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Colliding sources of inspiration –Music, fashion & cultures

Since I was a teenage boy, exploring music for the first time, I have been into hip-hop and rap. At first not understanding the lyrics as my English wasn’t at all developed yet, it was the beats that grabbed my attention and spoke to me profoundly. And although I’m more and more opposed to the nastiness in the lyricism within this genre, I can’t seem to disconnect myself from this deep inner connection I have with the strong beat that hip-hop is inextricably linked to.

We always cycled to the library in my hometown, my mum brother and I, on a Saturday morning. In an era when the internet was on the cusp of bursting into the mainstream, the library was still the main source of inspiration and exploration. I loved the CD section, which was a prime source of music exploration. I picked albums with covers that spoke to me and asked if I could listen to them (always grabbing the 10 cd’s maximum allowed at a time). But also the floor for kids and teenagers, which had books on a wide array of topics, and books often contained lots of pictures, speaking strongly to my dyslexic self. Here I browsed, letting myself become into contact with unexpected and new subjects. I strongly remember a book on skateboarding (a sort of step by step guide to learning how to skateboard, but in this fluor 90’s style) and comic books (which I got sucked into deep as well). It is in this library where I first came into contact with the book “The Gentleman”, which became a seminal piece in my understanding of style, clothing and dress. The book explains early on in its pages that “we can’t teach you how to behave like a gentleman, but we can show you how to dress and compose yourself like one”.

Next came my interest in fashion. Through this library book I started to understand the role clothing plays in expressing one-self and what (personal) style meant. Heritage brands and their products also were featured in it and spoke to my imagination strongly (like Louis Vuitton or Ralph Lauren). Through an exhibition in the local art gallery (Groninger Museum) on/by Marc Newson, I became aware of design in a wider context. Marc Newson worked with G-Star and had his own collection there, broadening my view of what design in clothing meant.

Since then I have build on these early moments of inspiration and have had many moments more, too many to describe here (only mentioning Blend, CODE and Fantastic Man magazines as they have played mayor roles). Fashion is one of my main creative interests in this world and hip-hop is still one of my main sources of music, both classic and modern interpretations of it.

Pharrell & Nigo’s LV

Watching the LV FW25 show and collection was very exciting, inspiring and moving somehow. It brings together these early sources of inspiration and memories of moments that mattered to me in my life journey. It speaks to me even on two more profound levels; as I dream of creating a brand which connects to different cultures and backgrounds, the collaboration between these two man strongly speaks to that. Seeing this brotherly friendship between Pharrell and Nigo reminds me also of my own friendship with Nathan (RIP) as we both had different cultural backgrounds too, but found each other in the things that inspired, motivated and moved us. There was always a certain joy and pleasure in our friendship and our way of connecting on things like music, skateboarding and style, something I see reflected in Pharrell and Nigo’s friendship and miss a lot for myself.

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Gathering inspiration as a force for creation

A couple of things in my thoughts are coming together; recently I have been reading the Virgil Abloh chronicle “Make it ours” and the book Abloh-isms. In it you find reference to his 3% rule. Separately have I been working on migrating all my Instagram saved posts to Are.na. “Mooooooooodboard”, something Loïc Prigent always says in his videos (of which I have watched this recent one) and apparently is also a website of his. Also did I watch this video tour of Diplo’s Jamaican house (mansion), making me think of Major Lazer and its graphic record sleeves.

“Abloh became even more committed to his belief in a 3-persent principle – the idea that an object altered by 3 percent becomes something wholly new. […] By touting his 3-percent philosophy, Abloh spotlighted fashion’s reliance on reiterating what had come before.”

From ‘”Make it ours” – Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh’ by Robin Givhan

How can moodboards and the 3% rule lead to more creative creation and freedom

Combing these thoughts, I’ve had the realisation that a way to progress in my creative pursuit to create a fashion brand is to be more intuitive in the way I create. As I have been educated in my Bachelor to be able to come up with well formulated concepts, I now have the tendency to start not in the creation phase but in the explanatory phase of a creative project. I notice in myself that finding the explanation for why I’m creating (something), an idea, research reference or fully formed concept is how I want to start of my making process. The process of intuitive creation based on subconscious inspiration has been lost on my a little bit. Re-igniting that child like making and creating process is very important if I want to be able to progress in my creative pursuit as I imagine myself to be.

Moodboards Setting myself a challenge to make a weekly mood-board of inspiration, however (un)co-herent it may be. By setting aside half an hour to a full hour of free roaming on Are.na and printing out (part of) this mood-board and sticking it onto a foam board pannel.

3% rule Challenging myself to be more open to using found inspiration as a direct input for creation. Authenticity can come from how you reposition and repurpose. Freeing myself from creative limitations like this could help me progress towards a visual identity and style that over time I can make my-own.

Major Lazer Finding inspiration in different cultures can be a great resource towards making something new and inexistent. I want to relieve myself from the constraint that I’m not myself part of the cultures that inspire me, and instead use these inspirations to create things that relate and build on that which instigates my curiosities.

Major Lazer is a fictive character for an electronic dancehall project by two (white) producers. Although it raised some eye-brows in the beginning (as they themselves where not coming from a background in which the dancehall music was founded and created), they have kept going and are now widely accepted as a major group in the scene. It’s a prime example of not letting yourself be limited to only working within your own confounds (culturural upbringing/heritage). See also my own reflection cultural inspiration.

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How a NATO summit got me sucked in and thought me something

Watching the recap of the concluding second NATO day in The Hague, I couldn’t help but feel enthralled by the spectacle of it. World leaders physically coming together, all with a certain cache, making decisions which will shape the world of tomorrow on topics that are of international significance – it’s a theater show that is hard to look away from, even for someone who doesn’t regularly like to be engrossed in the news cycle at all. It’s particularly interesting to see how the former Dutch prime minister, now NATO secretary general Mark Rutte presents itself, in stark contrast to the current Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof. And then the Beast as they call him; Donald Trump, whose second term as president of the US is developing quite differently to its first it seems. Where his first term was more about being a frontier and fighting the establishment, now it seems he is developing more as a leader of his newly formed establishment – he seems more likable and universally political. But this is where I’m also confronted with the horror of the whole spectacle, as the confidence of Trump is also a sign of dictatorial quality that is developing within him and his regime.

I don’t like to get sucked into the new cycle because it’s based on entertainment en awe, more than information and education. Most things that are covered in the news don’t have direct influence on my day to day life and life decisions, and they therefor feel only distracting to that which matters most to me; my family, health and creative pursuits. When being distracted by the news, you are being entertained with thoughts of a world that is colliding and collapsing all the time; negativity is the main protagonists. Change and growth happens by being aspirational to a future that can be better and improved. For that you do need problems to solve and issues to deal with, but you mostly need a positive and change mindset, which can’t be fueled with doomsday thinking.

The NATO top was an amalgamation of these thoughts coming together for me; the scale of the theater was so huge that by being entertained I could see more clearly the thoughts I have had lingering in my mind for a while.

I’m interested in developing a brand that can talk about world issues in an inspiring and positive way. Today has brought me this HMW (How Might We) question; How might we use tactics of political leaders and news cycles to take part in – and form a conversation about – restorative change and inspirational development around the world?

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Step one

Design clothing

It’s not enough to come up with smart and interesting business models for a would be fashion business. Without designs, there is nothing to make and therefore sell. It’s important to push both of these aspects forward. As thinking about business propositions is something I do all the time and which is something I have started to draft here on this very blog, it’s time to also put energy into the “unknown” of creating my clothing designs. It’s easy to immediately start thinking in restrictions and hurdles, for example; Fashionary creates these Figure template cards that are very well made and would give a good sense of proportions and poses. However, I don’t NEED to have that to be able to create. It’s just me trying to come up with a reason why I can’t start right now.

My biggest challenge right now is stepping over these imaginary hurdles and to start creating/scheduling in time for myself to start making. And the scary part in that process is the unknown; not knowing what you will come up with and if you will be capable of doing so. But this is the process and something you have to learn and learn to enjoy.

What was useful after all, was finding inspiration in the work of Connie Lim who made the final illustrations to form an impression of how you can use the Figure template cards. Her style is free flowing but also clear and realistic in a sense. It’s something I’ll be looking at further for inspiration when I’m stuck with my own work in the coming months.

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Hobbies for life?

As a home-owner, there is always another thing to improve or fix. The next project I always looming. YouTube is full with videos to teach me yet another new skill. And although most of the things I learn will stay with me for the rest of my life anyway, woodworking in particular feels like something a little more special – like a new hobby.

Japanese hand plane and it’s first proper shavings

On the one hand have I gotten quite interested and invested into Japanese woodworking tools and learning to use them. On the other hand do I question my investment in this new hobby, particularly when it comes to the Japanese hand plane that I bought.

Setting up the hand plane was a laborious task – which in all fairness I had been warned for – that has thought me a useful new skills (sharpening) but has also cost me quite a bit of time; time spend preparing a tool to perform a certain task in our endeavour to own and improve our home (and not even that, as it’s the outdoor furniture that I’m currently making, which we will take with us anyway).

