the gentlewoman Issue n° 16, Autumn & Winter 2017
UK £ 6.50
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The Gentlewoman Issue n° 16 Autumn & Winter 2017
Part One:........................................................ .................................................................... Gloria Steinem........................... ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ First article ............................................. 5, 6, 7 The first female creative director of Dior house, Maria Grazia Chuiuri, Raf SImons’ successor and the first woman ever in the role. .............................................................. .................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... .................................................................... Part Two:......................................................... ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ ............................................ Second article ..................................... 8, 9, 10, 11 Gloria Steinem is well known as a feminism writer in the USA. She published a book, My Life on the Road, in 2015. Her book and diverse works are illustrated in the interview.......................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... .................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... .................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... .................................................................... Part Three: ......................................... 12, 13, 14 .................................................................... .................................................................... Main article ...................................... Red is one of trend colour in 2017 Autoumn and Winter fashion collection. The fashion collections and designers inspired by red ......... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... .....................................................................
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Maria Grazia Chiuri
“Dior is feminine.” She says. She is the artistic Director for women’s collections of the Dior Archive. It was obviously one of the most interesting and surprising issues in fashion industry that is the appearance of Maria Grazia Chiuri, Raf Simons’ successor and the first woman ever in the role. She worked with Pier Paolo Piccioli in Balentino as a creative director. She has fascinated women by romantic details and minimal silhouette. It was absolutely undoubtable to focus all of the attention on the new Dior world created by Chiuri. (90) 5
Maria Grazia Chiuri
Her first Dior debut was the Haute Couture Spring/Summer 17 Bal Masque as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 23, 2017 in Paris, France. She staged in the gardens of the Museum Rodin which she decked out with wooden benches and a matching wooden runway. This collection offered a fresh syntax between Christian Dior’s original New Look and a contemporary vision that was all Chiuri’s own.
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She has inspired from the imagination of Christian Dior, since becoming artistic director for women’s collections for Maison Dior. It gave to dresses in pastel colours(mauve, blue, pink, gray) with layers of tulle and lace which made bring beautiful flowers to mind. (109 words)
Maria Grazia Chiuri
The first cruise collection was amazing. The couture house’s 2018 cruise collection which was shown on Thursday in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. Even, There were shuttles. There was a remote, dusty location. “We normally show in the city, in Paris or Rome, but to give the experience of an open space is a good moment. At the same time, there’s more value to L.A. than just Hollywood.” Grazia Chiuri said ahead of the show at her first cruise collection. It was “contact with nature”.
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She inspired by Lascaux cave paintings, painter Georgia O’Keeffe and feminist shamanic healer Vicki Noble, with plenty of pleated skirts and bolero hats on show. There were more than 50 looks, sunset tones of brown, burnt umber, ocher, black and white, most topped by flat-brimmed parson’s hats in a nod to O’Keeffe, and finished with leather boots, midcalf sneaker boots or sandals. (149 words)
Gloria Steinem
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Gloria Steinem Gloria Steinem is the first lady of feminism in the USA, author of a whole clutch of books - and the celebrated publisher of ‘Ms’, the world’s first feminist magazine. One of her most famous books, My Life on the Road, is her colourful memoir. She has lived her life striving to make the world better and fairer - tirelessly meeting people, discussing, and organizing people throughout her life. No wonder her memoirs are packed inside a hefty tome. In this book, there are a lot of stories about the interesting characters she met - including people betrayed by social traditions that deprive them of their human rights. At the same time, Steinem has been an unlikely influence in the fashion world and considered as the main subject of some designers’ collections.
Interview Soobin Oh
Soobin: Did you know your book, My Life on the Road, became a bestseller when it published? Gloria: Oh, I really thank people. I really hope people will have interests in various problems and empathize with my stories by reading it.
didn’t know, by re-reading my old books.
