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Paris, France
For centuries now, the world has looked to Paris to predict trends and set the agenda in fashion. The city’s unique identity as both an artistic milieu and the headquarters for some of the biggest global fashion conglomerates means the talent here can inform change – though, many would argue they don’t have the impetus.
Alice Cavanagh heads into an unfiltered conversation with the fashion director of Vogue Ukraine, Vena Brykalin – who has been living in Paris the past year – about the industry in Paris today, and the tension between creative and commercial constraints.
A:
I moved to Paris from Sydney eleven years ago, and I remember being so excited to be in the middle of it all. At Paris Fashion Week, there is that unique tension between French luxury, Japanese avant-gardism, and the then new generation, like Vetements, Glenn Martens and Virgil Abloh, who everyone was very excited about.
It was interesting then, when an evolution happened and these creatives were snapped up by bigger houses — Virgil at Louis Vuitton, for example. Sometimes the spirit gets lost along the way, though not always. It’s clear that younger talent can’t compete or resist the bigger machines, and by that, I mean the system as well — the need to produce six collections a year, for example, or to continue to have these enormous events despite all the real concerns around sustainability.
V:
Yes. I genuinely love fashion and clothes, but I have a lot of questions around how the industry operates. I have a hard time with the idea that fashion is a place of escapism, a place to dream. I don’t buy that at all — it’s lazy. We must question ourselves and look at solutions. Fashion – especially in Paris, which is the capital – is a creative industry, and it has a responsibility to respond to what is happening in the world. Look at what happened with the pandemic, we said we would never go back to the way it was and that it was a chance to innovate… But what do we see? It’s even worse than before: more people, more flights, more traffic jams, printed invitations, bigger venues. We went nowhere.
A:
I think our industry is full of incredibly creative people with bold and inspired ideas, but it is like their wings get clipped. What do you think is holding everyone back then?
V:
People are scared because if it’s not broken then don’t fix it, and if the definition of success is double-digit growth, then you don’t want to be inventive or radical.
A:
Less pressure equals creative freedom. But then, ultimately, growth or scalability poses a challenge for any brand. Jacquemus is an interesting example of someone who is growing in a sustainable way, in a clear response to demand and not as a desire for world domination.
V:
There’s something I remember that Dries Van Noten once said, “Every creative person has to decide whether you want a lot or enough.” And I think that we're at this point where I think the guard is changing, and there is a shift. Designers don’t feel like they must die on the runway and give their whole life to the industry and create a perfume and an eyewear licence — these were the aspirations of the former generations.
A:
We all want more meaning from both the product and the experience.
V:
Yes and Jacquemus has been very successful in this, but also look at what Coperni guys have achieved; and Nicolas di Felice at Courrèges and Casey Cadwallader at Mugler are totally broadening the demographics and challenge the status quo in a way that makes Paris so exciting. I'm really intrigued by this new generation who don't necessarily aspire to climb to the top of the corporate ladder and just enjoy doing what they feel is right. Lemaire is a different case and I enjoy how they take their time and build their own legacy, on their own terms.
A:
If we step back though, and look at the last four years, there have been positive shifts, don’t you agree?
V:
Yes, I think there is now a lot more liberation in terms of gender roles, and that has come from casting and image. Also, fun is still a big part of our industry and that’s important. I hear from my fellow editors in Ukraine, that they all started wearing red lipstick because they feel proud about it, the way you present yourself can be an act of flamboyance and resistance.
A:
Red lipstick has had symbolic power historically as well. Fashion can be a distraction, but it should also reflect the real world. The industry is doing better with diversity of late: we see different shapes, ages, and ethnicities on the runway, which has become more and more prevalent, and I think that was popularised by these younger designers, such as Christelle Kocher, Vetements, even Lemaire, who started street casting for shows. But still, the journalist Robin Givhan wrote, "Diversity lasts when it no longer has to be the subject of a story,” and I think it still is the headline rather than the norm. Has this question come up in your career at Vogue?
V:
I agree with that quote. But I have an example from experience. We once had Petra Collins photograph the model Tess McMillan for a cover. It’s one of the most beautiful and jovial covers we have done, but we never talked about casting her simply because she was a different size. This is how it should be. What we see is an accomplished, beautiful, amazing model. It's the same with our cover of Ashley Radjarame, it wasn’t about representation. She deserves a cover.
A:
It should be normal, not strategic.
V:
Yes, we celebrate the talent and personality of a woman. I don’t find it ground-breaking. This is just how it should be.
A:
Who stands out for you today in Paris then?
V:
It’s smaller names, like this amazing duo Ester Manas who cater to a wide size range. When SSENSE picked up their collection, it was the first time they had booked a plus-size model. So, it takes a small independent brand to introduce this change to this huge retailer. As much as we want to see a change from the top of the ladder, it is the smaller designers who take a risk.
A:
Before Instagram, when it was slower there were clear-cut seasons and we could dissect collections, fashion used to be very trend focused and that was a big part of our job, wasn’t it?
V:
In a way, you were a bit ahead of your time, I think.
A:
Yes, now everything is so condensed it’s less about clear trends. And I wonder if this recent celebration of individualism on the runway is a response to this — just find what speaks to you because there is something for everyone. Perhaps where we see a shift, is that ideas and messaging is now often communicated through the runway experience or image, not the collection.
V:
I salute that idea because it reduces senseless clothing. You break down the looks and it’s something people will wear rather than a fantasy collection. And what's interesting now is every brand is doing itself, working with its own archives — Bottega, Prada and Miu Miu — and it is still fresh and relevant. If you’re a fan and you stick with one brand, it works back with what you already own. People might say it’s missing the “dream factor,” but it’s honest and pragmatic. There is a community thing as well, people gravitate to a certain aesthetic.
A:
It shows how mainstream fashion has become because in the past it was music that defined communities — punk and goth or glam — and now we can almost use brand names as sub-cultural lifestyle or identity — political messaging too. Do you think fashion should be political?
V:
I think it is and I think we neglect this part of our job. What we do as media is we celebrate people, ideas, and talent. We shouldn’t limit ourselves to just one idea of what that can be.
A:
Like designers, us media have a responsibility as well, but we are also facing challenges: thanks to advertising the media is no longer truly independent, and, because of the way people now consume content, publications have significantly reduced.
V:
What makes us different from social media, is that we can dig deeper and tell more profound stories. This is what is bankable right now.
A:
Because of the situation in Ukraine, you have really understood that better than most this year. How do you feel you use your voice and the Vogue platform now?
V:
Having an opportunity to tell outside of the story is important. I don’t think we are saving lives or the course of the world, but as a Vogue brand, we can be part of cultural diplomacy. So, what we have been doing for the last ten months is to make people understand that Ukraine is an independent nation, with our own heritage, cultural and aesthetic codes, and our own voice — we don’t want anyone to take that away from us. I think when people hear the word Ukraine, we don’t want them to just think about the war but the fact that there are amazing artists and authors and designers over there, and we are fighting for that too. These people carry on because when someone wants to take your life away from you, you say, ‘I am not going to let you.’
