The hidden beauty of the ugly - Strategies

Trends20/07/2018 -by Marie-Caroline Royet

In a world where every moment is magnified and filtered on social media, imperfection looks bad. The overuse of Photoshop brings out the weirdness, to the point of not being able to tell the beautiful from the ugly. The luxury sector, the first to be affected, is redefining the canons of beauty.

Diesel and Gucci have fun with counterfeit mistakes. Adidas rehabilitates the "peach skin" tracksuit when Yeezy adopts the military print.

[This article is taken from n°1943, dated March 22, 2018]

Wearing thigh-high UGGs, raised Crocs or Ikea bags signed Balenciaga, very little for you? Yet these trivial pieces paraded on the catwalks of the 2016-2017 collections. Intended to be useful rather than "beautiful", they become must-haves and end up in our cupboards without warning. The new generation of artistic directors, from Alessandro Michele (Gucci) to Demna Gvasalia (Balenciaga) via Raf Simons (Calvin Klein), are introducing products from the ordinary, from everyday life into their collections. "The product is back at the center of concerns, creators are looking for imaginations in products that are untouched by creativity", translates Sandrine Pannetier, general manager of Bureau Martine Leherpeur.

Dior, Gucci, Balenciaga... surreal

Make no mistake about it. Even the basic is fussy. “Wearing a sweatshirt, okay, but wearing an ugly sweatshirt, no way! It is not simply a question of paying homage to popular culture, it is also necessary to bring out its authenticity in the collections”, analyzes André Mazal, director of strategic planning at BETC Luxe. This fashion for ugliness at the cost of beauty transcribes a taste for self-mockery, as well as a passion for post-popular culture specific to the new wave of designers. “Art directors are fed up with pop culture. So they turn to surrealism. Dior and Gucci, for their part, have chosen a magical surrealism when Balenciaga tries political surrealism,” adds André Mazal. The limit between ugliness and monstrous is sometimes tenuous. During the Gucci fashion show, during Fashion Week fall-winter 2018-2019 in Milan, where models walked the catwalk armed with accessories that were, to say the least… particular. Baby dragon, decapitated head, third eye, single eyebrow... A visual extravagance beyond reality. As in the famous spot for Kenzo World perfume, which plays on the angelic aspect of its muse Margaret Qualley, until her body is dislocated to the point of becoming deformed. Devilishly ugly chic..."The 'beautiful ugly' is a trend that speaks to millennials, a generation that inspires others," explains Pascale Camart, director of women's fashion and lingerie purchasing at Galeries Lafayette. The hidden beauty of the ugly can be seen without delay?

The class in tracksuits

Coco Chanel said “there is no fashion if it doesn't take to the streets”. Streetwear, “street” style as its name suggests, is starting to hit the catwalks. Long perceived as vulgar, the tracksuit shows up as much on rappers as on models. The chic becomes shocking, the class has a “loose” side [loose, relaxed] and the jogging sets itself up as a hit. Through the revival of pieces from the 1990s and 2000s, luxury brands are taking over denim, military prints, corsets, fishnets and other shoes with transparent heels... Essentials on which the artist Kanye West is supported to create his clothing line, Yeezy. Another dazzling comeback, what was called in the 1990s the “peach skin”, this jogging with fine and tight fabric, and disturbing touch – which nevertheless did not flatter all silhouettes.

Adidas, Fila, Juicy Couture, all have been fighting for the rehabilitation of this neglected tracksuit since the 2000s. Long associated with athletes, then with rappers and young people from the suburbs, jogging is both synonymous with exercise and idleness- the somewhat shameful tracksuit hidden at the back of the closet worn on Sundays. After years of a bad rap, Nike is sizing its tracksuits for the first time in its 2013 Tech Pack collection and giving them a suit silhouette. Outdated in the 90s, Lacoste is now surfing on this trend. And is delighted to reach heterogeneous targets. “It may have disconcerted us, but today we see it as an opportunity: proof that Lacoste is a player in modernity. (…) We symbolize the “culture mix”, not the “culture clash””, nuanced Sandrine Advisor, marketing and branding director of Lacoste in an interview with Le Monde. Also popular with millennials in upscale Parisian neighborhoods, jogging challenges the propriety imposed by mom and dad. The combination of these mediums demonstrates an underlying trend, the celebration of imperfection and diversity.

Diesel or Céline make fake official

As the saying goes, “you are never better served than by yourself”. Undermined by counterfeiting, luxury brands are taking their revenge and pulling the rug out from under their copiers. Céline metamorphoses into Féline, Hermès into Homiès and Clothes into Vetememes, pastiches that proudly adorn their T-shirts. Diesel went further by launching a capsule collection under the name of Deisel, an alleged counterfeit sold at the price of the fake, but manufactured by the brand itself.

Going so far as to make fun of the gross errors created by counterfeiting, Gucci has taken up the “Guccy” signature by adding a small teddy bear or kitten to its sweaters. An emerging trend that once again attracts the favor of millennials, big consumers of street culture and followers of parodies of all kinds on social networks. In 2017, Gucci reached the milestone of 6 billion euros in sales and alone generates more than a third of the Kering group's turnover. A first for the nearly century-old Florentine brand. However, it should not be forgotten that counterfeiting remains harmful for the luxury market. According to the EUIPO [European Union Intellectual Property Office] in 2016, “the manufacture and distribution of fake clothes, shoes and accessories represents a loss of more than 26 billion euros each year for legitimate businesses in the EU”. And that is much less fun.