Jeremy Scott Is The Man Fashion Loves To Hate

Fashion Week is a circus, and no one relishes the big top more than Jeremy Scott.

The designer’s February runway show had fashionistas sweltering in an 80-degree room as they waited for attendee Kylie Jenner to appear, 45 minutes late and with TV crew in tow. Gate-crashers stole seats, relegating top editors from Elle and Teen Vogue to watching a live stream of the presentation in a screening room. Model Gigi Hadid stormed the runway in velvet bell-bottoms emblazoned with the face of Jesus; Anna Cleveland sashayed in a gaudy, Vegas-era Elvis cape.

The industry Web site Fashionista.com called the event a “s – – tshow,” while other critics scoffed at the C-listers, such as Sofia Richie, mugging in the front row. But for Scott, that embrace of chaos, celebrity and kitsch is the whole point.

“I’ve always been inspired by pop culture,” the 42-year-old designer told The Post. “I’ve always been very democratic about my view of fashion and iconography.” As for his haters?
“I would say that they’re stuffy and they could go to another show.”

They do so at their own peril. This Fashion Week marks the 20th anniversary of Scott’s namesake brand — his show on Friday will be a retrospective of his career — and, love him or hate him, his postmodern, cartoon aesthetic is everywhere.

It’s on TV, with Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus strutting in his eye-popping designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. It’s on newsstands, where reality stars are on the cover of Vogue. It’s even on the Paris runway, with revered labels such as Vetements and Gucci splattering images from “Titanic” or Disney cartoons onto their clothes.

“It is completely generational,” said Beth Dincuff Charleston, an industry vet who teaches fashion history at Parsons, adding that older fashion fans tend to find Scott’s garish designs off-putting. “He puts a lot of ideas together in a way that the 21-and-under set can really identify with.” She said that when she asks her undergraduate students who their favorite designer is, the name she hears most is Scott’s. “He’s becoming more and more impactful.”

Scott isn’t surprised. “Many times my taste in something that wasn’t accepted at first has ended up becoming more mainstream,” he said. “That’s another note I would say to those people who don’t get [me].”

SCOTT was born outside of Kansas City, Mo., far from the fashion world. But when the self-proclaimed “Midwest farm boy” discovered Details magazine in high school, he became obsessed with ’80s bad-boy designers Jean Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela and Franco Moschino. After studying design at the Pratt Institute in Clinton Hill, he high-tailed it to Paris, with dreams of interning for Gaultier himself.

“Everyone was like, ‘You don’t know anyone, you don’t have any money, you don’t speak the language,’ ” he said. “There were all [people saying] no, no, no, no, no, but I . . . said yes.”

It was tough: Scott couldn’t get an internship. He was so broke that, in between bouts of couch-surfing, he slept on the Metro. But he fell in with the nightclub crowd and, in 1997, put on his own fashion show using scraps from a medical-supply store.

That collection — featuring hospital gowns with geometric pleats and bandages with heels attached for shoes — attracted a French TV crew. Suddenly, at 22, Scott was the toast of Paris fashion.

Mario Testino photographed his clothes. Isabella Blow, the stylist and magazine editor responsible for discovering Alexander McQueen, became a mentor. Karl Lagerfeld told Le Monde that Scott was the only designer who could succeed him at Chanel. In a few years, Scott was creating clothes for performers such as Madonna and Bjork.

“It was like a fairy tale,” Scott said. “It was . . . superflattering, and, at the same time, a little overwhelming.”

But he had his first fall from grace when, barely a year later, he debuted his fourth collection — an all-gold homage to the most opulent fashions of the 1980s. Vogue called it “destined to sink.”

“That was one of the hardest things to endure,” said Scott. “These were the same people that had said such beautiful things about me five minutes before, and now they’re saying heinous things. I took it very personally.”

Yet by the time he left Paris, in 2001, he was back en vogue — at least among the downtown demimonde, which adored his irreverence. Scott had inched toward an unabashedly pop style, inspired by the garish glitz of game-show hostess Vanna White. Scott settled in Los Angeles, so he could be closer to his growing celeb clientele.

