Vestoj Issue 8 : On Authenticity

Texts by
Laura Albert, Elizabeth Hawes, Lucy Ives, Alice Hines, Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, Eric Wilson, Jacque Mercer, Philippa Snow, Charles Baudelaire, Rob Horning, Rosie Findlay, Johannes Reponen, Andrea Kollnitz, Andrew Potter, Efrat Tseëlon
Fiction by
Guy de Maupassant, William Thackeray
Interviews by
Anja Aronowsky Cronberg
Images by
Torbjørn Rødland, Ed Templeton, Timm Rautert, Hans Eijkelboom, Mimmo Paladino, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Simon Menner, Roshan Adhihetty, Eddy Bofferio, Weronika Gęsicka
In consumer capitalism authenticity has taken on a supreme importance: in fashion it’s the holy grail. Terms like ‘artisanal,’ ‘heritage,’ ‘craftsmanship’ and ‘storytelling’ have become buzzwords, and conglomerates are fond of referring to their offices as ‘campus’ and co-workers as ‘family.’

But what are we getting at when associating these terms with fashion?

Overall, the issue is looking at our relationship to dress and appearance to reflect on questions like, Is there such a thing as a ‘real me’ or a ‘genuine self’? How does one live an authentic life? And is it possible to do so in fashion, an environment so characterized by the mood of the moment, so dependent on chameleon-like behaviour. Are fashion and authenticity really antithetical, and if so, what can be learnt from looking at the relationship between the two?