mean that I'm driven by unconscious concepts?
Its your reaction to the beauty of the material world you observe. You capture it for it’s beauty. Just filming random footage would again be purposefully random/meaningless that again is then the meaning.
Avant-garde is far more profound than that. It is a powerful tool that only few know how to access to reach the masses.
Love your videos and watching you get better and better at making them, YOU ARE GOING TO GO MEGA!
I've learnt so much from this channel. Gracias
Maybe there should be a word that we could use for things that arent avant-garde because they don’t sacrifice anything to push boundaries; but are still bringing something new to the fashion scene
great explanation of Avant-Garde!
Surprised Carol Christian Poell was not mentioned. The drips, prosthetics, material use, dyeing practice, and more make the label’s work a no-brainer for avant-garde.
I'm so glad I found your channel!
I agree with you. I think that Avant-Garde evolves along side an evolving culture.
Could listen to you for hours
Avant Garde for me is surreal art in fashion
there's so much history and terminology in fashion ugh
Ok just had to say if this is the depth of comments on youtube (and the video of course) I'm dashing to the Patreon lol
Ayyyyy 🙏🙏 that means a ton to me, Grace. Thank you
Brilliant video, glad i found this channel
the plane dresses reminded me of Gaga’s living dress from the monster ball tour
Can someone please spell the name / help me find the designer referenced with the glass shoe at the 6:50 mark ??
Sruli Recht 💫💫
Thank you!!
Is there any designer piece that you think has outstanding balance of wearability, form, and content?
5:05 - What is this? Can someone Identify the white frame/ Square turning thing?
A-COLD-WALL 💫💫
Anyone know what I can search to find more about the twin/double dress piece at the beginning of the video?
Guo Pei 💫💫
@@BlissFoster thank you very much 💖
hi Bliss! thank you so much for your content and knowledge 💗 i was wondering if you could explain the difference between Avant-Garde and Camp?
Hi Ellie 💫💫 you’re very welcome! Camp is an aesthetic, avant-garde is a design philosophy. Camp is really over the top, cheesy-almost-on-purpose type stuff. Things like Rupaul’s Drag Race are camp. Avant-Garde is an artist that’s trying to create a totally new kind of art. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the quick version 💫💫
While Avant Garde is the only way, fashion can still, innovatively progress with the cultural Zeitgeist,it can never be the answer to anything.
Avant Garde is about finding new ways, so Avant Garde is simply the definition of the exact question we have to ask ourselves, in order to find the way, that reflects our vision.
I believe the Margiela collection could arguably lose wearability when you view it through the lens of the fact that the garment itself (devoid of its print alteration), the plain simple dresses, should in theory be considered articles of clothing too "low brow" for the buyers of the goods and would be unseemly in many social contexts due to this fact. This is especially important given the context of the period it was made in, and the lack of prestige low-brow fashion aesthetics were given during the period.
That’s a great point
I have been thinking about my definition of avant-garde since i watched this video. Just now i think i hit the nail on the head for my interpretation. I define avant-garde as experimental and new with an ability to break norms. This would bring the problem of how designers such as Johji could stay avant-garde. As by my idea of avant-garde it is a concept that should be different everytime new “norms” are formed. So maybe avant-garde is the point from where on a designer introduces a new aesthetic against the norm of the time
'oh hi i didnt see you there' lmao
i just wish fashion ™️ wasn’t so fucking expensive
Great commentary
Ur favorite designer's favorite critic :)
6:16 if anybody knows how this brand is spelled id appreciate it. I just cant find it
Sruli Recht 💫💫
@@BlissFoster thank you
many thanks my dear sir, the watching of this video has heightened my capacity to converse with others in a most pretentious manner.
indubitably 💫 💫
I was thinking about this recently: will an artist/ designer label themselves as 'avant-garde'? Any designer is considered avant-garde is because WE do so. In fact, to be truly avant-garde, one must not label themselves at all. Because once you do that, you are putting yourself in a box - which would go against the very idea of avant-garde. Sooo to be really truly avant-garde is to try not be avant-garde at all?
