I'm pretty reluctant to write about this. After all, as a layperson, it's easy to be slapped in the face by the great gods. Represents personal points.

What is "Darkwear":

There are many theories about what "Darkwear" is. Many people like to put "Darkwear" and Pioneer together, thinking that it seems to have the same meaning, but it is not. To a large extent, the word "Dark" is more of a developed concept based on Gothic. Several recognized keywords are dark, morbid, mysterious, spooky, and incomplete. As for how did it become "Dark"? There are more sayings because everyone found that most of the clothes of these brands are black. . . After all, it is difficult to attribute such things to fashion weeks or luxury goods, and designer brands are too broad, so the word "Dark" is very representative.

What other genres are "Darkwear" divided into:

There are many ways to classify this, so let me give my opinion. After all, there is no standard, and there are different opinions.

Business faction:

It is the mainstream faction in the "Darkwear" department, mainly Rick Owens, Boris Bidjan Saberi, Maison Margiela, Damir Doma, etc. It has gradually entered the public's attention from the marginal field at the beginning and began to cater to the public's aesthetics and needs.. In fact, I don't think it's a bad thing. Many people will believe that these commercialized Darkwear brands have been out of their original intention and can't even be considered Darkwear. I'm afraid I have to disagree with this point. It is precise because of the successful commercialization of these brands that more people know about this once-very niche field. You can't say that he sells a lot, and it's not Darkwear when it's on the runway, right? And it is undeniable that even with commercial transformation, most brands still retain their style system.

For example, the most successful commercial Rick Owens:

The picture above is Rick Owens himself. It is worth mentioning that RO was initially gay but was straightened by his wife, Michele Lamy. A large part of the success of RO should be attributed to Lamy. If there is a chance to talk about the brand, I will elaborate. The picture below shows the couple.

Nomadic Boris Bidjan Saberi:

The picture above shows BBS himself, a person who has his brand logo tattooed on his body. . .

Whether it's RO or BBS, I think the style is still there, but it's much closer to popular demand. I agree that these brands can no longer be called pioneers, but it should be no controversial to attribute them to Darkwear. Of course, if there are successful ones, there are also miserable ones in the final transformation. Let's leave it to the brand.

Orientalist:

Mainly Japanese, including Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, etc., there are also some domestic ones such as Ziggy Chen, Uma Wang, etc. The style of the oriental faction is loose and round, agile, and elegant, and it pays great attention to the communication and interaction between people and space. I wouldn't say I like to classify this category as darkness because I don't think the aesthetics of the Eastern faction is consistent with the mood expressed by the Darkwear goths. But the words of my family have no effect. After all, this is a very mainstream concept, and many Darkwear designers in Europe and the United States have begun to follow this path.

Yohji Yamamoto

The picture above is of Yohji himself, I personally admire him very much, and I hope to write a particular topic for him. However, when the master was young, his achievements were too high, so now many people think that he is living on his own, and once almost went bankrupt and closed many of his brands.

Comme des Garcons

ZIGGY CHEN

Mention ZIGGY CHEN, the designer's Chinese name is Chen Xiang, and now he and Uma Wang have entered many high-end buyer stores. I think it is also a matter of pride for domestic designers. These designs have also become a lot of brands such as sketches and Jiangnan cloth. source of inspiration. (I just said the source of inspiration, not plagiarism, please don't tell me.)

Artisan Pie:

Artisanal is a faction that I like very much. Of course, the price also makes many people exclaim that they can't understand it. The prominent representatives are Paul Harnden, Elena Dawson, Marc le Bihan, Augusta (A1923), GUIDI, etc. The so-called craftsmen pay more attention to the clothes themselves. As the founder of a hammer said, they are born proud. It has nothing to do with me what is popular outside for these people. I make my clothes and shoes anyway, and it doesn't matter what is popular in the fashion circle. Most of the pictures will not have a runway because many of these brands are not released on a seasonal basis, nor do they do shows.

Paul Harnden

For Paul Harnden, there is a widely circulated comment that "design clothes belonging to the past", every pair of PH clothes and shoes have a robust Victorian taste. The materials used are also top-notch cotton, linen. Most of the craftsmanship is handmade. According to rumours, PH has an old loom, the only one in the world. Moreover, PH does not lend or publicize his clothes, and he rarely shows up himself. The last time he was interviewed was nearly 30 years ago. The previous picture is very classic. Anyone who knows a little about PH should know that, because PH and CDG have a good relationship, they went to an exhibition hosted by CDG, but these five models refused all invitations to take pictures. Only left aback when walking.

