ERROR:
subscribe to style file blog via RSShugs and kisses from berlin
July 17, 2008 11:17 am
Berlin’s homegrown chic bubbles up from the streets. And Berlin-based street artist XOOOOX, whose life-size, Banksy-style stencils of impeccably stylish women culled from the advertising of fashion houses such as Balenciaga and Chanel have adorned cities like Milan, Paris, and New York, gives that chic back. The women who inspire the art might never walk the streets where XOOOOX’s art appears, but for those who do, the black-and-white images sprinkle élan and elegance free of charge. This evening, on the opening night of Berlin fashion week, the artist is launching “Molotov High Heels: New Works by Street Artist XOOOOX” at CircleCulture. She took some time out before the opening to chat with Style.com about her take on the world of high fashion.
Why do you reference high fashion and not mass-market editorial images and labels?
I use images of Mango and H&M adverts, too. It all depends on the motif and the quality of the pictures.
Are you affectionate toward or critical of high fashion?
It’s a dislike for people who use high fashion to boost their self-esteem or get class. Either you have style or you don’t, but you can’t go into a fancy shop and buy it. It’s all about your personality, and fashion is the code.
The girls you depict are usually more chic than showy. What is your personal taste in women’s style?
I like it classic feminine. A simple elegant dress with pumps just does it.
Is fashion art?
No. The ideas and the inspiration process of a designer may have an artistic sense but as soon as the concept turns into fashion, it’s loosing a huge amount of these values.
You have created work on the walls in major fashion capitals like Paris, New York, and Milan. Why Berlin?
I live here and this city is amazing. But from the point of view of fashion, I think, Berlin is highly overrated. Many people are afraid of being too chic or elegant.
Does “xoooox” stand for “hugs and kisses”? Are you satirizing fashion people’s effusive, kissy-kissy greetings? Or are you actually suggesting that fashion can be a warm and positive force that brings people pleasure?
I didn’t know the shortcut “xoxoxo” and its meaning when I created the name, but this interpretation is very good. “XOOOOX” is simple and noncommitted. You can flip and reflect the letters and it’s always the same, like a strong mind which does not allow the influence of anything.
tags:
