Too much ‘fashion’ lacks vision
Print Edition
Fashion educator Linda Loppa is internationally renowned as a visionary who runs one of the world’s top fashion institutes and says too much that passes for fashion today is just garments without a coherent vision.
Loppa is director of Polimoda, the prestigious International Institute of Fashion Design and Marketing in Florence, where she has embraced advanced technology and the Internet in fashion education.
But she warns that while technology and e-commerce have many advantages, it’s getting too easy today to buy online and customers literally lose touch with fabrics and don’t feel that moment of excitement when they actually try on a dress. She recently was a speaker at Shanghai Design Week.
Born in Belgium to a family of Italian origin, her career in fashion has spanned 40 years. Graduating in fashion design in 1971 from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, she worked as a designer for various companies in Belgium and a promoter for many avant-garde designers.
She spoke with Shanghai Daily.
Q: Your career has been multi-faceted and wide ranging. Is there a field you have enjoyed most? What are the new challenges?
A: I have worked in education, retail, museum management and founded an institute to promote young designers. I worked also for a Belgian designer in distribution. In all these fields I made a contribution and learned to implement my ideas.
Q: You were a teacher of the famous Antwerp Six, a group of influential avant-garde designers who graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts. They include Dries Van Noten, Dirk Bikkembergs and Ann Demeulemeester. How do you remember them?
A: I started teaching when they graduated. I was close friends with them and together we began working on what you can call “Antwerp style” design. The Antwerp designers were so strong and were ahead in the competition. The most emotional moments came when we saw the designs on the catwalk models with their amazing choice of locations, music, lights, makeup and hair. (It was) an expression of an idea that grew stronger and became a commercial success as well.
Q: What makes a successful fashion designer?
A: Being able to say no. Many opportunities may be offered to a designer but they may not be the right environment for their ideas. It is therefore important that a designer can resist the call of a situation or opportunity that does not match the identity of their Brand. Of course, the team that surrounds the designer is also important; they have to translate the designers’ world to the outside world. The financial part is just as important. A good, well-established business plan helps the designer be free to create.
Q: You have said that “without a concept behind it, fashion does not exist.” Please elaborate.
A: The message must be clear; it is not just about clothes and garments ... it’s about an expression of an idea, a personal vision, bringing your customer to buy and wear a mood, and what you created with passion. There is too much “fashion” that are only garments ... many not even well made or manufactured, so research before creation is the best part of the job.
Q: You have embraced advanced technology and the Internet. What’s the impact of new media on the fashion industry?
A: We all use the Internet. I am very happy for that because it broadens our knowledge and communication. E-commerce has taken over from the real shopping experience and here we have to be careful. It can become too easy to buy. We lose that moment of actually touching fabrics, seeing the fall and line of materials, the subtleties of color and that moment of excitement when trying on the garment. There are positives in new, future techniques of printing, 3D printing, cutting and weaving.
Q: How does attending Polimoda in Florence give students an advantage?
A: Students tell us that they change, that they are different when they leave Polimoda. This means we did a good job. We go further than fashion — we not only teach methods of analyzing the fashion system, but also guide them in having a personal vision and therefore becoming strong players ready to enter the fashion world. Vision is the main goal in Polimoda’s educational programs. We create a bridge between faculty, students and the real world, providing knowledge to create a new generation.
Think, create and implement your vision!
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