#but now when i realise that irrespective of its social or cultural background

[brokoala-soup]

my healing arc will be the story of me mending my relationship with the colour pink

[boymonsters]

Demna Gvasalia and Paul Franco discuss contemporary youth

As filmmaker Paul Franco debuts his latest project narrated by the designer, the two discuss social media, reality, and why you can’t really fake Vetements jeans

“I was looking for a clear understanding of what our time is composed of,” explains filmmaker Paul Franco of his latest project FASTbeat, a short film captured over the course of a year in Paris featuring model Sasha Melnychuk. So, Franco reached out to interview the man whose work has played a key role in shaping today’s fashion and youth cultural zeitgeist – Demna Gvasalia.

His speech (an extract from the full interview below) overlays the film, which Franco describes as more impressionistic than a traditional narrative. “I wanted to create a film that’s a sensation and somehow, an archive piece that we may only really understand in ten years time,” he says. “This movie is more of an emotion than it is a story.”

The resulting piece comments on the way we live our lives simultaneously on and offline; the images’ fast rhythm drawing a parallel to the overload of information in the digital world, counteracted by the slow pace of photographer Mark Borthwick’s music.

“Today, we experience a lot in a short time span. I wanted to distort time to express this feeling and a fast information flux – we cannot grasp all of the images and have to focus on the slower pace of the spoken word,” explains Franco. “It’s basically what we experience in life every day, a constant flow of information online versus the slower pace of real life. The ending is about reality and how that is what matters most.”

[...]

Paul Franco: It seems our generation has developed a strong interest in reality in contrast to the 90s, which was more about fantasy or a dream. How do you think this happened?

Demna Gvasalia: I think reality has become very important today because of a lack of time. The dream requires time; it might feel like we were wasting it when trying to dream, or live in the dream. Now, there is no time for anything. You have to run, you have to rush, Insta-life – I feel that this will really bring us down to earth. More and more, I want to concentrate on pure things, and not drift away into the clouds. We live now – and that’s the most precious thing.

Paul Franco: Would you think of the internet as such a cloud? Forever refreshing, we receive new information and content all the time. We can enter the most diverse realities from anywhere in the world.

Demna Gvasalia: Which is paradoxical. Because it’s not reality, but on our screen.

Paul Franco: People seem to shift realities. Rather than an actual self, they build an online character.

Demna Gvasalia: Because there are many things a lot of people in real life don’t even dare to try. People have complexes, people have fears. I think when it’s on your screen you tend to lose these fears and complexes – that makes it so powerful. Once you’re hidden, you can be whoever you want.

Paul Franco: Does that make it dishonest – does it strip us of sincerity?

Demna Gvasalia: Yes, in a way. People try to protect themselves physically and emotionally, and that defines a lack of sincerity. They wear a shield around them.

Paul Franco: I approached you on Facebook. If you think back in time, Cristóbal Balenciaga felt more like a studio than an actual person, even to some journalists. Now we can have a virtual conversation any time.

Demna Gvasalia: Which is amazing, I think.

“I approached you on Facebook. If you think back in time, Cristóbal Balenciaga felt more like a studio than an actual person, even to some journalists. Now we can have a virtual conversation any time” – Paul Franco

Paul Franco: We are all closer to each other. Via social media, people become more approachable.

Demna Gvasalia: Then again, I see myself as a person first of all. I have a Facebook, I even have a relationship with someone on Facebook, which is really strange… Talking about reality is quite ironic here. It really changes communication between people. In a way people have become more sociable in real life but on the other hand, online, things are so much easier – to approach someone, or have a conversation. Or to fall in love, even.

Paul Franco: Talking to people online can be liberating. We tend to reveal more, because we don’t even consider meeting our virtual partner in real life.

Demna Gvasalia: Exactly, we are presented with freedom. Even half drunk at a party, there is still this filter in front of you – I guess because you’re physically there. On the keyboard, it’s a completely different sense of freedom. It makes interaction feel so honest and direct, which is fascinating about our times.

Paul Franco: Vetements in itself is a young brand, taking inspiration from youth – but given the price point it is not exactly directed at young people. Why do you think it still resonates with them?

