Friday, March 28, 2008

Stefano Tonchi "What I do is What I Like"






Stefano Tonchi. Interview by Payam Sharifi. 032c issue #14 2007/2008. 
excerpted quotes:

"We like to say that fashion is the closest thing to a "mirror of society" - just because then you have to justify everything that happens in fashion with some political reason. That is not true. When you think about fashion and contemporary society, fashion is a mirror of it - but a mirror in the mood, a mirror in the atmosphere, a mirror in the sensibility. It's a good mirror. That doesn't mean that the skirt gets long because the economy is bad - that's really an old way of reading fashion to make it more relevant than what it is. That's not the thing. Fashion expresses the mood of people much more than any other media. Especially at this specific time. That's why so many great people are working in fashion, so many designers who have been in different fields before". 

"Well, especially with magazines, we are moving away  form simple information and becoming more and more of a very decadent society dealing with the pleasures of life. What is lifestyle? It's the things that we like to do, the things we don't consider obligations..."

"Yeah, I think so. When I think about it I think about the places you want to see and visit, the cultures you want to know more about. It's the things around you, the objects around you, and you can include clothes there, you can include your home ... And that's what I call "the life-style capital"". 

"I think it's just another area. Art is what fashion was maybe 20-30 years ago in that sense. It's a way to express yourself, express your taste. It's also a way to entertain and enjoy life. In the same way people used to enjoy shopping, now they enjoy going to art fairs".    

"I mean, through the difference between looking at a very beautiful garment by Gianni Versace, evolving to looking at a beautiful garment by Comme des Garcons. Moving from a portrait by Julian Schnabel to something like..."


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