It seems like every few months some major publication has to come out with an article about how knitting isn't just for grandmas anymore. Duh!
Finally, The New York Times has an article that really understands the desire of crafters to create unique and functional items. It makes the astute observation that not only are DIYers inspired by high fashion (see Marc Jacobs designs in Vogue Knitting), but that major designers are inspired by independent artists as well. It also mentions that individual craftspeople, including those on Etsy, are likely to lead the cutting edge of fashion.
Please read the article and leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you guys think!
3 comments:
Sigh. First I have to confess that the organization of that article annoyed the hell out of me. You mentioned that the article said that DIY designers are inspired by big designers and vice versa-- when I read the article, it felt like she was just piling a bunch of observations on each other without bothering to reconcile or filter them toward a theme. When she wrote that big designers were slower to adopt new trends and we'd see Etsy's inspiration with a 3-year lag, that seemed to directly contradict her opening remarks about new sewers copying the arts-and-crafts styles on the runway now.
The NYTimes ran another article recently wherein the authors of Freakonomics (one of whom is brother to the founder of Yarnzilla) discussed the reclassification of many "chores" as leisure activities. Knitting made a pretty respectable showing in that article. I enjoyed the fashion article's references, but it totally separates DIY fashion from the joy of creation, and I think that's an important part of the picture. Taking the cost of time into consideration, there are very few things we can make more cheaply than we can buy. The lucrative craft supply market referenced in the article would have failed if we all hadn't all decided that we enjoy the creation process. Otherwise, why knit a cashmere sweater for $250 plus time spent when you can buy one from J. Crew for $125?
I agree with Stef about being annoyed by the article, although in general I agree that the recognition is definitely good. But it's not my experience that we're running around copying Michael Kors or Marc Jacobs designs--if they're in Vogue Knitting, it's because some Vogue editor put it in there, but it doesn't mean that it's going to be a popular knit. Or at least not to the degree that I see Zephyr Style or Glampyre designs getting knit up.
Hmm... it was an interesting article... I'm a little over it as a fad, though. Any time I read about crafting as being this new, cool, hipster thing I get annoyed. For the most part we're not doing it to be cool or so that we can be on the cutting edge of fashion. Somehow these articles always seem to miss that.
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