70% OFF

David Bowie is dead. How does one react to the news. My first thought was how to describe what we are being presented as the culture of this moment. I have received a number of emails from FASHIONWORLD retailers in the past few days and the subject is 70% OFF. That I believe is a perfect statement and definition.
The 24 hour data cycle is dominated by news about the Kardasians, the Jenner girls, Kanye West, the Hadid Girls, Justin Bieber, the Blue siblings, SAINT LAURENT « it » kids, Petra Collins’ narcissists, STAR WARS redux, Jaden Smith, Vito Schnabel, $220 million dollar New York apartments, a $170 million dollar Modigliani, art fairs, red carpets and the Donald running for President of the United States. I could continue this list but it would be endless and pointless.
David Bowie is dead. The first thing I thought to experience was the final key scene in BLADE RUNNER where the warrior replicant Roy Batty delivers his own soliloquy which ends with « It’s time to die. »
That is my statement about the 70% OFF culture. We all have the talents and capacity to seek better from ourselves and from our society. Creativity is an innate aspect of every human beings consciousness. I have seen as Roy Batty also experienced unbelievable things. I now must live and survive where many of those wonders have become commodities that diminish my sense of joy and their purpose to control reveal their truth as meaningless and valueless. 70% OFF. We can all do better. We can all seek better. We can all be better. It’s time to live.

STEVE OKLYN
January 11, 2016
New York City