S: You are the representative feminist writer and social political activist in the USA. You were a leader and spokeswoman for the American feminist movement on the issue of equality, particularly from 1960 to 1970. And finally, you published ‘Ms.’ in 1972, which was the first feminist majority magazine in the world. How does it influence in the feminism movement? What role does the media need to play in a world without discrimination? G: I wanted to encourage people, particularly women, as a writer and journalist. Media plays an important role and has a huge influence on people in a host of ways. Today, there are a lot of publications dealing with fashion, beauty, food, and so on, but there aren’t many media platforms promoting real woman stories. By focusing on them in depth, I think it can help women have courage. S: Oh, I remember a passage in your book, “It was not surprising that Misogynist is not handled by the media. Misogynist was the media.” That’s why you think women are hard to voice in media. G: That’s right. Still, women are outsiders in the
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media. The opportunity should be expanded - women can talk too. Every woman must never forget that she is a powerful person. S: What do you want to deliver to people the most through this book? G: The first reason for writing this book is to share some of the most important and long lasting but least exposed aspects of my life. The second purpose of writing this book is to encourage you to travel occasionally. The journey I’m talking about, even at home, means taking the time to get in touch with your feelings, treating everything openly without always seeking something familiar. Be prepared to be adventurous. This allows you to be continually evolving into the best and strongest version of yourself, and you can put it into practice the moment you walk out the door. S: The book confessed that many parts of your life came from your parents. How could you explore yourself in your busy past? G: I’ve been affected by my parents. My father never worries, even though he has lived alongside extreme danger and mother made me open my eyes to femininity. Actually, I’m not really good at self-reflection. But, I realised that when something appears over and over again in my life it’s because it stems from something unsolved before. Maybe, writing was such a good opportunity to look back on myself. And, I figured out parts of myself that I
Portraits Katja Rahlwes
S: Since last year, just a few years ago, feminism has been on the rise, especially in my county, Korea. A lot of feminism books became bestsellers and gained huge popularity. Also, the number of high-profile feminists has been increased. Actress Emma Watson is one of celebrities who declared “I am a feminist” in public. What do you think about the reasons why feminism is re-emerged as a key issue for the young women of today? G: Well, I think the feminist movement has already pretty much achieved what it wants, and they have to make their own feminism to solve their own issues. Feminism cannot end in a society where some women still cannot live a whole life. S: But, there are some negative problems as well, such as the disgust between men and women. How can we tackle to this problem? G: In the USA, violence against women is happening in unusual arenas - including online. At the root of this problem is the misconception of a patriarchal society which feeds the male mind with the idea that they are much better than women. S: Besides feminism, what kind of problems are the most serious today? G: Obviously, the sexual problem is still really serious. It is hidden behind well-decorated words. I realized the fact that the language used has the
Gloria Steinem power to hide some ugly truths. If prostitution is simply described as a ‘job’ or ‘sex labor’, then women (and men) can be required to do that. In addition, thinking about the weight behind what the prostitute Flo says, “Sex should not be as a work”, we can realize the fact that the word ‘prostituted women’ conceals their individuality, as well. Flo and I started to use ‘woman exploited in prostitution’ to reveal the individuality and the process. The average age of women breaking into prostitution is between 12 and 13 in the USA. And there might be even darker secrets - because the average of prostituted woman, doesn’t count for the unknown number of children caught up with prostitution. It is one of the most controversial issues. Even though we hope the woman or men engaged in prostitution can reject customers, live without owners, live their own life, it’s not real - it’s impossible. It is the desire to dominate that drives the sexualisation of women andchildren, who are typically in a poistion of powerlessness - leading to prostitution and sexual abuse. The end result of a male dominant culture can feed addiction in the male psyche. It’s a really noticeable secret. Those who believe in the post-feminist era will learn that for the first time in history, the numbers of women have become less than men because of violence against women, from child murders, marriages to honor killings and sexual trafficking. - On the other hand, those who have heard men say they want to be more humane in their “masculine” role of killing themselves and say that they want to raise their own children, are no longer measuring progress in the past. I have seen enough changes so far and I firmly believe that more changes will take place in the future.S: In your book, you explore society’s reaction to the idea that Hilary Clinton was poised to possibly become the first female president of the USA. In my country, there was one female president, though she was impeached. In your country, it could have been a reality, the first woman president, following the first black president. G: Hillary was a citizen advocate. Obama was a feminist. They were the repercussions of the era of abolitionist slavery and the expansionist suffrage to the modern world. The black men / black women / white women groups that white male supermacists tried so severely to isolate had evangelized the country by working together for universal adult suffrage. S: A lot of women want to work for their own country, though they encounter lots of difficulties. G: When I met women who are Republicans or independents while campaigning on the street, what I’ve been trying to tell them was “You didn’t leave the party, they deserted. Forget the name of the party. You just vote for candidates supporting equality depending on the issue.” S: You said you wrote this book about your journey, how were your travels? G: Well. While I traveled, I changed to an entirely different person, following the way life guided me. As the reality of life becomes complicated, the roads are intertwined. “It leads us from fantasy to reality, from theory to practice, from caring to acting, statistics to story. Indeed, it leads us head to heart.”
