Last week in London, Marc Jacobs drew a crowd and Gareth Pugh drew applause, but perhaps the real breakout star wasn't a designer - it was a website, called Dirty Dirty Dancing and skyrocketing, somehow, onto everyone's bookmarked pages.
The concept of the site is easy - photographer Alastair Alan goes to fashion parties, takes unposed photos of the general mayhem, then hits "post."
Addictive, absolutely, but also familiar: Nearly three years ago, L.A. photographer Mark Hunter launched Polaroid Scene, which later became The Cobra Snake, which later became humongous. Along with its New York counterpart, Last Night's Party, the site set off a voyeuristic sensation - anyone in the right place at the right time could be snapped, could be posted, could be famous (in fact one girl, Cory Kennedy, did get famous, landing columns in Paper and Nylon just for the reckless beauty she blipped on screen).
Is Dirty Dirty Dancing the latest in the trend? Sure, but with name checks last week on Style.com and French Vogue's website, it's also something bigger: a shift in fashion obsession from LA street style to the closets of London kids (and we will be discussing this a lot, in different ways, this week).
The good news? London's street style is more interesting, and Nicole Richie's huge-t-shirt-and-heart-earrings-style may fade from the big fashion books. The bad news? It's a long wait until Top Shop opens on our soil.
Also, an observation: it seems Mark is technically a more skilled photographer, or at least a more dynamic one...
posted by a lady
Feb 20, 2007 2:20PM
oh, Topshop. at least they deliver here, right? and it's fast (5 days, even when I was home visiting my parents in missouri). and thrilling when the box arrives in all of its Topshoppy paper. and if you shop during the sales and send in a group order with friends and a 10% discount code, it's not painful at all!