“People thought I was crazy,” Scott said. This was more than a decade before Tom Ford moved to the West Coast and made it a fashion capital. “But Hollywood dictates so much of what we think of as fashion — the way people emulate things worn by celebrities on the red carpet or just getting coffee.”

Scott made his New York Fashion Week debut in 2002 with a show that combined ’80s shoulder-pad hauteur with the space-age kitsch of “The Jetsons.” New York was newly cool in fashion — Alexander McQueen had shown there in 2000 — but Scott helped take it over the top.

He invited reality stars like Paris Hilton to sit front row, creating a media riot. One 2003 presentation at Jeffrey Deitch’s Soho gallery — which featured scantily clad models in elaborate tableaux, such as a dominatrix in a barnyard surrounded by live animals — rankled the fashion press. The Condé Nast Web site Style.com refused to cover his shows for seven years after that.

“It was art,” Deitch told The Post of the scandalous show, explaining that Scott was taking pop-art tropes and expanding on them. “This was something different. He was maybe a little ahead of his time.”

After a sojourn to Paris Fashion Week, and a stopover in London, Scott returned to NYC in 2010, refreshed and with a sharper point of view, conjuring up the gonzo, Cartoon Network-on-acid sensibility that imbues his clothes today. Among his inspirations: Bart Simpson, SpongeBob and the McDonald’s arches, all of which have been emblazoned on his namesake designs or those created for Moschino, for which he became creative director in 2011.

“I think when he started to immerse himself in playing with those recognizable logos, it was a good way for him to [make] his message clearer,” said Parsons’ Charleston.

Katy Perry became a muse. A$AP Rocky sported his kicks, which Scott did for Adidas in an early high-fashion/sneaker collab. Miley Cyrus debuted a plastic jewelry line at his show. He was, now, a celebrity himself.

But some in the industry chafed at his vulgarity. What’s more, he was hit with lawsuits. In 2013, skateboard artist Jimbo Phillips sued Scott for copyright infringement. This was followed shortly with a suit by graffiti artist Rime, who said that the designer had taken elements from one of his Detroit murals for a dress Katy Perry wore to the Met Gala in 2015. (Scott settled in both cases.)

“That mindset of taking the McDonald’s logo and infusing it with the M for Moschino, or using corporate imagery in your designs, that’s fine. But it’s different when you’re using imagery from another artist,” said Charleston. (Scott had permission to use the SpongeBob and Bart Simpson characters, but a representative for the designer said his use of McDonald’s imagery was an “homage” that used a similar, “not direct” logo and therefore did not require approval.)

“For a moment there . . . I did question what Jeremy Scott’s role in the fashion industry is,” said Julie Zerbo, a legal consultant and founder of the Web site the Fashion Law. “But novelty is not what is driving demand for fashion. Demna [Gvasalia of the label Vetements] and Gucci are heavily referential for others’ work. [Copying] is less harmful to one’s reputation. And I assume the young people who are buying [Scott’s] iPhone cases and Barbie-inspired collections don’t necessarily care.”

They don’t. Scott’s pop vision of fashion has now become the norm. Balenciaga has a $2,100 bag that pays homage to IKEA’s blue tote; Gucci sells coats embroidered with Donald Duck.

“He’s a rule-breaker, which is good for fashion,” said influential publicist Kelly Cutrone. “Fashion can be super boring and elitist — there’s only so much you can do with a spaghetti strap, bias-cut satin gown.”

And while several designers, such as Altuzarra and Thom Browne, are fleeing New York Fashion Week for Paris — or skipping the runway entirely, as Narciso Rodriguez is — Scott has remained its stalwart: eager to deliver the sparkle, headlines and drama that the week once regularly promised.