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S: What did you learn from other people? G: Our society is still unfair to women. For example, even if they’ve done really well, they are typically just judged when they have made some mistakes. People think We can easily notice as you see the political world or just general conglomerates. - My thought was changed. Because of Mrs. Greene, and many women who bravely defended themselves and other women, who I met on my journey, I began to understand that women are an outgroup. This awakening solved my mystery, why the face of the council a male and the face of welfare is a woman, why are housewives called as ‘women who do not work’ even though they work longer, harder, and less money rather than any other occupation, why do women occupy just one percent of the wealth though they take up 70 percent of manufacturing in the world including paid and unpaid, why does it mean that men is the leading and women is following in strange dance, and so on. S: Feminism is a really big issue in the fashion industry, as we can see from designers’ collections. G: Yes, I see. There were so many impressive collections. I knew Chiuri’s collection. The T-shirt written “YOU SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS” comes to my mind, especially. S: Did you know Prabal Gurung considered you as his collection’s concept? You were at the centre of his mood board, having inspired his activism even further after he read your book, My Life on the Road. And this year, he officially defined himself as a Steinem fanboy. G: Yes, I went to Prabal Gurung’s show last year, which was his spring 2017 collection. And, I went to his Spring 2018 show as well. I sat front row as his guest of honour in 2018 show, it was such a pleasure. S: He officially defined himself as a Steinem fanboy. There was one more designer, the Nepalese designer,xxx(name), showed how much you had inspired him by making his diverse cast of models in t-shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Nevertheless, she persisted,” “revolution has borders,” and “I am an immigrant” for the show’s finale. G: I was really honoured. S: How do you think about the relationship between fashion and feminism? G: In terms of the runway and advertising, there is remarkable shortage of diversity in age, gender identity, size, and race. But, it is changing gradually. Designers portray women in a more dignified and stronger way than before, although women are still illustrated as a sexual subject by several people. IOverall, I think it’s a really positive change. S: Do you have any advice to young people? G: I really want people to look at themselves really observantly. I think people are always as they were when they were born. We just need to keep searching for new way to express ourselves. I quoted Brian Stevenson’s saying in my book. “There is power nearby. Approach the problem attracted. Change the story. Do not lose hope. Do not hesi-
tate to do uncomfortable things.” It is really good quote. Furthermore, they need to try to find themselves in all kinds of ways. In my case, I had my view and there was quite a lot of changes through my travels and meeting people. It is a really good way to experience what you don’t know, or haven’t experienced before. Definitely, there are so many methods. Just accept any changes you undergo. Perhaps it makes you become a better person as I hope I’ve done. One of the simplest ways to bring about this big change is when people who have no power speak as much as they listen, and powerful people listen as much as they speak. S: Finally, do you have any plans or goals from now on? G: I really hope some day we can enjoy everything together without any discrimination. I will try to do so in my own way wherever and whenever I can. (2053 words)
“ Imagine we are linked, not ranked. �
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2017 RED alert! Red is obviously the repersentative colour in 2017 Autoumn and Winter fashion collection. The fiery shade dominated the A/W 2017 shows, with brands such as Givenchy, Preen and Max Mara sending head-to-toe burgundy, wine and cerise looks down the runway. From tracksuits to coats, oversized knits and accessories, there’s an entry point for every lady in red this season. 12
