An Attractive Economic “Model”
The Harvard Salient
An Attractive Economic
“Model”
February 24, 2009 by admin High fashion is a sign
of hope in our failing economy
By Amelia G. Mango
Someone needs to take
Timothy Geithner dress shopping.
Not that he should, under
any circumstances, be wearing a dress, because I don’t think he’d look very
good in one. Even a beautiful dress has limits. Randy Moss could don a Badgley
Mischka gown and Louboutins and still not pass for Beyonce. But if anyone among
us needs reassurance that things will, in the end, be okay, Geither is that
man.
The issue of a “flat world”
has been addressed ad nauseum by economists and political scientists alike for
nearly a decade now, generally in terms of lofty goals like “international
cooperation” or “economic optimization.” But if any of us frivolous folk were
looking for a less weighty manifestation of the trend, we need look no further
than the collections shown under the auspices of Andres Aquino during
February’s Fashion Week events in
Designers showing alongside
Aquino at the Waldorf Astoria hotel’s Starlight Room included the Cairo-based
Soucha, Dany Atrache, of
Aquino, himself a native of
the
Aqunio turned global
inspiration into artistic masterpieces in his latest fall collection. His runway
show in
It says something about the
resilient and enduring nature of the art of fashion that in the midst of Ponzi
schemes, scandals and foundering car companies, designers the world over
convened, as tradition dictates, in
Undoubtedly, someone,
somewhere, is complaining that while chief executives scramble to keep their
companies afloat, the fashion world conducts business as usual. This isn’t
entirely the case—those with an eye for marketing strategy will note the
decided turn toward the “investment” aspect of couture purchases. Perhaps this
carries some weight for a woman trying to decide whether to spend $14,000 on a
dress. Perhaps not. Were I in the position to be making that type of purchase
in the first place, I can’t imagine I’d be simultaneously struggling to pay off
my subprime mortgage. I’m willing to bet I’m not the first to point out the
importance of the fashion industry, and not just in economic terms.
The demise of haute couture
fashion houses is understandably not a top concern among economics heavyweights
these days. Professor Mankiw does not, to my knowledge, spend much of his
lecture time discussing the macro- and micro-economic implications of
fluctuations in Louis Vuitton’s market share vis-à-vis that of Prada. In an
entire semester of Economics 1400, Larry Summers never once mentioned the value-added
labor that turns fine silk and Murano glass beads into a Dior gown. I don’t
suggest this is altogether a bad thing, nor do I present it as the sole reason
why Geithner’s closet is (most likely) devoid of made-to-order ballgowns. Few
people can appreciate the beauty of both a Laffer curve and Lanvin.
As anyone who has been even
marginally attentive to the news knows, our financial institutions are between
a rock and a hard place, and if mainstream professional opinion on the subject
is to be believed, there’s no light at the end of the tunnel just yet. What
people need is not more bad news. They need the freedom to dream, the
inspiration that only art—including the art of high fashion—can provide. We
need fashion as a mode of expression as much as we need tax policy reform and
alternative energy. Maybe even more so. Didn’t we just elect a president on the
basis of a policy-devoid platform of “hope and change?” I give Obama credit for
getting it so right without even trying. If we want hope for the future, what
better way to get it than by changing–out of last year’s tired styles, and into
this year’s globally inspired Andres Aquino styles.
http://www.couturefashionweek.com/andresaquino/andresaquino-feb09/photos.htm
http://www.couturefashionweek.com/andresaquino/andresaquino-sep09/photos.htm
Soource:
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~salient/site/2009/02/24/an-attractive-economic-model/
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