“He still gets all the big models,” said fashion photographer Shawn Brackbill, who added that even though some glossy magazines don’t consider Scott’s shows “elevated” enough to warrant coverage, the presentations still draw a raucous, passionate crowd. “I think it’s a testament to him. Whether it’s just that the shows are fun or just different from everything else, people want to be a part of it.”

Technology Is Eating Fashion

BANGKOK, Thailand — If you think you run a fashion business, you’re wrong. A technology business with a fashion focus? Sure. Anything else and you may as well wave the white flag, because the rules of the rag trade are changing. You’re either leading that change, or you’re a sitting duck ready to be picked off by a sharp-shooting tech juggernaut.

Since Amazon first started peddling books online, Jeff Bezos never once saw his company as a retailer. “Amazon is a technology company. We just happen to do retail,” said Amazon CTO Wagner Vogels in 2011. With this mentality it’s no surprise Amazon has been able to conquer retail category after retail category, solving long-old supply-chain inefficiencies using technology as the not-so-secret weapon.

From product development to distribution, nothing about the fashion supply-chain is agile. It’s impossible for traditional fashion businesses to respond to real-time demand; it takes too long to get ideas to market. Even Zara, the masters of supply-chain efficiency, can only bring a product to market in 10-15 days. In our hyper-connected digital world, a lot can change in 15 minutes let alone 15 days.

The supply-chain also fails with personalisation. Products must be designed to appeal to markets broad enough to justify producing at scale, sacrificing individualisation for unit economics. Then there’s the fit issue. Standard sizes statistically fit less than 20 percent of the total addressable population. Too many consumers fall between the cracks of standard sizing bell-curves.

These shortcomings are being aggressively addressed by tech companies. Amazon for one has been mining its retail data and spinning up private labels to exploit product gaps discovered in the apparel market. In April 2017 the company was granted a patent for an on-demand apparel manufacturing system that creates custom clothing to the fit and specifications of individual customers. This means Amazon can not only eliminate inventory, but can respond almost instantly to market trends, and sell their products to the entire population.

Los Angeles-based Fame and Partners is another pioneer in the on-demand apparel supply chain. Like Amazon, the online womenswear label has developed a proprietary factory floor system with their manufacturing partner near Shanghai. CEO Nyree Corby says Fame and Partners use a modular design approach, allowing them to create new styles tied to their pattern and factory floor systems, which in turn maximises design flexibility, fit, and manufacturability. Corby says the rise of direct to consumer labels “translates to a larger proportion of brands now taking inventory risk than their business models previously allowed for.” She adds that reduced barriers for new fashion labels going to market “is driving fragmentation of trends and contributing to the general retail malaise.”

As consumers and their expectations digitally evolve, so too must the companies that clothe them. It’s not viable for fashion companies to design products for market segments when tech companies can design products for specific individuals. It’s not viable for fashion companies to spend weeks or months bringing products to market if tech-companies can do the same in seconds.

Technologies like data mining, machine learning, pattern bootstrapping, and product virtualisation are the tools of the new game. Tools that are already bolstering the arsenal of tech retailers like San Francisco-based Stitch Fix. They use artificial intelligence to analyse and predict purchasing behaviour, and formulate new product designs based on what components of style are popular at the time. Their AI-design technology sorts through trillions of design and fabric variants to generate products that have a statistically-high chance of retail success.

Human designers cannot compete with AI-designers when it comes to synthesising complex data from multiple sources. They also can’t compete with AI-designers to action their findings and assemble, render, and launch entirely new products in seconds. A consumer may soon be browsing an eCommerce site as an AI-designer watches and learns from their actions. The machine could design, render, and display new products to the consumer in real-time based on what it believes they want. The product could then be manufactured only after the consumer has purchased the product, eliminating inventory risk.

This supply chain revolution doesn’t only apply to mass-market fashion brands. Luxury brands cannot claim superiority when tech-driven mass-market players can guarantee a more personalised and better-fitting product.