Demna Gvasalia: I don’t think of our target audience as adolescents. But I do think youth is the most interesting thing in the world; the kind of naivety, the braveness, doing it your way, and questioning things. That’s the most inspiring. At Vetements, from the beginning, we realised that this was the conversation we wanted to have. The social conversation was with the youth, because that’s where you discover a lot of things.

Paul Franco: What are the symptoms of a youth that disappears to make way for maturity?

Demna Gvasalia: When you talk to somebody who is 19, 20, in their early 20s, there is much less judgment toward things. With age we become judgmental very often. They see things the way they are, and accept that.

Paul Franco: We lose our naivety.

Demna Gvasalia: With age it disappears, unless you learn how to handle it. Still it remains very hard to keep. That’s the most interesting thing about young people – they have an openness and passion towards things. They’re passionate about having a hoodie and passionate about some new track that just came out. They can be passionate about those things.

Paul Franco: What I really liked from the beginning at Vetements was this sincerity of the process, and how you make this sincerity accessible. Which reminds me of the story when you found a pair of trainers in the medina of Marrakech, which said Nike on the side…

Demna Gvasalia: …and adidas on the top.

Paul Franco: I bring this up because I recently read an article with instructions to copy Vetements jeans just by cutting the hem.

Demna Gvasalia: Of course you can fake them.

“The most immense and incredible feeling I remember in the beginning of the 90s and for the people of my generation, was this notion of freedom” – Demna Gvasalia

Paul Franco: How do you feel about that?

Demna Gvasalia: Well, you can fake certain things, but you cannot make them the same. These jeans need a whole system of processing – it’s about their fit and how they work. There is a lot of process behind them, though visually they are very simple. So for Instagram you can fake it but for real life, to wear them and feel flattered, to feel that your butt looks good – you can’t really fake that by just cutting the hem.

Paul Franco: I have never been to Russia – I lived in Berlin, but…

Demna Gvasalia: That’s nowhere near the same.

Paul Franco: I feel there is some kind of a new Russian avant-garde, which gives hope to many people. What’s interesting about this Russian aesthetic is its roughness and authenticity. It feels relatable irrespective of social background or location.

Demna Gvasalia: Because all of these things have already happened in Western culture, they are something you can relate to on some level. In Russia everything happened much later, it was very much behind in terms of cultural and social developments. The part of this – what they call ‘Eastern European’ thing – that people can relate to here is almost nostalgic.

Paul Franco: I feel it can help people grow and give them an idea of everything being possible.

Demna Gvasalia: It rather is about being daring, in a way. ‘Whatever, we don’t care about those rules, we want to do it our way.’ I think that’s mood we had after the Soviet Union collapsed. That’s when I was a teenager, and the people I work with now also come from there. It was a period we all know very well; this idea of suddenly having things available – suddenly you could do things, and that spirit is exactly what would present that feeling of hope. A kind of new European dream with its possibilities and freedom. The most immense and incredible feeling I remember in the beginning of the 90s and for the people of my generation, was this notion of freedom. Now we have lost it a little bit in Europe, in the exchange for Western culture. Russia today is the opposite of freedom, which is a paradox.

Paul Franco: To me as a European, this aesthetic feels like a new vision and hope. To be honest about our realities. Apart from it already being a trend, do you think it could become an actual sensibility for the youth of the world?

Demna Gvasalia: I don’t know if it’s a new vision – I mean, there is actually nothing new about it at all. It’s all based on a certain period of time which is not even ten years ago. It might feel new for those teenagers who are 15 years old… they don’t know about all of this stuff, so for them it is different from the things they have seen in the past decade. I don’t think it’s a vision, but rather a certain aesthetic that is easy.

Paul Franco: I like to understand it as a way of life.

Demna Gvasalia: It is a way of life too. At Vetements we are product oriented, but in the end we do create some kind of following in terms of people who like us or don’t like us. For those who do, it is a kind of lifestyle at the end of the day – they’re not likely to sit in college learning mathematics. It gives you a certain energy, and I believe that’s the most important part of it. It’s what I feel each time we do a show. For us, it’s less important to show the clothes than to express an energy and their dynamics.