Any other category of fashion, like streetwear, couture, etc. will always have certain rules or criteria to be considered that. And even it looks visually changes over the years, the core idea will remain the same. But avant-garde has to change with time. Even it's very core ideas perhaps.
kind of yea, I don't think you have to be completely unaware of your own impact, that would be intentional naivete in my opinion. I mean when vivienne westwood introduced punk looks, she was well aware it was new and innovative idea, and therefore in retrospect, she could consider her work avant garde. But I get what your saying, calling yourself a couturier or a streetwear designer is saying you do things a certain way, and therefore giving yourself expectations (which you may match or fail to match) whereas calling yourself avant garde is like saying, "the only rule is there are no rules"
Love the video, was wondering who makes that sweater or how I can find it, it’s 🔥
It’s a Fall Winter 2015 Helmut Lang Cashmere Hoodie 💫💫
You look like the joker from the newest movie I just noticed that wow, YOURE SO COOL
Actually had to watch the video twice
great video! thanks!
Goood morning erryone hope y’all have a blessed productive week🖤
Have a based productive week 🤝
You too !!
Thank you
I would like to know Where is from the video of the man runing from a drone minute 6 :26
Sruli Recht is the designer 💫💫
thank you for all of this amazing video
Who is the maker at 3:06 ?
UNDERCOVER by Jun Takahashi 💫💫
I'm going to need a more specific id on that Helmut hoodie!!
Fall Winter 2015 I believe 💫💫 cashmere hoodie
From the art lecture i took, avant garde is the french word describing the soldiers up front pushing the boundary, so it implies the idea of challenging old ideas and looking for new forms in the art context.
Hence, i believe avant garde is a relative concept along the flow of time. When Saint Laurent brought up the idea of Ready to Wear during the era when everyone is making bespoke suits, that was considered avant garde. Yohji brought up collections in monotone when Paris was all about the glamour and colours, that was avant garde as well. Now? Not so much.
Not saying that the designers are trapped in their signature style after they saw the path to success, instead, ‘avant garde’ is just a label for people to easily understand the rebellious ideas that challenged the norms and were against the contemporary values.
If i say so myself, man like Yohji, who said making clothes is like walking in a dark alley, is now doing a collab with supreme, now thats avant garde. Jk
I like this approach. Personally, I prefer the term to be more specific, BUT I feel like any definition we use needs to have a clear way for it to be used. And that’s what you’ve laid out here. I appreciate the nuanced comment, Laurese 🦾 Keep it up 💫💫
@@BlissFoster I wish you to represent art well and then you cannot say you need a specific definition for an idea, escape the Anglo box of discourse
Avant-garde is about change and there are few who know how to use it effectively.
Love you, Bliss🐇
thank you for this Bliss
Great vid
May I ask what is the name of the art piece in 1:46?
“Play-Doh” by Jeff Koons or maybe you were referring to “Composition with Portrait” by Victor Brauner? 💫💫
Yes!! I was wondering that “Play-Doh” sculpture belongs to who. Now I know. Appreciate!
Thanks for sharing ✅👌
True, that avant-garde is tied to it’s current time. Avant-garde 50 years ago may not be avant-garde 50 years from now or even today. But the point is not that, atleast, for me, the point is that it pushed the artform forward
this video is so cool and interesting
Normalize wearing armor 💜
So another example is all the fashion shows competitions on vh1 …. Where they would be like the inspo is city life n you have toothpicks and plastic bottles to create a timeless piece ….. right?
Hi, I would like to hear what you think of the cult designers i.e. Geoffrey Small, Paul Harden etc. Exclusive stores carry these lines verses the mass designers.