Augusta (A1923)

Simone Cecchetto founded Augusta in 2006 after leaving RICK OWENS and later changed it to Adiciannoveventitre. The major buyer stores and Darkwear websites are still called Augusta or A1923 (I can't spell such a long word anyway). A1923 used to only make shoes, the last type is unique, and it has been completely handmade since the beginning. Later, I started to make some peripheral products such as belts and bags. In the past few years, I also started to make leather clothes. It can be said that 1923 is a relatively palace-level leather good in the Darkwear circle.

Avant-garde:

Finally, avant-garde is also my favourite and the main style in my wardrobe. The avant-garde (Avant Garde), as the name suggests, breaks the tradition and violates the principle. If the artisan group ignores the fashion aesthetics, then the avant-garde is a proper anti-fashion aesthetic. This faction brand should be the most, because everyone likes to advertise themselves as avant-garde art, not only in the field of clothing, architecture, art, music, etc., are all the same. When it comes to this faction, Carol Christian Poell and Maurizio Altieri must be the first to bear the brunt, followed by Maurizio Amadei, Label Under Construction, Obscur, Alexandre Plokhov, Julius, Devon, Incarnation, song for the mute, etc. The A1923, Rick Owens, and Boris Bidjan Saberi can be counted among the avant-garde factions. The reason why I took them out is that I think their current situation is more inclined to the artisan faction or the mainstream business faction. Since there are many brands, I will briefly introduce a few representative ones this time.

Carol Christian Poell

There are many rumours about Carol Christian Poell because few people have seen him, and the fact that CCP's sales channels are a few hard-core buyer stores adds a lot of mystery. I often think Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto, Martin Margiela are great masters, but Carol Christian Poell is an absolute artist, and a master and an artist are not the same things. In today's circle of Darkwear pioneers, CCP is a well-deserved king. Whether it is tailoring technology or clothing techniques, it is always unprecedented. Many people also think that if there is no CCP, more than half of the Dark circle will lie down, because whether it is RO, BBS, or Japanese brands such as Devon, Julius, etc., there are shadows of CCP, not to mention plagiarism, at least some enlightenment. There must be a point. CCP often does some very anti-fashion works, such as weird accessories, glowing coats, trash can shoes, and trousers with all kinds of bloodstains. When you buy a pair of CCP trousers, the tag says human hair blended. Will you break out in a cold sweat?

Maurizio Altieri

Pioneer master Maurizio Altieri led a well-known brand called Carpe Diem in the past. Although the results were not good, the names of the brand participants Maurizio Amadei (MA+) and Luca Laurini (Label Under Construction) were later resounded throughout the whole. Fashion ring. Maurizio Altieri's clothing philosophy can be said to be the foundation of modern pioneers. He mentioned the design concept of "clothes are the second skin of the human body", and thus led to ergonomic three-dimensional tailoring and new processing of cotton and linen and other fabrics. . Maurizio Altieri has thus become an unshakable avant-garde master and the founder of contemporary avant-garde clothing. His achievements of Maurizio Amadei and Luca Laurini also maintain the concept of Altieri on their brands.

Devoa

Devon is one of the leading brands of the three Japanese pioneers. The founder Daisuke Nishida was initially been an athlete, so devoa is different from Julius of Horikawa Tatsuro and The Viridis-Anne of Tomoaki Okada and introduced sports ingredients into the pioneers. Devon's Many clothes are characterized by comfort and movement. And it is said that DeVos's nettle cloth is also very low in output. Among the Japanese pioneers, devoa's materials are also of the highest quality.

The above is probably my introduction to the inspires and factions of the Darkwear system. Many of these four categories are common, such as the avant-garde and the artisan, the artisan and the oriental, and the oriental and the commercial. Many Japanese brands are not oriental because of their style and philosophy, and there are also many western brands whose designs are very oriental. I don't think these are absolute. These are just to let everyone understand this relatively marginal field and give more consideration to the choice of wearing in the future.