Paul Franco: Has Vetements changed your vision, your idea of our generation and culture?

Demna Gvasalia: It hasn’t really changed. I think however, the brand has enhanced the impact our culture and our society have on us. We live in Paris and work here – the things happening today and what we see on the street, a certain aggression and maybe a fearful attitude, definitely have an effect on us. We translate that into our work. So I feel it’s the opposite which defines us: we overcome fear by doing what we do.

Paul Franco: Would you mind if the movie features the line: ‘From everything to nothing’?

Demna Gvasalia: From everything to nothing and back to everything, I would say. I think it’s a circle that we are running in, it never ends. That’s the nice part of it.

Paul Franco: I feel this sentence could mean a lot for Vetements.

Demna Gvasalia: More than that, it’s a very accurate sentence in the wake of what’s happening in the world. I think we need to go back to nothing to be pure again. I believe deconstruction is the meaning of creation.

Interview by Paul Franco

Text by  Emma Hope Allwood  and  Tim Neugebauer

 in Dazed Digital

[With images and videos not included. See source link.]

[sightsofinsights]

What travelling alone taught me about life

Travel is not perfect. Not all the days are good and you'll likely to feel lonely but you'll also experience moments of complete happiness and clarity that will make all low times worthwhile.

I wont hesitate to share, me too was nervous, the first time I decided to travel alone. I literally felt the butterflies in my stomach.

Now when I've travelled almost 6-7 states on my own, I can feel the confidence and knowledge growing in me.

And I’m not just talking about practical things like how to use public transportation or how and where to book flights that are in my pocket.

Travelling solo has taught me more about life generally.

1. Different doesn’t mean dangerous

Often, in our lives, we consider different things as dangerous, but we need to understand that there is a fine line between both terms.

Travelling has taught me that being different is awesome and most of the time we assume that since it’s something we haven’t tried yet, so it’ll be dangerous.

People go on vacation to relax and According to me, Adventure is the most important part of it.

2. People around are mostly the same

Irrespective of the languages they speak, the religion they follow or the cuisine they are having, travelling made me realise that everyone wants to facilitate their families with basic necessities.

And all this directs towards the peace and happiness in life.

Travelling and meeting people from different backgrounds has taught me a lot about my own beliefs and perspective.

And being able to recognise myself in people from very different cultures has made me less nervous about the crowd.

3. Being alone on a trip doesn’t mean that you’re lonely

Finding yourself lonely on a trip is completely your choice, otherwise there are many social groups you can join while travelling to a particular destination.

Travelling alone has taught me that ‘being alone’ and ‘feeling lonely’ are two different things. Travelling, on your own, gives you a sense of responsibility for your own-self and train you for the upcoming targets in life, instead.

4. You feel more confident

As a result of travelling alone, confidence grows from within.

This works like you get an inner feeling of responsibility for yourself and within no time you get used to the fact that you can handle yourself at trips or at just anything that comes your way.

Confidence, right from planning a trip to coming back home.

Solo travel has undoubtedly made me more confident and independent person.

5. You’re never too young or too old to travel

Here I must tell you that age has nothing to do with travelling. You can explore the world in your 20s or you can do it after retiring from your responsibilities, it all depends upon your perspective and zest to explore the world and your limits, as well.

 As far as I’ve experienced, I’ve seen people travelling with newborn babies and also people travelling in their 60s and 70s.

Overall, travelling is my favourite type of learning. Travel has taught me to cherish the highs and learn from the lows.

It taught me how to be myself and embrace life to its fullest !!!

[wionews]

Full text of speech by President Ram Nath Kovind

My Dear Fellow Citizens,

Greetings to all of you on the eve of our 69th Republic Day. This is a day for all of us to celebrate and honour our nation and our sovereignty. This is a day to remember with gratitude the enormous efforts and sacrifices of millions of freedom fighters whose blood and sweat gave us Independence and created our Republic. Above all, this is a day to cherish our republican values.

