THE NEW BEVERLY HILLBILLIES

I’ve been following the Instagram posts of LOTTA VOLKOVA and MAUD ESCUDIE over the past two weeks of August 2016. What is documented are the summer vacation exploits of the VETEMENTS/BALENCIAGA inner circle which includes Demna Gvasalia, Lotta Volkova, Maud Escudie, Pierre Ange-Carlotti, and Loik Gomez. My takeaway after viewing approximately 40 posts is how utterly banal their adventures and the images are.

It becomes obvious very quickly that the VET/BAL posse are no different than any other group of European naifs, they’re fascinated by the commonest order of American mass visual culture.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this but when put in context with the level of influence this group has been given in the past two years it reeks of a profound triviality. As a natural born American outlaw I have experienced first hand the commercial appropriation of imagery from the 1970’s and 80’s. FASHIONWORLD has an obsession with this and has methodically made its fortunes from it.. Take the Hedi Slimane SAINT LAURENT era [2012-2016], the Alessandro Michele GUCCI seasons [2015-2016], and now the VET/BAL invasion which began in 2014. It’s fascinating how FASHIONWORLD agents are inspired by aspects of American mass cultural debris that’s marked by its debased suburban nature. Lotta and Maud let me break the news to you: the things that are fascinating you during your American road trip are touristy and even more to the point culturally burnt out kitsch. My guess is that your impressions are working their way into your subconscious minds and your followers will be presented these mind-blowingly irrelevant insights soon on the runway and in print. You as many before you have come to America and been mesmerized by our cultural desert both literally and figuratively. Some have created statements of brilliant penetration from their experiences and others have failed to grasp that the meaning of America lies not in its products or its pleasures but in its presence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShLJnqMg__s

STEVE OKLYN
LSD INFILTRATIONNISTES
August 24, 2016