Nowism, Coming to a City Near You
Magda Rod recently took her LA boutique Visionary on the road.
We are a society used to getting immediate gratification so why wouldn’t we want clothing as quickly as we can get a Big Mac?
The shift in consumer desire to want more now has led us, over the years, to the current state: body care and electronics being sold in vending machines, a craving to know more about where your friends are 24/7 through social media and those energy drinks to help you move faster to get everything, you know…now.
Eco-designers and boutiques are not exempt from this Nowism.
From Pop-up shops in major cities where designers can have a temporary storefront (and for a short time only!) to Etsy sites (once scoffed at by many designers I know) to create limited editions with their end-run fabrics, the race is on.
These pop-ups offer what Trendwatching.com calls “temporary brand manifestations that add an element of surprise, urgency, and must-have/must-see to shopping, dining, entertaining, lodging, exhibiting and so on.”
And with this quest to quench the insatiable with what’s new NOW, we don’t have to wait until January to buy our spring dresses at our favorite boutique before they’re bought out. We can buy them now. We may even be able to ask the seller to modify them for us.
The lines have become blurred. What kind of an effect does this have on your own purchases where once you planned seasonally? And when it’s eco, immediately, how eco is it?
Some words of advice: With all that is Nowism being forced down your throat, keep yourself in check with what you really need despite the hype and yes, even the immediacy of the vending machine.
Can you imagine designers promoting something like pencil skirts in all sizes in a machine in your city? Would you buy one?
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2 Comments
October 29th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I commend these persons and endeavors for ingenuity, but am fearful of its urgency. And overall tangibility…
As an “eco” designer, what unnerves me are outside of initial motives, and more focussed on the how this translates to the modern, mainstream consumer-
Urgency in consumption.
Ease of the ‘throw-away’ goods.
Limited exposure
I am constantly torn as to what the best direction for an altogether hyper consumer industry that I belong to is… However, within these mentioned pursuits, as well as other new ideas, I hope that the focus continues to be on:
1. Better products, made/crafted well. (i.e. fit, construction, price)
2. Relevancy within design
3. Accessibility of information/product to mainstream
I’m my mind, fashion first, then the eco/schtick.
The modern consumer should/does support well thought out/executed brands/designs/ideas that are (including fit, wholesale availability/accessibility, construction, etc) competing with this…to me, is the real key. If we can get the average consumer to purchase our wares simply because they are good, then the battle will begin to be won. But until that element is honed in on and seriously mastered, I fear these conceptual pursuits continue to keep us behind and invisible rope of ‘kitschy’ and ‘crafty’ which doesn’t seem to take us anywhere, but where we already are.
Just my two cents…
October 29th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
agree with mothlove entirely! the challenge for me with my own eco fashion bag brand, ben and bear, is how do we use existing materials to create good desirable fashion bags, that people WANT to buy because its a great fashion piece as well as afford them a good conscious knowing they are purchasing responsibly? for us we felt, just like comets, we have to start somewhere and evolve. and i see that happening within the eco fashion world. it has had to start somewhere and get people to start embracing it, and as it gains in popularity it will grow and challenge better design, etc. keep the ethical focus and it will have the desired effect for us all. wishful thinking? no, new thinking.
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