A Republic is its people. Citizens do not just make up and preserve a Republic; they are its ultimate stakeholders and in fact pillars. Each one of us is a pillar – the soldier who defends our Republic; the farmer who feeds our Republic; the forces that keep our Republic safe; the mother who nurtures our Republic; the doctor who heals our Republic; the nurse who tends to our Republic; the sanitation worker who makes our Republic cleaner and hygienic; the teacher who educates our Republic; the scientist who innovates for our Republic; the missile technologist who puts our Republic on a new trajectory; the wise tribal who conserves the ecology of our Republic; the engineer who re-imagines our Republic; the construction worker who builds our Republic; senior citizens who can look back with pride at how far they have brought our Republic; the youth in whom lie the energy, hopes and future of our Republic; and our dear children, who dream for our Republic.

There are so many more who contribute to our Republic in diverse ways and whom I may have missed mentioning. Happy Republic Day to all of you.

India became a Republic on January 26, 1950. This was the second major milestone in our nation building process. Independence had come a little over two years earlier. But it was with the framing and adoption of the Constitution – and the birth of the Republic of India – that we truly achieved the ethic of equality among all citizens, irrespective of religion, region or community. This ethic of equality complemented the liberty that had come at Independence. And a third principle also defined both the cooperative efforts at creating our Republic as well as the India that we wished to be. This was the principle of fraternity.

Independence had come after a great struggle in which millions had participated. They gave their all; many gave their lives. Inspired and led by Mahatma Gandhi, the men and women who took us to freedom could have rested on the gaining of Independence. They could have let down their guard, and remained satisfied with political freedom. But they did not rest. Instead, they re-doubled their efforts. They immersed themselves in the process of writing a Constitution. They saw the Constitution not just as a basic law for a new nation, but as a scripture for social transformation.

Our Constitution framers were men and women with great foresight. They understood the majesty of the rule of law, and of rule by laws. They represented an important phase in our national life. We are fortunate to have inherited its legacy in the form of the Constitution and the Republic.

The lessons from that formative period, the period that gave shape to our Republic, serve us well to this day. They serve us well in whatever we do, wherever we work, whichever goal we aim for. These lessons continue to spur our nation-building project. Nation building is a grand project. But it is also the compilation of a million – rather, a billion – smaller projects, each as sacred as the other. Nation building is also about building a family, building a neighbourhood, building a community, building an enterprise, building an institution. And building society.

A happy and equal-opportunity nation is built by happy and equal-opportunity families and communities. Families where girls have the same rights and the same access to education and healthcare as boys. Governments can bring in policies and laws to ensure justice to women – but these policies and laws can only be made effective by families and communities that must hear the voices of our daughters. We cannot shut our ears to their urgings for change.

A confident and forward-looking nation is built by confident and forward-looking young people. Over 60 per cent of our fellow citizens are below the age of 35. It is in them that our hopes lie. We have made strides in spreading literacy; now we must expand the frontiers of education and of knowledge. Our aspiration must be to reform, upgrade and enlarge our education system – and to make it relevant to 21st century realities of the digital economy, genomics, robotics and automation.

Many programmes and initiatives have been launched to equip our youth with the education and skills to compete in a globalised world. Sizeable resources have been set aside for these programmes. It is for our talented young people to make the most of these opportunities.

An innovative nation is built by innovative children. This must be our obsessive goal. Our schooling system has to encourage our children to think and to tinker, not just to memorise and reproduce. We have made strides in tackling hunger, but the challenge of malnutrition and of bringing the right micronutrients to the plate of every child is still there. This is important for both physical and cognitive development of our children – and for the future of our country. We simply have to invest in our human capital.

A civic-minded nation is built by civic-minded neighbourhoods, whether in our cities or our villages. Where we respect the next-door person’s space, privacy and rights. Where we do not inconvenience our neighbours – while celebrating a festival or while resorting to a protest or on any other occasion. Where one can disagree with another viewpoint – or even with a historical context – without mocking a fellow citizen’s dignity and personal space. This is fraternity in action.

