Does the concept of ugly-beauty progress the fashion industry?

Ugly-beauty; an oxymoron if you will. The official definition of ugly, is unpleasant or repulsive, especially in appearance.  Whereas beauty is a combination of qualities that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.  Quite funny how this concept can be intertwined with fashion, where beauty is traditionally the main goal.  Throughout history, fashion has always been a form of self-expression.  It allows people to portray themselves visually; to express their likes, hobbies, and personality just by the way they dress – usually trying to obtain a sense of beauty.  Nowadays, fashion has evolved into more than just the traditional sense of beauty, it can be anything that expresses one’s own personal style, aesthetic, and as a form of self-expression.  There are brands like Rick Owens and Idle Hands, who take concepts that wouldn’t be considered as conventional beauty, and create designs that has produced success for the brand from their unique and interesting styles.  Although, are these unconventional styles pushing the boundaries of the fashion industry or simply making a mark as a fad?  There are large fashion houses like Saint Laurent and Chanel that take on a more traditional sense of beauty in fashion with more classier aesthetics, that enabled the brand to be integrated in fashion for decades.  The concept of ugly-beauty ultimately comes down to an individual’s own preference when it comes to clothing.  So even if a brand’s image and unique product offering may offer something different, how long will these unconventional styles stay relevant and make an impact in the industry? Taking a look at different fashion brands and how they incorporate ugly-beauty within their aesthetic, as well as traditional brands that have been in the fashion industry for decades, will establish a sense of how the concept of ugly-beauty has changed fashion and how it has become a dominant force in the modern fashion industry.

Ugly-beauty can be interpreted in many different ways.  Looking at Rick Owens, a high-end avant-garde brand, doesn’t cater towards the traditional sense of beauty but appeals to many individuals due to the interesting silhouettes and fabrics.  Rick Owens takes unique, experimental shapes and design when constructing clothing to garner a new-found aesthetic, which arguable may not be beautiful to some.  When speaking to Josh Emmanuel, the owner of grunge accessories brand, Idle Hands, who is also the designer and art director for Kollar Clothing, about his thoughts on the concept of ugly-beauty in modern fashion, he mentioned how it’s been refreshing for him as he carves his own place in the fashion industry, as this acceptance of the beautifully broken mind allowed him to embrace the source of his creativity; his inspiration as a designer and brand owner has come from his own struggles of mental health issues, suicide, and substance abuse. He also notes that there was a noticeable shift towards more unconventional standards of beauty, as it moves away from the idea that the fashion industry needs to show perfection. By straying away from this unsustainable notion of perfection, has allowed the industry to be more creative, and more importantly, it has allowed the fashion industry to be more accessible. Additionally, he mentioned his take on if the ugly-beauty concept is now integrated in fashion or is just a fad.  He predicts that fashion’s acceptance of this concept is irreversible due to the politically correct environment we live in, and how this movement brings some realness to the fashion industry that it lacked before; it’s about time that the airbrushed “beauty” associated with old fashion industry is ditched in favour of a more realistic approach to fashion.  This helps shows how the concept of ugly-beauty has not only created more interesting take on fashion styles and aesthetic, but also pushes the boundary of the industry changing any notion of what true beauty is.

In contrary, large fashion houses like Saint Laurent and Chanel, have been in the fashion scene for decades and continues to dominate luxury fashion.  Due to their classic silhouettes and well-known names, it garnered them a solid consumer base that continues their success.  Saint Laurent and Chanel experimental designs in their product line haven’t been targeted towards an ugly-beauty approach compared to Rick Owens and Idle Hands, which may be a factor in their success for all these many years. This classic approach to fashion, with flattering silhouettes and quality fabrics, is a main attributer to their success.  Saint Laurent’s approach to ready-to-wear focuses on the idea that the clothing made for the catwalk is less about sales and more about image, “It’s luxury but super basic items such as tailored jackets, bikers, bombers, denims, which are quite rare in the current market.  We attribute its success to this” in the words of creative director of Restir Inc. Maiko Shibata, reported by Business of Fashion’s Robin Mellery-Pratt (March 5, 2015).  Additionally, according to the same March 5 article by Business of Fashion’s Mellery-Pratt, Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent shows consist of over 50 looks of desirable, on-trend pieces – all exceptionally wearable, saleable, and aesthetically consistent.  This shows that a brand pushing a classic and simple aesthetic, can ultimately drive sales and build a loyal consumer base due to its wearable, timeless products – although not necessarily pushing the boundaries of the fashion industry in terms of accessibility and acceptance.

Whether taking the ugly-beauty approach that some fashion companies are pursuing as their own personal aesthetic, or the timeless, simple look that these large fashion houses have been using, both methods have established these brands to make an impact in the industry and build success on different levels.  The uniqueness of a brand’s product that is aesthetically exclusive and unconventional to the traditional sense of beauty, has pushed the boundaries of fashion and beauty to create something bigger and original.  This undeniable not only garners sales for the company, but helps progress the fashion industry as a whole.