Technology also shifts the creative process towards a more symmetric interaction between consumers and brands. With AI, brands have the scalability to use individual customers as the basis of inspiration for designs. H&M’s Ivyrevel have collaborated with Google to translate “a week of your life into a one-of-a-kind design.” Lifestyle data is collected through an Ivyrevel app, including tracking venues they visit and activities they do. The app learns “who you are, what you like to do, and where you like to go,” and then proposes a unique dress design for a specific occasion.

This might sound like novelty, however it’s just the beginning of a movement where technology begins to inform the creative process. To remain at the cutting-edge, luxury brands must learn to harness AI to pioneer new and meaningful experiences with consumers.

Fashion businesses need to start their transition into technology companies now. The sooner they start, the sooner they’ll cultivate the domain expertise required to remain competitive in the future. Firstly, digitise historical designs and build a rich database of products split into their individual variants. When properly organised, a human or AI designer can easily reference this library to assemble unique product without having to create anything from scratch.

Secondly, ditch standard-size grading and adopt parametric pattern grading. With parametric grading any product design can be made to fit any body type. It is getting easier and easier to capture customer body data, from taking 3D body scans on smartphones to predicting 50+ measurements from a few questions about fit. It’s only a matter of time before the mass market falls for bespoke fit, and you don’t want to be dependent on standard sizes when that time comes.

With parametric grading and bespoke fit comes the third recommendation: supplement your mass-produced inventory with on-demand production. You can quash sizing-related problems, eliminate unsold inventory headaches, and be responsive to consumer demand on a sale-by-sale basis. A low-barrier-of-entry approach would be to leverage pre-sales as a way to collect a critical mass of orders before producing custom products at scale.

Finally, start collecting and analysing all the data that you have, such as point-of-sale data, e-commerce analytics and metrics about your customers. Whatever you have, collect it. Your biggest competitive advantage is locked away in the data that flows through your business, day in day out. Build infrastructure around your data to analyse and take action on the findings. Your business’ survival depends on it.

Art of Fashion Co-chairs Relish The Experience

RANCHO SANTA FE — Maggie Bobileff and Denise Hug were already great friends before embarking as co-chairs of The Country Friends’ Art of Fashion 2017 Runway Show and Luncheon. However, they admit working on this grand Sept. 14 event at the Inn of Rancho Santa Fe gave them even a better opportunity to learn more about one another.

For Hug, she admires Bobileff’s tenacity and go-getter attitude.

“When Maggie wants to go after something, she puts everything into it,” Hug said. “She’s such a hard worker, and this shows in her boutiques.”

While Hug describes Bobileff as having an impeccable work ethic, another trait which equally stands out is her compassion.

“Maggie is always one of the first people to volunteer if you need help or if you’re in a jam,” Hug said. “She’s always there for you.”

For Bobileff, no one can find a sweeter person in town than Hug.

“I have always admired Denise,” Bobileff said. “She is such a charming person. And I learned that she is an excellent chairwoman.”

Instinctively, Bobileff knew Hug had the co-chairing skills. All it took was a little arm twisting to get her to agree to it. Bobileff approached the topic slowly and carefully the first time.

“I said, ‘No,’” said Hug, smiling.

Hug was accustomed to helping behind the scenes. Every year, she and her husband Bertrand host the Art of Fashion Patron Party at their fine dining restaurant, Mille Fleurs.

“She asked me again, and I said, ‘Maggie, no,’” said Hug, smiling even more.

Bobileff would not give up. Hug had worked for charities in the past, and Bobileff knew a co-chair position would be perfect.

So, she asked again.

“She finally coerced me, and I said all right,” Hug quipped. “We were walking the dogs one morning, and I said, “OK, let’s do it.’”

Now, Hug can’t imagine doing anything else. Co-chairing is an incredible honor and will leave an indelible imprint.  

The ladies agree that their partnership is relaxed. And above all, they enjoy working together. Bobileff shared that their tastes in aesthetics are quite similar, or they complement one another.

“I really think that this is why it has been so easy work together,” Bobileff said.