2017 Red alert!
Red
in all its dramatic shades, returns as one of the key colours in 2017 Autumn and Winter fashion collections across all major cities. “We have seen red increase dramatically on the catwalk year-on-year from 2016 to 2017”, said Lizzy Bowring, Head of Catwalks at WGSN. There are definitely diverse colours as well, pastel tone, bright tone (bright pink, yellow, lime green and orange colour are representative), bright blue, grey and black. In particular, deep pales emerge in line with season’s charming, feminine focus. Designers use these colours as a fundamental message for their collections to show their statement in head-to-toe silhouettes adding a bold edge this. Besides, some of designers led 70’s vibes with the corduroy this season. The revival of corduroy is enough to make sure “Corduroy is comeback”, especially at Prada and Lemaire. ‘Supersize, exaggerated length’ is indubitably mega trend, which was proved by a lot of collections. ‘Long layers’ is one of clear examples. In addition, ‘Belts’ was shown at nearly every show. There were many variations, wide at Isabel Marant or skinny at Miu Miu. Still, it is the fact that red is the most imposing by far. Maybe, it’s because people perceive the most visible thing for a long time unconsciously. At once, “Red is the passionate and intense hue of the spectrum, marking the saint and the sinner, patriotism and anarchy, love and hatred, compassion and war.” said Faber Birren. As such, red gives people various and impressive feeling and meaning. It is
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really emotionally intensive and high visibility, attracting more attention than any other colours, which is the reason of used in warning signs such as a red light of traffic lights and advertising as well. It is perfect colour to deliver messages, “BUY NOW” or “CLICK NOW, HERE”. In design, red can be powerful accent colour. It has an overwhelming influence if it’s used excessively in its purest form. Red can be very versatile, though, with brighter red being more energetic and darker being more elegant. Moreover, red has a sexual image, so a lot of products, lip, nail and accessories including apparel, of course.
the catwalks for 2016, we saw that red started to pop up in the collections of influential designers’ collections such as Celine and Balenciaga for their 2017SS, which was Machine red. We could enjoy red in various ways, bright or dark red, mixing with others, even just redto-toe in the 2017 A/W collection. Designers presented red colour’s designs competitively in their shows. Red-to-toe is dominant. Victoria Beckham collection was one of the most impressive. She showed various designs with tonon-ton, which is the same colour, but
Red is definitely essential in fashion industry, perhaps in other parts as well. Some of editors or designers dedicated a whole their work editions to it. Actually, red has exploded as an essential colour for A/W 17/18, but it’s important to note that its growth has been building for several seasons. In 2014, it was started as an emerging core colour back, which used in classic way. It had been focused in street fashion continuously. Supreme and Gosha Rubchinskiy used bold red in cooler, no classical way. In particular, we could see in Asia roughly around 2016. Young Asian people were rocking re to stand out, from cult streetwear brands such as Supreme. While over in South Korea, we noticed that the street fashion style was heavily inspired by K-pop stars such as G-Dragon who has been wearing statement red. In Asia, young people are becoming bolder in self-expression and are wearing a graphic palette of red, white and black. Finally, red was selected as a key colour for SS17. It called Marchine Red, cleaner and sportier tone quality. Following
different brightness or saturation. Or, there are lots of collections mixed with other colours like Emporio Armani AW Ready-toWear collection. Besides, it is so easy to find various red collections in 2017, such as Valentine, Max Mara, Jill Sander, and so on. Also, luxury labels like Stella McCartney and Victoria Beckham have truly embraced red as a feature colour.
(746 words)
�Red is a benevolent dictatorship.� designer
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James Jannard
A final word.
Though everything has been said for now in this printed instalment of the magazine, the particularly curious can sign up for further entertainment and notification by joining The Gentle woman Club. Until February 2018, that is, when we’ll be back with a 17th issue. Farewell for now, readers! (48 words)
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