Although I may be a 29 year old man, on the inside I’m forever going to be that 15 year old teenager in my bedroom cutting and pasting random pictures, gig reviews and indie waffle into ‘spineless & sublime’ – the fanzine predecessor to Style Cupid (with joss stick’s a-smokin’ in the back ground and lava-lamp a-glowing). And that forever 15-year-old inside will forever be listening to a soundtrack of riot grrrl – underground feminist pseudo-punk from the 90’s - the likes of Bikini Kill, L7, Chicks on Speed, Bratmobile, Hole - hell yeah!
Whilst Bikini Kill (and later Le Tigre) were the poster girls of the movement, for me it was always all about Sleater Kinney...
God I fucking loved loved loved them - still do! I remember first hearing ‘Burn don’t Freeze’on Steve Lamaq and then interviewing them for the zine and literally falling in LOVE with Carey the guitarist, then getting even more obsessed with Quasi, the band that the drummer Janet was also in. It was proper teenage-crush style – I pretty much idolised them. And “I Never Want to See you Again” was never not playing on my walkman – that’s right, walkman – with tapes! Bo!
Riot Grrl wasn’t (and indeed isn’t) just a music scene but an entire subculture - at the centre of which was the ethos of homemade rDIY– with a distinctive aesthetic and fierce style that came with it. You see this so called ‘third wave’ of feminists recognized that sartorial self-expression was a powerful political weapon - although unlike punks or hippies, there was no ‘riot grrrl uniform’ per say. There's was actually a mix of punk, heavy metal, grunge, kinderwhore and butch lesbian - and mashing-it-up was what it was about. Cutesy women with dreads in dungarees. Butch girls with shaved heads in prom skirts. Mohawked punk girls in miniskirts with combat boots and a shirt showing off a muscular 6-packed torso.
It was very purposefully sexual - Chicks on Speed in particular...
Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill, would wear "slutty" Catholic schoolgirl skirts and paint her body with words like "SLUT"and "INCEST" to drain the words of their negative connotations and pre-empt the thoughts of men looking at her. Flannel shirts, oversized black band t-shirts, acid washed jeans and long hair were big and makeup was also no longer taboo for these feminists. In fact riot grrrls around the world obsessively replicated Courtney Love with bright red, pink or black lipstick...
Today, the likes of Unskinny Bop, Club Jolene and the Moustache Bar in Dalston are keeping riot grrrl alive in London. And then on Monday IT happened. Hedi Slimane revealed THAT aw13 collection for Saint Laurent Paris - and the riot of riot grrrl was officially back... and causing a riot...
Hedi Slimane’s vision for the YSL (or SLP as i should say) brand is a personal one. Many have called it vulgar. Self important. Even disrespectful to it’s heritage. But from the moment he dropped the “Yves”, it was always clear that he was seeking something new. This was no retrospective - but ironically was glistening with retro 70's, 80's and 90's references. In short, his AW13 collection is a nostalgic ode to the LA rock chick – the grunge girl – the angsty teen - the dishevelled Kurt Cobain obsessive - the riot grrrl of the past. From the opening black and gold dress, to the sparkling baby doll frocks, the leathers, the kohl eyeliner, the florals, the sheer, the fishnets, the plaids, tartans, babydoll dresses, man shirts, knitted scarves, micro mini leather skirts, Peter Pan collars, leopard print, biker boots, slouchy knits - it was youthful, energetic, carefree + impulsive “fuck you” fashion...
...and this for me is precisely WHY it is everything. In the spirit of the riot grrrls who inspired it, this is an anti-fashion aesthetic - turned on it's head. What it references is the rebellion which it itself is - it's meta - it's supposed to be - it's new - it purposefully leaves the past behind by referencing a different past - it's subculture gone mass - it's politically angry - it's Hedi - it's 'fuck you' - it's a fricking riot - and for all of these reasons, it is EVERYTHING!
Absolutely hands down the most hideous, revolting, insulting collection of the whole of fashion month.
What Slimane has done to that house is beyond repair. Someone get the scaffolding out... it's about to crumble!
Posted by: The Very Simon G | Mar 06, 2013 at 10:50 AM
Could not disagree more! Bring on the youthful new buyers... watch them rock out as the oldies die.
Posted by: Style Cupid | Mar 06, 2013 at 11:05 AM
The only real problem I have with this is that it's neither new (not a single new idea in the entire collection) nor old. When I was in school this is how the cool kids dressed. When I went to university, this is still how most people dressed. Even now, quite a few of my friends from home still dress like this. If you go out on a Saturday night in Glasgow, or Leeds, or non-central London, people still dress like this. I still have cardigans and skinny scarves and skinny jeans in my wardrobe. I guess I just want 'catwalk fashion' to be a little something better than I already own, can find in a charity shop, or is currently being sold by The Kooples. Whatever people say about the cut or the fabrics, these clothes don't look to me like they're worth the ££££ SLP will no doubt price them at. Their might be the odd piece I'd want from the menswear, but the overall look just screams HIGH STREET to me.
Posted by: Duck | Mar 07, 2013 at 05:32 PM
That's fair. I just want to look like the cool kids tbh. The expensive version of it - even if it looks shitty high-street.
Posted by: Style Cupid | Mar 07, 2013 at 08:39 PM