I absolutely love Geoffrey, Harnden, CCP, Guidi, Deepti, Ziggy Chen, etc. that whole category is awesome. I have an analysis episode about Carol, but I still need to do more feature episodes on the artisinal avante garde designers 💫💫
right time
how can we join the server :)?
The private discord is a perk to joining the Patreon. I keep the price as low as I can so anyone who wants the benefits of the community can join up. The link is in the description 💫💫
Do you think a very commercially successful designer can still manage to be avant-garde and be hugely commercial at the same time or one thing excludes the other? Michele in Gucci has managed to bring fashion forward elements mixed with modern day cultural influences in an already famous and commercially successful brand, mixing it with the brand's heritage especially in accessories which is what is really pushing its sells and success in my opinion, but what about new up and coming independent designers with a strong artistic, aspirational and somewhat philosophical approach to fashion? Can they maintain elitarism and combine it with the need for commercial success aka money? Similarly to what McQueen did
I loved this!!!
My question is at what point does the (once) avant-garde stop being avant-garde?
I’m also trying to figure that out 🤔 it may be as simple as this: there is no universal answer, it’s a case-by-case thing 🤷
@@BlissFoster This kind of echoes your trends video. Is it at the point that large trend predictors pick up on something---a new technique, a new conceptualization, a new process, etc---that something ceases to be (or transitions from being) avant-garde? Or are the designers that showcase the avant-garde on their runways then no longer making something avant-garde because of the fact that it is on a runway? In bringing the avant-garde to the runway, the avant-garde is then no longer unexplored and so, stops being avant-garde. This then begs the question: is 'avant-garde' as a concept ever attainable--the perpetual expression of that which is NOT current fashion? (I'm getting a bit dadaist in my ramblings there haha).
would there be a difference of avant grade and camp??
Absolutely. Avante-garde is pushing the art form forward, that’s all it’s doing. Camp is an aesthetic. Camp *can* push the art form forward, but that’s not it’s whole purpose 💫💫
I don’t think Avant-garde fashion cares more about the content than the form of it. If anything they would be equal, since with Avant-garde fashion the form is (well obviously) experimental and much paid attention towards. Of course the content is often also strong, but it doesn’t seem smart to ignore the form either.
Whether the pieces are actually WEARABLE is up to the individual, but for me personally most of it looks incredible, so I’m all for it.
loved this video
To be honest, I feel like a case can be made for "bringing ideas that are outside of fashion into fashion" as a definition of avant-garde. Because in a way, what most designers do is recycle pre-existing ideas into new ones (amazingly so, by the way). But by leaning into the fields of architecture, art, technology, avant-garde fashion takes inspiration from something else, and brings a new narrative. In this regard, I think the gender-bending fashion of now is only partly avant-garde, because it brings ideas of philosophy (queer philosophy) into fashion, but it's already something that was existing in fashion, be it the garçonnes of the 1920s, or the gender neutral work clothes (like a lab coat). And a new idea that's neither art, nor architecture nor anything else, truly new, can also be seen as "outside of fashion".
Now fight me :)
So by definition, what would be the complete opposite of avant grade? As in what would be the art form that would describe something that is trying to not only say a message but tell a story
Avant garde is literally expression of a story
@@amulyajain725 well no, its expression of art or art form like fencing.
Hi Bliss, I have a small question, where is the thumbnail art from? Thanks!
Fredrik Tjærandsen 🦾
What’s the fashion show with the dude walking in a metal box
A-Cold-Wall 💫💫
Thanks frame 5:20 correct ?
Yup!
which year is the margiela show and what is the name of the airplane dress？
Margiela Spring 1996. I’m not sure I understand your other question, could you try rephrasing it? My understanding is it’s just called the airplane dress 💫💫
How long did u take to groe your hair from ur profile pic short hair? Did you perm and how u style them?
I’ve been growing it out for about a year, getting little trims as I go. No perm, my hair just curls up at this length 💫💫
Bruh, I love your Balmain Hair Couture wig! It looks so good on you!
I miss you 😭😭😭