Cathy Horyn took the mic at Art Institute today dressed in a pleated black skirt, black knee-high boots, a pocketed gray top lined with chocolate tulle and a black cardigan. Simple, smart and so New York.
She started off by saying that this is her first visit to Portland and that she has much enjoyed walking around town so far (she will only be in our presence for some 36 hours). She has already posted on her new-ish blog (which she referred to several times throughout her talk) stops at Stumptown and Voodoo Donuts. And Portlanders and New Yorkers alike have offered their recommendations for restaurants to dine (Park Kitchen, Le Pigeon) and shops to peruse (Mabel and Zora, Pin Me). Horyn begins her talk abruptly, claiming that at the start of her fashion career, spanning the past 20 years (she moved to Michigan with her then-young son in tow on a whim, answering a wanted ad: fashion writer, no experience necessary) she unabashedly sported tinted Laura Ashley dresses and had yet to be exposed to the “female rites that involve clothes and nebulous clouds of hairspray.” Even still, she liked the idea of being sent to New York for two weeks to cover fashion week, and this prospect alone finalized her decision to take the job. As she calls it, she “entered the convent of fashion sisters…those who prefer nibblers to the plate cleaners.”
From here she dabbles into a multitude of topics, everything from fashion as a form of entertainment (fashion shows akin to a sporting event) and the cultural shifts that have taken place (green, DIY, musical influences) to fashion as a “dispensable frill” vs. a valid newsworthy topic of discussion. She also highlighted the power of branding and marketing in fashion, undiscovered and independent designers being imported to juice up older labels, how reality TV shows like Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model have, in a way, taken the “veneer” off of the fashion world and exposed it to the public, not leaving much to the imagination, the mortality rate of couture, and the skinny on waifs strutting the runway. (”Models are all white and all a certain type of look,” she says. “My problem is not that they are all a size 2. I am more concerned with the lack of diversity on the runway. I would love to see more Asian, Black and Latin models.”)
When questioned about her own personal style and how it has evolved she quipped, “I buy less, but I buy good, ” and even went as far to say that she’s not a fan of Target or H&M, but “I am a huge fan of the Wal-Mart up in Kingston, New York. I have fooled a lot of retailers with some of my purchases from Wal-Mart.” Who would’ve ever guessed?
She mentioned a few stories she’s entertaining for future articles, among them:
Why women of a certain age (40) have difficulty picking out clothing and a feature on “aspiration dressing,” which she describes as certain impulses with fashion: “I want to have that look…I want to upgrade to that bag.”
After a good hour-long talk and a Q&A period, Horyn started winding down the questions and ended on a very telling note: The need for the ever-evolving world of fashion to come up with something new and contemporary. She even used an example of a dapper Portlander she spied outside of Stumptown early this morning. “He was exactly what I thought I would hope to see in Portland.” Decked out in a handsome suit, no tie (”perfect”) a cap and sneakers for cycling, she claims he was a picture of contemporary fashion at its best. “You can live anywhere and the fashion is indigenous to your surroundings,” she says, “and it’s as fitting here as it would be in Paris or New York City.”
Horyn claims she’s not really in it for the clothes (gasp!) but more so to confront the true news stories behind it all. She debates the high price points that Tom Ford has placed on his suits, labeling this sort of action equivalent to a “sartorial gated community” and a blatant depiction of the economy gap in the US of A. She attacks the implied propaganda behind the photos released last week of the 15 British seamen in their Tehran-issued suits. Her host of famous wunderkind-friends aside, (she endearingly muses that Karl Lagerfeld, couture mastermind behind Chanel, is the only designer who can gossip while simultaneously translating Rilke) Horyn is surprisingly un-caught up in the oh-so-grand world of front-row fashion event seats across the globe and celebrity-infested fetes. Instead, she stresses the importance of traveling outside of one’s comfort zones to explore (at least) the United States, if not Europe and the rest of the world. “Going to a party or a fashion show in New York, you see the same people over and over again. New Yorkers don’t spend much time in the U.S., outside of LA and Miami.”
There’s no doubt the woman has a firm grasp of the business of fashion and the various elements that keep the sartorial machine churning. Because of her extensive knowledge and history of fashion and her intimate relationships with many a seasoned designer over the years, it is no surprise that she questions the present-day designers and their lack of innovative, groundbreaking designs. She revealed what she thinks is the biggest stall in the business of fashion today: “creative minds coupled with technical innovation. No one’s really got it right now.”
If you feel ever so inclined, you can catch a second installment to Horyn’s visit at Lewis & Clark College, at the Council Chamber in Templeton Student Center tonight at 7:30 pm.
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alas i was unable to make her talk, and now i am even more disappointed! but thank you for the well written and very informative article. i actually don’t feel that bad now, cuz at least i was able to read this!