We can blame Henry Ford and his assembly lines for this mass production, eight hour shift, constantly repetitive world of ours. Yet I applaud the man and his work. I’m not being sarcastic here (although that would perhaps be the political correct thing to be these days of eco friendliness and anti-capitalism). I’m simply saying that without the good Henry Ford I wouldn’t be able to sit here by my mass produced (but yet oh so cheap and functional) computer to write this post, and more importantly — I wouldn’t sit here in my H&M jeans and Uniqlo sweater.

Fashion is an industry. Fashion is mass production and mass consumption. For most people, that is. But then, like so often in life, there are those who break the mold and become something different.

Ma Ke, the chinese designer and author of Wu Yong (useless) is just that kind of person. She belongs to a group of designers whose clothes we will never wear, because they are not meant to be worn, nor are they meant to be sold.

For Ma Ke clothes take one a different role: “I strongly yearn for clothing to stand as does paint to the painter, as does stone to the sculptor, as a simple and particular language of an individual creation,” she says.

For her it’s about the beauty of the simple, about traditions and about the soul of the item. “Genuine Fashion today should not follow the glamor of trends,” she says, ” It should instead uncover the extraordinary in the ordinary,
for I believe that the ultimate luxury is not the price of the clothing, but its spirit.”

It’s my belief that the fashion world need people like Ma Ke to remind us what fashion should really be about. It feels like the mass consumerism and wear and tear hysteria has gone one bridge too far.

While there is definitely a place for the Henry Fords of fashion (because how else could us mere mortals afford Sonia Rykiels designs?) Ma Ke and her likes are more important than ever, to remind us that fashion is a true art-form that deserves an existence outside of the factory assembly lines.

Henri Ford y su modelo T son los culpables. Producción en masa, líneas de ensamble, fábricas, turnos de 8 horas o más que dan como resultado miles de productos iguales me llevan a ponerme de pie y aplaudir el trabajo de Henri Ford y no lo digo sarcásticamente(aunque desde el punto ecólogico y anticapitalista tal vez sería lo correcto) Definitivamente sino fuera por Henry Ford no podría estar escribiendo en mi computadora producida en serie pero muy barata y funcional, y lo más importante no estaría vestida con mis jeans H&M y mi sueter Uniqlo.

La moda es una industria. La moda es producida masivamente y masivamente consumida. Para la mayoria de la gente es solo eso. Pero como siempre en la vida, existen aquellos que rompen con los estándares y nos muestran algo totalmente diferente.

Ma Ke, la diseñadora China y autora de Wu Yong (useless) es ese tipo de persona. Ella pertencece al grupo de diseñadores que no crean para vestir, y no crean para vender.

Para Ma Ke la ropa tiene un rol completamente differente: “I strongly yearn for clothing to stand as does paint to the painter, as does stone to the sculptor, as a simple and particular language of an individual creation,”

Ella festeja la belleza de lo simple, las tradiciones, el alma del objeto. “Genuine Fashion today should not follow the glamor of trends. It should instead uncover the extraordinary in the ordinary, for I believe that the ultimate luxury is not the price of the clothing, but its spirit”

Creo que el mundo de la moda necesita gente como Ma Ke para recordarnos que la moda es un arte. Hoy existe un sentimiento de consumismo extremo, donde todo se usa y se tira, donde la histeria en la moda ha llegado demasiado lejos.

Definitivamente existe un lugar para los Henry Fords de la moda (¿de que otra forma los simples mortales podríamos vestir de Sonia Rykiel?), pero especialmente ahora necesitamos mas Ma Kes para recordarnos que la Moda es una verdadera forma de arte que merece existir fuera de las líneas de ensamble.

Photos taken at “Taking a Stance” Exhibition