By Emi Gruender
a·vant-garde(/ˌäˌvänˈɡärd/) –new and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts, or the people introducing them.
When stone-faced models wearing traffic-cone inspired blouses topped with ridiculously long boat-shoes and spiky shoulder pads strut down the catwalk, non-fashion heathens such as you and I wrinkle our nose in disgust. “So… strange! So…distasteful!” we might mutter behind closed hands. “She looks like she’s wearing a trashbag,” or “Why are they cosplaying as Roblox avatars?” read critical comments on the internet.
But take my hand, dear fashionista-in-training, and dive with me into the world of Avant-Garde, a form of art that many people often do not understand. We’re here to investigate if this “confusing new style” bears meaning within its own absurdity to begin with.
The avant-garde style in fashion aims to push the boundaries of the fashion industry, and more ambitiously, the world. Yohji Yamamoto, a Japanese master tailor based in Tokyo, pushes the boundaries of modern fashion with his unusual silhouettes and dark color palette. Iris Van Herpen, a Dutch designer, creates gorgeous couture with forward-thinking fusions of traditional fashion with technology.
Avant-garde does not exclusively apply to fashion, however. Avant-garde can be classified as any new movement in the arts that diverges from the widely accepted methods at the time. Dadaism, for example, with its anti-conventional stance. Surrealism, encouraging impossible situations depicted in paintings, despite the then-current culture of favoring religious and realistic scenes. Modern poetry, I could argue, is an avant-garde literary style, what with its shorter form and lack of evocative language.
The development of styles spurred by the freeing concept of “avant-garde” may not be for everyone, however. Many critics of the Avant-Garde style reach their highest levels of indignance when well-known celebrities step onto the Met Gala red carpet clad in a meat dress, for example. “High fashion is ridiculous already!” they may claim.
But the incredible thing about art is not that every piece must be widely appreciated. The very purpose of art is not to generate formulas to express oneself in the most pleasing manner to the public eye. Avant-garde styles, when truly developed without thought given to public reaction, can truly connect with those who feel their artistic vision has never been realized in traditional art.
Artists must not make art because they believe other people will like it. They should make art because they can’t bear to do anything else. Only then will true artistic expression become apparent; even if it manifests as a widely-disliked meat-dress at the Met Gala.
Just as each artist is entitled to private judgement about other people’s art, each artist is also entitled to the right of creation and honest expression. While I myself do not understand some avenues of Avant-Garde fashion, I can respect that other perspectives might see artistic expression of which I might never understand.
So when a model struts down the runway, clad in a massive wearable cocoon, I’m proud to raise my hands and applaud despite my personal confusion. Whether in art, literature, fashion: the words of the greatest fashion designer that has ever lived shine through—
“It’s fashion, dahling!”
-Edna Mode
