Dear readers,
When you get in the US in January or February, especially in New York, Miami, and LA, a lot of events are going on in the entertainment industry. New York Fashion Week is coming up, and Hollywood people are showing off their glamour at the Oscars and the Grammys. And how can you forget about the Super Bowl in Miami? Damn, you’re in America!
Fashion sometimes becomes part – if not the centre – of discussions in these events: at the end of the day, what you will remember from these events are the visuals, stuck in your memory, and the feelings that these colors and images made you feel. And in each of these events, fashion always play a great role. Example: I’m not into the Super Bowl, but there’s a certain attire that participants wear and I can learn from – the history, the meaning, and the whole marketing of the event. So there’s always a message that can be found in those events’ imaginary. Fashion is the platform I personally learn from the most.
There’s a constructive link between visuals and the emotions that these entertainment events provide. Their goal is to entertain the public, and ultimately the audience learns from these performances – NYFW teaches you cultural and sociological trends through textiles; LA gets you in your feels with acting performances and gorgeous melodies you hardly won’t be impressed; and the Super Bowl is a whole gigantic advertising and tv experience.
I’ll start with the Grammys, which occurred last Sunday.
Whenever I hear the word Grammys I think of Drake’s song “Grammys“, an ode to the homonymous award. Fun fact: the Grammys were first celebrated in 1959, when recording executives realized that members of the music industry need their own space to be celebrated. So now we have the Oscars, which are film-focused, the Emmys, that are tv-related, and the Grammys, whose name comes from gramophone, invented by Emilie Berliner.
You can read about the Grammy and the winners here, but what I wanted to emphasize in this post is the fashionable touches that the event showed, how effective they were according to my taste and the most important people I feel like they played a major role this year.
First of all: Ariana Grande didn’t win anything, but Billie Eilish did. I think that this choice wasn’t the best one, because both of them have been great artists at the same level during the last year. I’d say that Ariana should’ve won the best album of the year category, due to the fact that thank you, next has been such a landmark experience for her and her fans. I may sound a bit biased, but that’s no the case. Billie was a solid candidate because she introduced a new sound into the pop genre – gothic, lyrical, hypnotic, fresh. She, just like Ariana Grande, Lizzo, and Lil Nas X have been also great fashion icons. Following the baggy-comfy-Ariana-like-pattern, Billie has established her remarkable position in fashion too. As a Lana Del Rey fan, I personally would’ve loved see her with an award, but I must recognize that on a larger scale, Lana has produced such an exquisite and peculiar album, less approachable to a pop audience. Lana was also very honest in her fashionista choices, saying to a reporter where she bought her dress.
On a musical level, my favourite part of the Grammys has been the Alicia Keys segment – in which she remembered the sudden and hurtful death of Kobe and Gigi – as well as her “Underdog” performance. Alicia has the incredible power of engaging with the audience with a raw and honest energy, that shifts back and forth between the stage and the listeners. As Billie’s mentor, I can foresee some sort of influence that Alicia might pass to Billie, at least as her feminine confidence, considering Billie’s young age. I think that it was great that this year the Grammys was very powerful for the female performances. It felt like a safe space, although there are still some problematics concerning this side of the industry.
Tyler the Creator gave a speech regarding representation of African Americans and other minorities at the Grammys. What struck to me in his interview was that he’s in fact aware that his music is hardly found under the pop genre, merely because it’s easier to label black and brown musicians under the “rap” or “R&B” categories. This needs to change, because there should be a flexibility in musical expression. The same goes to fashion, where the perception of a black man usually would fits easier in a urban-street-life trend, instead of a more preppy attire. His message was sent and we stand for Tyler.
Camilla Cabello and Demi Lovato were lovely and emotional in their performances. Camilla with her song to her dad and Demi with “Anyone“. Nothing incredible in their dresses, but their music was sweet for sure. And for Demi, recharging and energetic in her softness.
Can’t wait to see wha NYFW has reserved for me this year. And so many other events.
Beijos,
the curly flower
(first image from: abc.com)
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