Being able to help The County Friends raise funds from this highly anticipated annual event to help support more than 35 local charities means everything to Bobileff and Hug. They are also quick to point out that their Art of Fashion 2017 committee is a dedicated and talented group.

Their generous sponsors also play a valuable role in the success of the event.

Hug admitted that she and Bobileff were also looking forward to having their good friend, Jenny Craig, be the Art of Fashion honoree.

For those attending the Art of Fashion for the very first time, Bobileff hopes they take the time out to learn about The Country Friends and what they do. According to Bobileff, The Country Friends is a charity with little overhead and mostly operated by volunteers.

“Raising money for a charity like this means that dollars go to where those needs are,” Bobileff said.

The Country Friends annual membership of $60 also goes to help fund the charities it supports. Its consignment shop in Rancho Santa Fe is another way it raises money.

“The Art of Fashion is a special tradition which has gone on for years,” Hug said. “There is such enthusiasm with everybody wanting to come to this show and with the knowledge that it supports all these charities.”

People Are "begging" for Plus-size Fashion

Retail's woes are well documented, but there's one corner of the market that's doing well: plus-size fashion. According to the NDP Group, a market analyst, the plus-size market grew by 6 percent in 2016, twice that of clothing retail overall. The folks at the front of plus-size fashion aren't the design houses you're used to hearing about, but smaller startups like Premme, founded by designers and social media icons Gabi Gregg and Nicolette Mason.

Ashley C. Ford, from Refinery29, wrote about plus-size fashion for New York Magazine. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Ford about her reporting and where the fashion industry might be headed next. An edited transcript of their conversation follows.

Kai Ryssdal: Where did women of larger sizes shop for fashion before?

Ashley C. Ford: Mostly Lane Bryant. And beforehand, there were just a lot of tricks, and tips, and there was a lot of making your own clothes, and there was a lot of, "Here's how to buy things in straight sizes that are oversized, and make them fit your body." Or, you know, things like that. It was a lot of internet sharing, and community sharing — how to adorn our bodies in a way that truly allowed us to feel as beautiful as we are.

Ryssdal: You mentioned internet sharing. You went into a brick-and-mortar retailer, and I can't remember which one it was. You didn't see your sizes there. And you went to the salesperson, and you said, "Where can I find stuff?" And they said online, and you went online. And it was a cornucopia, really, of stuff for you to wear.

Ford: Yes. Absolutely. That is something that you see with a lot of brick-and-mortar stores for some reason that I can't entirely explain, and these places don't really market the fact that they actually do carry sizes larger than a 10 or a 12 or a 14. And so, people just don't know to go there. They have no idea unless they happen upon it. You know, it's still most likely to happen online versus in the store.

Ryssdal: But you know, it's interesting you mentioned marketing. And in this piece that you wrote, there's some old Lane Bryant ads which are unbelievable. "Stout women dressed fashionably, look slender." And then, "Calling all chubbies," another woman, a full-size woman in a dress. And then you scroll down, and there's a Lane Bryant ad just owning it. Modern day, out there, saying listen. In fact, here's the tagline: "This body is made to be uncovered." It's remarkable, the change.

Ford: It absolutely is. And that change has really been driven by the community. As women have learned to love themselves, and to understand that every healthy body is not a straight size, we've pushed this market. And I love seeing that ad from Lane Bryant. I love that it ended up being part of the piece, because it is a great representation of how far we've come. And there's so much further to go.

Ryssdal: Here comes the nuts-and-bolts question: retail has been struggling, as I'm sure you know.

Ford: Absolutely.

Ryssdal: Does this emphasis on plus-size fashions and the profit it can bring, does it last, do you think?

Ford: I think it does last, and I think it lasts because the market is clearly starving for it. And on top of that, the market right now is really being driven by teen voices. You know, like, I'm 30. So it's like, you know, I could be saying this, and then, you know, 30 years it could be like, who cares? That generation is gone. You know, whatever. But the truth of the matter is, people who are much, much younger than me are begging for these options — are less begging than demanding these options. I think offering options is never a bad thing, especially to a community who is ready and willing to give you their money.

