Clem Bastow has written an interesting article on Rodarte's use of Aboriginal prints (or, more to the point, Aboriginal-esque prints) in their Fall 2012 collection.
It's a tricky issue but I do on the whole agree with Bastow when she says that there's no excuse to go the 'vaguely inspired' route when there are living, breathing Aboriginal artists with whom Rodarte could have collaborated. As a side note, and by some great coincidence, I have discussed Rodarte in terms of nostalgia for a national landscape before.And just to preemptively respond to an annoying counter argument that always seems to crop up, no, using fake Aboriginal prints and labelling your Made In China plastic dreamcatcher earrings 'Navajo', does not compare to the occasional fad for kilts. As far as I know there haven't been any government-sanctioned attempts to decimate Scottish culture in living memory - the same cannot be said for the Australian Aboriginal and Native American people.I must take issue with one point of Bastow's, however. She describes the collection's silhouettes as being 'Victorian-inspired'.
Babe, please. That's 1930s all over. AND ANOTHER THING. How could you write a commentary on that collection without mentioning the shoes?
Yes, those are sand bottle heels. Please Rodarte, just do more of this kind of stuff and less with the staggering cultural insensitivity.
It's a tricky issue but I do on the whole agree with Bastow when she says that there's no excuse to go the 'vaguely inspired' route when there are living, breathing Aboriginal artists with whom Rodarte could have collaborated. As a side note, and by some great coincidence, I have discussed Rodarte in terms of nostalgia for a national landscape before.And just to preemptively respond to an annoying counter argument that always seems to crop up, no, using fake Aboriginal prints and labelling your Made In China plastic dreamcatcher earrings 'Navajo', does not compare to the occasional fad for kilts. As far as I know there haven't been any government-sanctioned attempts to decimate Scottish culture in living memory - the same cannot be said for the Australian Aboriginal and Native American people.I must take issue with one point of Bastow's, however. She describes the collection's silhouettes as being 'Victorian-inspired'.
Babe, please. That's 1930s all over. AND ANOTHER THING. How could you write a commentary on that collection without mentioning the shoes?
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