Pure Huizinga

A first-rate piece on the costume design of Christian Lacroix for Balanchine’s ballet A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream: http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/suzy-menkes-swarovski-maison-hallette-balanchine-christian-lacroix-fashion-was-an-accident#   I discuss Huizinga’s thesis that civilisation develops in and through play at V&R Chapter 6.  From this article, it seems Lacroix is well aware of this himself.

So very Max Scheler

Surprisingly, the shoe above dates to 1938 and was made by Salvatore Ferragamo.  It is featured in an excellent article about the use designers make of the archives in Italian fashion houses (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/20/fashions-attics). This very much matches Scheler’s estate as a model for business practice: tradition and creativity linked.  Please see V&R Chapter 5 for…

Me on the radio

Here is the audio file from my speaking about the ethics of fashion on Sirius XM Radio a couple of weeks back. Doing radio is hard, so hopefully it makes sense!  Just click and the programme actually kicks in at a minute and a half. You first hear me around the 11th minute mark. http://www.justloveblog.org/audio/2017/Just%20Love%202.15.17.mp3…

Design genius

Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis designed my first car, the Morris Minor 1000. He also designed that most iconic of cars, the Mini. Here is a beautiful short film about a stylish young man reengaging with the genius of Sir Alec: http://petrolicious.com/coming-of-age  

Corsets and natural law

The corset is making a comeback. Some worry there are political implications, that corsets objectify by pushing the female body to “perverse proportions” (https://www.wsj.com/articles/waist-management-test-driving-springs-corset-trend-1488471042).   How to assess the morality of “perverse proportions”?   In a previous post, I noted Adam Smith’s aesthetic objections to the corset (http://www.ethicsoffashion.com/adam-smith-on-corsets/). Recalling that for Smith beauty and morality…

Dior, Dance, and Play

Dance and fashion has many famous associations though Coco Chanel’s collaboration with the Russian Ballet is surely the most well-known.   Dior has a dance advert for its new perfume Poison (https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/fashions-dalliance-with-dance?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=16fa1fd8f8-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d2191372b3-16fa1fd8f8-417297929).   The dance is contemporary but draws upon the most primordial patterns of civilisation.  Huizinga (see my discussion of his ideas V&R Chapter…