Indian and Bhutanese fashion to be a key theme at the Mountain Echoes Literary Festival 2017

The eighth edition of the Mountain Echoes Festival this year will see fashion as one of its key themes. Designers from across Bhutan and India will come together to curate collections which intersperse their nation’s textile heritage with contemporary fashion, with an aim to build a common thread between the countries and their shared culture.

Some of the names include Bhutanese designers Chandrika Tamang and Chimmi Choden, and Indian designer duo Abraham and Thakore.

A specially-curated fashion show will see models walk the ramp wearing exquisite weaves designed by Chimmi Choden’s CHIMMI House of Design. The home-grown brand gives the artistic heritage of Bhutan’s weaving culture a modern twist, preserves the country’s unique craft and builds upon it to create contemporary designs.

Fashion designer Chandrika Tamang will also present an exclusive line of outfits from her eco-friendly label CDK. Inspired by Bhutan’s stunning natural surroundings, CDK’s designs combine traditional patterns and weaving methods to create fun, fashionable yet 100% eco-friendly apparels.

Designer duo Abraham & Thakore, will exhibit their contemporary designs and present their interpretation of traditional Indian textiles at the specially curated fashion show. The collection will focus on designs created by the two for the 2016 Rajasthan Heritage Week, jointly organized by Khadi Board, Government of Rajasthan and Prasad Bidapa Associates. Made using hand-spun khadi fabric, the striking clothes reflect an aesthetic inspired by the country’s strong tradition of using earthy fabrics. The collection gives khadi a modern spin and encourages its use as a central fabric for modern designs.

The festival will also see eminent names such as Malika Kashyap, founder of digital publication & creative agency Border & Fall that focuses on India’s craft and Prasad Bidapa, one of India’s leading fashion consultants, join the designers for a session on the global evolution of textiles and design traditions.

The festival will also host a unique exhibition, titled ‘Handmade in Rajasthan’, curated by Prasad Bidapa that will celebrate the indigenous craft forms that give Rajasthan its distinctive identity. The exhibition will present a 360-degree view of Rajasthani textiles and a unique perspective of the designs that have been developed in the state by the local weavers, artisans and craftsmen.

Elaborating on the fashion element of the festival, designer Chandrika Tamang stated that Bhutan and India’s design traditions were closely linked.
“Our shared history has inspired designers across both nations and my collection will be a mix of traditional Bhutanese designs, created using an amalgamation of both Indian and Bhutanese fabrics,” she said.

Designer Chimmi Choden stated that the tradition of weaving was an inherent part of the Bhutanese culture. “For the festival, CHIMMI House of Design has created a collection inspired by traditional textiles, enhanced by timeless silhouettes, straight lines and bold colours. We hope our collection will inspire visitors to the festival to study, understand and appreciate Bhutan’s rich culture and traditions, using fashion as a medium,” she said.

Indian designers David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore stated that handloom fashion was one of the threads that tied Bhutan and India. “For decades, we have advocated the ethereal beauty of traditional weaves & fabrics and integrated traditional techniques into mainstream Indian fashion,” they said.

Fashion stylist and consultant Prasad Bidapa stated that the festival will also present a carefully curated segment of beautiful clothes which are handmade in Rajasthan.

“From the finesse of the kota doria sari to the robust hand-woven khadi we call our fabric of freedom; from the exquisite precision of our hand-blocked printing to the finesse of our embroidery, this collection is an emphatic tribute to the spinners, weavers, dyers, printers and embellishers of the beautiful state of Rajasthan,” he said.

The Mountain Echoes literary festival is an initiative of the India-Bhutan Foundation, in association with India’s leading literary consultancy, Siyahi. The festival will be held from August 25th-27th with an inaugural ceremony on the 24th August in Thimphu, Bhutan.