FASHION IN THE MIDST OF
FREEDOM AND LUXURY
PROF. OLGA MROZ, DAME OF HONOR
“Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.” This saying comes from the smart and wise legendary Coco Chanel. The Great Lady who revolutionized the fashion world was ahead of her time. After reading this statement, I thought about what Luxury means to me and others in our modern world. I can say with confidence that for me luxury is freedom. Luxury for me means feeling free and doing what I want my dreams to become real. My moto in life is „If you love what you do, you will be successful.” For me, the word Luxury also means success, happiness, the ability of my actions and activity to make the world a better place. I am Professor and Director Open World and Art Business Program in Al-Khalifa Business School, the Editor and Chief of AKBS Journal, Autor and Speaker, Ambassador “Love & for World Peace” I am proud to say that this year I have received two awards for outstanding, extraordinary leadership and advisory skills. It is a privilege, a success and a luxury for me. into the Luxury theme, I met in Dubai with an extraordinary, intelligent and at the same time stylish Lady Her Excellency Elizabeth Kelly. I had a very intense and productive conversation with her. In our conversation I heard her opinion about Luxury, Success and Fashion in various aspects that are characteristic of our modern society.
“Everyday wake up with determination to do something that creates opportunity to others; focus on that idea which is ultimate for you, that would be your first step towards destiny” – these are the words of Her Excellency Elizabeth Kelly. Her Excellency is a Dubai based businesswoman, founder of Ethos Global Solutions and an ambassador for Commonwealth Entrepreneurs Club. She highlights that, “for a salutary lifestyle full of fruition one must abstain from parochialism in terms of goals and should be cognizant about the things which makes one enthused.” From starting her career in the fashion industry to being a successful businesswoman, her life is a testament to breakthroughs and accomplishments, never allowing societal norms and limitations to prevent her from achieving phenomenal and long-lasting successes.
• What is Fashion and Luxury for Women?
H.E. Elizabeth says, that Fashion is common consciousness and ability to express ideas that appear in clothing, makeup, footwear, accessories, hairstyles, lifestyle and something that is in vogue. In this era, people are very exuberant about the fashion. It is something about which people are inventive and rational and thus, it has permeated every aspect of human culture. Luxury carries different meaning nowadays. Giving preference to personal thoughts, being away from social prescriptions, subjective well-being and health consciousness are true luxury in contemporary society. Luxury is not always about jewelry, expensive cars or exotic products rather peace of mind, quality of life, safety, rest, space, time and attention; all of them when combined are considered as luxury in true sense.
• What is the most important message you have for the younger generation?
Her Excellency says that there exists a different definition of beauty which is not set by any authority or is not based on any ideal criteria; rather it is to have a broader vision towards fashion by being kind to ourselves discuss that aspect which makes you beautiful just as you are and that inspires you to be more powerful than you know. Girls don’t believe they can do it, they think they are lost, but it is not that way, just envision where you want to be rest is your dedication towards it.
• Fashion has transformed itself?
Her Excellency Elizabeth says that in the last two decades the trends of the fashion industry has dominated the world more than it ever did, and result of this is that it controls home ware design, overall attitude and the way people are dressed. The way skirt and tunics persistently summed up the whole attitude of a generation, which was very much entrenched in the 70s is an example of great accomplishment. Likewise, today fashion is not circumscribed by what anybody thinks or what others want rather it is bold and daring. It has come up with astound transformations and surpassed the vacillated attitude of society towards fashion. Fashion is not just replicating the style statement for the sake of clothing one’s body; it is the adaptable essence of personality and beliefs. Fashion Designers all over the world are well aware of the power they hold and thus become diligent about their predictions of designs which are feverishly anticipated than any other disclosure in the world. Trends in fashion allow individuals to showcase their style and attire along with creating a sense of togetherness among people around the world. Let us understand it by help of an example; if a picture is there on the wall, the time period can be easily identified from the attire of the people in the picture and this sums up that fashion is all encompassing and carries a lot of power. Fashion can never be termed as static because it changes from one second to the next, but what never changes is the hold that it carries over the society, and the impact it has in the modern world. It has become a topic of discussion among friends, celebrities and a lot of time is dedicated to it through TV shows. It has become so important that whether it is a politician or a working class, both are enthused about it.
• What according to you is talk of the hour?
To this Her Excellency replies: – “The major talk of the hour is why does fashion rule the world. To keep up with the latest fashions, people often go to fashion shows to witness the catwalk and keep a keen eye on what designers are going to launch this season and therefore what will make it in to the shops. Affluent people have relationship with a designer or many in order to keep themselves ahead of everybody else and this is the reason why they have huge number of followers. Designers are very well aware that people are fashion centric so how to articulate the market strategies is directly proportional to the designer’s choice given to celebrity. Therefore it is evident that fashion will continue to have firm position in the society for a very long time to come. It along with influencing what we wear also influences everything we say, do and even think. This is the reason why fashion does indeed rule the world.”
• What Luxury means to you and how it is different from freedom?
She smiles and says: – “With the ever-changing meaning, Luxury is a dynamic concept which traces its history from the ancient period to till date and would continue in every age. It has been present in different eras by changing its guise. Luxury is directly associated with popularization, as once considered as luxuries and availability of any good to increased number of consumers the meaning of luxury would not change rather again it will evolve by changing its guise and adopting a new form. So it is clear that luxury as a social phenomenon would never disappear.”
FREEDOM AND LUXURY is not just limited to items it is something beyond that. Luxury and freedom are not two different things. When one is free from pressure from work, economic and social constraints, in simple words having one’s own leisure time without physical, social and economic boundaries in any form. There exists a co-relation between freedom, fashion and luxury. And this relation can easily be understood by example from Coco Chanel’s life.
“Most of Chanel’s clothes were made of jersey, an unusual fabric that was more commonly used for men’s underwear at that time. This choice of hers to use this material for the clothing line brought her even more admirers. With her critical financial situation at the beginning of her career as a designer, Chanel purchased jersey because of its low cost, but she continued using it even after her business became popular because of its quality. Jersey well suited Chanel’s simple, elegant and practical fashion pieces that were often inspired by men’s wear. It was also a good choice for the prevalent uniforms when World War I started, in 1914.
Chanel herself dressed in mannish clothes and adopted these more comfortable trends, which were very liberating for other women as well. It is interesting to mention that most of her designs had a staying power. They didn’t change much year in year out or even generation to generation.” (Zitat – Kristina Shumadieva, The Inspiring Life of Coco Chanel.)
From her efforts towards fashion, it can be deduced that luxury is represented by licensing or freedom of choice. It is whatever one wants to do. The activities which one finds fulfilling are result of productive expenditure of time as per his or her choice. The autonomy to differentiate at any time and to get engaged in leisure time or work time is also perceived as luxury. Nowadays, the person who always has the time for doing what s/he pleases, who can decide what to do, where and with whom; is living the luxury life. Finally, the idea of luxury is perceived as freedom from all sorts of social constraints, to be ambitious about liberating oneself from every market force.
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