A Case for the Wannabes. . .

I'm a wannabe. 

No doubt about it. 

Which is why I empathize so strongly with H&M. 

Not that it needs my sympathy, considering that it's made trillions of kabillions of dollars off of its wannabe status, 
but still...

I get it. 

In fact, I think that people who write fashion blogs are all kind of wannabes of sorts. We're not content just consuming -  we want to participate, to make, 

to be. 

Last week, H&M, which made its name mimicking designer-stipulated trends, showed a collection of its own. 

Naturally, Eric Wilson of the NYT immediately mocked the presentation, much like Suzy Menkes mocked bloggers in her recent article for the same publication. 

"Wannabe" has to get its derogatory connotation from somewhere, after all - 
god forbid it should be seen as a positive ambition to improve. 

As it is, it's essentially an insult.

I guess we have the age-old desire of the exclusive to remain exclusive to thank for that.

The collection, in my opinion, wasn't anything extraordinary. Even so, the fact that the H&M A/W '13 line was immediately pegged as irrelevant due to the fact that it wouldn't be able to imitate the collections currently showing
 is just obnoxious. 

So what if the designers at H&M want to take their imitation one step further? Maybe they've seen and learned enough from replicating thousands and thousands of fast-fashion trends to create one of their own? 
Isn't that what imitation is for, after all? 

You have to know the rules before you can break them, 

[[or so I've been told.]]

And can you imagine what this could mean for "fashion"?

What if a new, ground-breaking trend didn't begin with Dior or Lanvin and trickle downwards in a diluted iteration to a more affordable brand - but began with the affordable brand in the first place?

What if creativity wasn't limited to the elite? 

What happens when the wannabe bes?

Could a fashion industry exist in which the "aspirational" aspect wasn't based on wealth, but on sheer innovation? Would we lose the quality and intricacy of designer goods if affordable brands reigned supreme?

Is the only reason that the H&M collection "crashed" PFW, rather than joined it, because of its inherent wannabe status? It's affordability?

hat, tank 1, tank 2, jeans, gold necklace: H&M, blue necklace: Anthro, boots: Jeffrey Campbell

Cheers.