They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but out of all the industries out there, aren’t “the arts” supposed to be about originality, creativity, innovation, questioning and challenging the norm?
For several years now Lilah Ramzi (a passionate fashion historian) has been keeping tabs on all of the major fashion houses to see how they’re latest designs are influenced by the past.
She then regular shares images of contemporary fashion alongside the vintage designs of yesteryear. The similarities are undeniable, but instead of paying homage to past, all too often it seems it’s merely a case of recycling old ideas and passing them off as new.
It’s certainly a bigger challenge to reinterpret previous designs and blend them into something entirely different, as opposed to taking the safer option and simply aping a work that was previously successful.
Could it be that contemporary fashion is merely ripping off the past? Or should we accept that even in the creative world, nothing is truly new anymore?
Check out the images below and decide for yourself….
Via Lilah Ramzi