A nation with a sense of selflessness is built by citizens and by a society that embraces selflessness. Where voluntary groups clean public places such as beaches and rivers. And care for orphaned children and homeless people, and even for homeless animals. Where we donate blood or a body organ to help a fellow citizen who may be a stranger to us. Where idealistic individuals travel to remote places to teach children, and change their lives with the magic of education. They do so not because anybody has asked them to, but because of a call from within.

Where a better-off family voluntarily gives up an entitlement – it could be subsidised LPG today and some other entitlement tomorrow – so that another family, which has a greater need, can avail it. Let us all collate our privileges and entitlements. And then look at less-privileged members of a similar background, those who are starting off from where we once started off. And let each of us introspect and ask: Is his need or her need greater than mine? The spirit of philanthropy and of giving is part of our age-old culture. Let us renew it.

A culturally vibrant nation is built by a collective will that cherishes and preserves cultural traditions, art forms and handicrafts. Whether these be folk theatre artistes, traditional musicians, weavers and handloom workers, or those whose families have been hand-making marvellous wooden toys for centuries. Or day-to-day articles made of bamboo.

A disciplined and morally upright nation is built by disciplined and morally upright institutions. Institutions that respect their fraternal relationship with other institutions. Institutions that maintain the integrity, discipline and limits of their functioning, without compromising on excellence. Institutions that are always more important than the individuals located there. And institutions where the holders and members make every attempt to live up to the office they occupy as trustees of the people.

And of course, the highest stage of India’s nation-building project is to contribute to building a better world – a composite and cohesive world, a world at peace with itself and at peace with nature. This is the ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – of the World being One Family. It is an idea that may sound impractical in today’s times of tensions and of terrorism. But it is an ideal that has inspired India for thousands of years – and that ideal can be felt in the very texture of our constitutional values. The principles of compassion, of assisting those in need, of building capacities of our neighbours, or even of those further away, underpin our society. These are the very principles that we bring to the international community.

Such principles are also meant for our global Indian family. When Indians living abroad face humanitarian or similar challenges, it is natural for us as a country to reach out to them. We have, and we will continue to do so.

Fellow citizens 

I referred earlier to that glorious period between Independence and our first Republic Day. This was a period of constant striving – of dedication, determination and commitment to improving our country. And setting right the aberrations of our society. Today, we are at a similar juncture. We have achieved a lot as a nation, but much remains to be done. We need to work on this in the spirit of the generation that gave us our Republic.

In 2020, our Republic will turn 70. In 2022, we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of our Independence. These are special occasions and we must strive, in the manner of the leaders of our national movement and the framers of our Constitution, to build the edifice of a better India – an India where each and every citizen will be able to realise his or her full potential. An India that will reach its deserved pedestal in the 21st century.

We need to further improve the lives of our hardworking farmers. Like mothers, they toil to feed us – more than a billion of us. We need to continue to modernise and strengthen our strategic manufacturing sector so as to provide the valiant personnel of our Armed Forces, and our police and paramilitary forces, the equipment that they need. We need to move ahead rapidly on the Sustainable Development Goals – Goals that commit us to eliminating poverty and hunger, to universal access to quality education and healthcare, and to giving our daughters equal opportunity in every field. We need to make clean, green, efficient and affordable energy reach our people. We need to ensure that housing for all becomes a living reality for the millions of families who await their own home. We need to craft a modern India that is both a land of talent – and a land of unlimited opportunities for that talent.

Above all, our Republic cannot rest and cannot be satisfied without meeting the basic needs and essential dignity of our less well-off brothers and sisters. I refer to those from a less privileged socio-economic background, from the weaker communities and from families that still live at the edge of poverty. It is our sacred obligation to eliminate the curse of poverty in the shortest possible time. This is non-negotiable for the Republic.

Fellow citizens

The promise of a developed India beckons us. This is the new stage of our nation-building project on which we have embarked. This is the Republic that our young people need to take forward and enhance – in keeping with their vision, their ambition and their ideals. And their vision, ambition and ideas, I am confident, will always draw inspiration from both our republican values – as well as from our ancient Indian ethos.

With those words, I once again wish all of you a very happy Republic Day. And wish all of you a very bright and fulfilling future.

Thank you

JAI HIND!

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