Great Minds Think Alike

As a designer, I like to be unique.  I always hated to be copied, even as a young girl.  So, most of the time I don't like to see other designers or other people doing similar things to me.  "Be an individual," I scream in my head!  But, there are those rare instances when an idea or design occurs simultaneously for two people, and that is a different story entirely.  In that case, I enjoy a type of camaraderie and I feel a certain sense of validity, as if to say, "See, I am right.  I knew I had a good idea!" 

Left: Rick Owens, Fall 2012 / Right: Stacy Lomman, Fall 2012

When I saw this piece from Rick Owens on the runway the same season as my "Mod Collection" (Fall 2012), I experienced that feeling.  The two looks are very different, yet they're kind of the same.  I love that about design -- two people can have a similar vision, yet the way it's translated is completely different.  But, that's exactly what design is, at least in terms of fashion.  Everything has been done already.  Nothing is really being invented anymore, so it's all about the individuals' point of view and interpretation of an idea.

Inspiration / Interpretation

Designers are always striving to come up with new ideas, new direction and trend.  However, in the world of fashion, most everything has been done already -- many times over.  The peplum is an emerging trend this season, but it's certainly nothing new.  If you didn't own a garment with some sort of peplum treatment back in the eighties, then you must have been living under a rock (or you weren't born yet!).  And the peplum wasn't exactly a new idea back in the eighties either -- it had been done before.  Trends and styles constantly recycle.  In fashion, designers reinterpret these ideas and trends by putting their "spin" on them and making them look fresh and current.  I'm no different.  I've mentioned before that my fall 2012 collection was based on the "mod" scene from the 1960's.  Actually, one of my greatest influences as a young designer was visionary, André Courrèges.  I saw one of his 60's suits featured in Connoisseur Magazine in 1986 and I tore the page out and kept it ever since.  I always wanted to do something that payed homage to the suit and to the great designer so, in February, I finally did.

INSPIRATION

André Courrèges suit, 1965
(photo source left, right)

INTERPRETATION

  

STACY LOMMAN : NEW YORK / Fall 2012

Photos: Shane LaVancher

To view the rest of my fall, "Modern World" collection and to hear me speak about my influence and about Courrèges, check out the video below (directed by Steve Lars).