Minimalist THEORY

Friends who like to play with fashion all know this phenomenon:

Fashion culture is a cycle. The styles that are popular this year will suddenly become outdated next year; or they will be complained about in the past few years. The old-fashioned design suddenly became popular again.

If you look through your closet for clothes that you didn’t wear a few years ago, you might find the hottest items right now.

Sometimes complex patterns are popular, such as Baroque or Sicilian, the decorations are as fancy as they are, and the details are as complicated as they are;

Sometimes they become extremely popular suddenly. Jane's style is as simple as black or white. She can even be so refined that she can no longer distinguish between her tops and trousers.

Friends who are into photography all know this saying,

- Photography is subtraction.

I remember when I first came into contact with SLR cameras, I was shocked by the large format of the wide-angle lens, and I went out to shoot landscapes every day;

Later, I was moved by the blur effect of the telephoto lens. , and I go out to take portraits with a telephoto lens every day, and the background can be as virtual as possible.

When I was having fun and thought I was no longer good at it, I was taught a hard lesson by the veteran:

When I reached a certain stage in photography, I began to abandon all the bells and whistles. The elements are subtracted.

If you look through the history of Western art, you will get this feeling:

Starting from the early Renaissance of the 14th century, European painting has been constantly innovating the old-fashioned Byzantine painting model; the techniques are becoming more and more sophisticated. Exquisite, the composition is becoming more and more grand, and it seems that "beauty" should be interpreted to the extreme.

Since the academic school in the late Renaissance of the 17th century, it has embarked on a path of secularization that gradually abandoned those complex, exaggerated, and luxurious elements.

It seems that aesthetics has also taken a path from simplicity to complexity, and from complexity to simplicity.

Of course, if we talk about aesthetic minimalism, then we Chinese have more say.

Chinese painting never pays attention to complicated details; it pays attention to white space and artistic conception.

White paper, black ink, a few strokes, either majestic or as calm as water,

Although not exquisite, they have endless charm.

At this point, friends should have an impression of minimalism.

The so-called minimalism is not simply simple, but a process from simple to complex, and then from complex back to simple;

It is a process of adding from scratch, and then Then do the process of subtraction;

It is a process in which two are born, two begets three, three begets all things, and all things are unified.

Only after experiencing the transformation after prosperity, you will find that ordinary is the only answer; if you have not reached the peak, then ordinary is just ordinary.

The brand Qiaoqiao wants to share this time is THEORY, the representative of minimalism in fashion design.

Let’s see how THEORY interprets minimalism but not simplicity.

Minimalism is actually not simple at all. The works of masters and the graffiti of children look similar but are very different;

The "one" done casually and the "one" refined over time "There is an essential difference.

I have introduced before that Brunello Cucinelli’s store design is always light khaki, giving people a warm feeling;

Theory’s store is in this black, white and gray tone , making people feel like they are in a dreamy black and white world.

The clothes in the store rarely have exaggerated designs or colors.

The overall look gives people a harmonious but not monotonous, simple but charming feeling.

This is a kind of post-modernist aesthetic, and at the same time it is in line with the artistic conception of traditional Chinese freehand ink painting. Isn’t it amazing?

Theory was founded in 1997 by Andrew Rosen and Israeli-American designer Elie Tahari.

Based on the design theory of "simple elegance", we hope to integrate personal taste, temperament and elegance into sexy and neutral designs.

Elie Tahari later went solo and created his own brand after the share sale, called ELIE TAHARI. It was also a brand that Qiao Qiao loved very much. In the past few years, ELIE TAHARI could often be seen in luxury department stores. The presence of brands has become rare in recent years. Although the brands are still there, most of them have been taken over by bankruptcy.

There is also a brand called TAHARI on the market, and I don’t know if it is a sub-line of ELIE TAHARI. I feel that the design, materials and quality are inferior to ELIE TAHARI.

The two founders of Theory transferred most of their shares to Japan's Link International and Fast Retailing Co. in 2003.

So Theory/Hirray is actually A brand controlled by Japan, designed in New York, and made in China.

Nowadays, Made in China has become more and more high-end, but more than 10 years ago, Made in Chine was basically synonymous with cheap;

At that time, all the major light luxury brands basically focused on the main line. Produced in Europe, Theory is one of the very few light luxury brands that is entirely made in China. Even so, it cannot shake its status in the hearts of fashion fans.

Combined with the previous introduction about Theory's aesthetics and holdings, you can probably understand why Theory has always been entirely made in China.

It is probably due to the traditional aesthetics of China and the East Asian cultural circle and Theory's post-modernism The minimalist style created a buzz.

When Qiaoqiao first came into contact with Theory, he often compared it with Hugo Boss, another light luxury brand.

The two have similar positioning, similar prices, and similar designs. Similar tailoring, similar workmanship,

In terms of reputation, Hugo Boss seems to be even bigger.

Later I discovered that the difference between Theory and Hugo Boss might be just a little bit different, but that made everyone like Theory more than Hugo Boss.

For example, Theory’s fabric is always 97% cotton + 3% spandex (note: the spandex content will also vary between 3% and 8%), and the comfort brought by the 3% spandex And sexy is decisive.

Qiao Qiao is a retro fan, and she usually likes to look at various craftsmanship when choosing clothes.

Washing, stone grinding, patching, distressing, hand polishing, Indigo dyeing, printing, etc. etc.;

The more complex the process, the better.

Theory/Xil Rui is an exception. Theory’s clothes, whether they are tops or pants, look very ordinary, single color, simple tailoring, nothing special;

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But as soon as I saw the trademark Theory, I knew that this dress would look good on the upper body.

Because Theory’s craftsmanship is not superficial, but goes deep into the heart. .

Sometimes it is difficult for us to understand why the effect of wearing the same simple white shirt on the body is so different?

That’s because minimalism is actually not simple. It needs to go through a process of adding from simple to complex, and then subtracting from complex to simple. Only through this process can we ensure that the rest must be the best. .

Theory's minimalism is based on refined aesthetics as its spirit, carefully selected fabrics as its bones, and exquisite tailoring and production as its shape;

This is how it can be achieved .

Just like a person who likes to collect, he has collected all kinds of treasures from all over the world, but in the end he can only keep one, then the one left must be the best; and if you There was only one thing in the beginning, and it was just an ordinary thing.

Just as Pu Shu sang in the song,

Everything I once owned

was gone like smoke in a blink of an eye

I once Lost, disappointed, and lost all direction

Until you see the ordinary is the only answer

When the prosperity is gone, then look for the ordinary. This is the essence of minimalism.

Aesthetic Journey

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