As you might already have noticed, things have turned ugly in the fashion industry in recent times. Chunky sneakers, the anti-beauty aesthetic, Vetements, Demna Gvasalia-era Balenciaga — all these things fall under the broad umbrella of “ugly fashion.” But as the trend has become more prominent, it’s forced us to contend with the question, “What is ugly, exactly?” While we all have our views on what is ugly in a person or an object or building, the question of what constitutes ugly in fashion has become much more difficult to define.
Gvasalia (current lead designer of Balenciaga and Vetements) describes his aesthetic as “ugly, that’s why we like it,” but the fact he and so many others like it so much — with many paying obscene amounts of money to make themselves look uglier — forces us to question if his designs are really ugly at all, or are they actually an inverted vision of beauty. Ugliness has become more of a philosophical question than a matter of subjective taste. But while plenty of fashion commentators have already offered their views on the trend, I started to wonder what qualified design critics think of it — because, well, I value their opinions more.
What is ugliness? Can it be quantified? Where does this sudden rejection of beauty come from? These questions have already been answered at length by the style press, so I reached out to prominent figures from the world of design, people who’ve contended with such questions for longer than Vetements has existed.
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