At what point changes time spend on these new personal endeavours from being inspirational and energising, to laborious and draining? I’m not sure. But these thoughts have been rummaging in my mind and are perhaps a sign of that turning point being nearly met in this instance.

New beginnings

This blog is about beginning; starting, mobilising thoughts and preparing to take off in their direction. But going through this process of learning how to set up a Japanese plane, which definitely wasn’t easy, has thought me a valuable lesson. Not every begin is equal for me, or rather, there is an appropriate time for everything and perhaps now is not the right time exactly for this new hobby to fully form.

I have a dream – to start a fashion business – which is more important to me than becoming a fully-fledged woodworker, right now at least. There are many skills to learn still in designing and making clothing, that I would much rather try and focus on right now. That is not to say that I AM going to make the outdoor furniture, AND gates, and what-not else. But I don’t also have to at the same time learn how to create micron thin shavings with a tool used by highly skilled craftsmen – that can be done later in live when the time is right and focus can be concentrated towards it.

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Cold & grey

Browsing through the bookstore looking at cookbooks, books on fashion, photography, art, architecture, gardening, I feel excited and inspired. Walking to a restaurant where I sit down to have a Neapolitan style pizza, I feel energised. Coming to a French brasserie-bar, I feel sophisticated. A single night out in the city is a much needed luxury these days.

As we are busy being parents, partners, family, friends, professionals and do-it-(y)ourselfers it’s sometimes easy to feel not only a little drained but also uninspired and thinly spread. I listened to this podcast earlier this week as I cycled to work (which in- and of-itself uplifted my moods a little) in which the speaker talks about how dopamine addiction is also an escapism of having to profile ourselves all the time.

“Modern life requires us to just constantly think about ourselves and be on display. And the use of these ways to take us out of ourselves is increasing because we’re constantly narcissistically thinking about ourselves.”

From the NYT Interview: Digital Drugs Have Us Hooked. Dr. Anna Lembke Sees a Way Out.

So that’s why we love to scroll Instagram and just be mindlessly looking at other people profiling themselves. I could get into that theory. But trying to stop this habit (as I am) brings the challenge with it that it becomes harder to relax the mind for a minute… interesting, that’s an observation to be let simmering.

I was also watching this video by Van Neistat on Easy flow vs. Hard flow state in which he talks about procrastination being a form of “western” and efficient relaxation. Another interesting thought to let linger.

I was feeling a little flat and down the past two weeks (ever since Blue Monday to be honest). Slowly I have become more aware of it and trying to understand why I feel this way. Is it a mild depression because of the cold, wet, grey weather? Is it because of the hard work on the garden that’s making me tired? Is it all the things going on in the family?

Exactly a year ago we were loving life in sunny Australia. Off course the fact that we were on holiday made for a relaxing start to the year. But the climate, temperature, sun and environment definitely were as important in making the otherwise most difficult months of the year in terms of mood more manageable. Upon return it was a bit of a deception to life our normal live again within our usual surrounds. People told us “you missed nothing, it was only rain throughout the time you were away.”

It’s mid February and I have felt what those people did last year – a mild mid-winter depression. After returning from New York at the start of this year, I was feeling very uplifted and excited, energised! How could I create moments in my daily life that create this same feeling for me with minimal and ready-at-hand means? That’s an observation to think about in the next few weeks. Ta-ta

New York trip Dec. 2024

Itinerary for reference (2024)

AMS 09:15 11 Dec (Wed) Amsterdam, Schiphol Intl.
EWR 10:40 11 Dec (Wed) New York, Newark
UA71 Boeing 777-200 – Flying time: 8hrs 25mins

EWR 18:05 27 Dec (Fri) New York, Newark.
AMS 07:15 28 Dec (Sat) Amsterdam, Schiphol Intl.
UA70 Boeing 777-200 – Flying time: 7hrs 10mins

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Assessing cultural inspiration

Unpacking the brand positioning of being diversely culturally inspired and taking locality as inspiration a little further;

What does it mean to use these sources of inspiration as a starting point for clothing/brand design.

Using something as inspiration, does not mean the outcome will be a literal translation of that which has been the starting point (inspiration). It rather means that a source (of inspiration) has become seminal in the thoughts process, helping in forming a certain cohesion in thought, concept and creation. Although the final outcome does not necessarily need to have any resemblance or visual/physical queue to what has been used as a source of inspiration, the mention of the inspiration also can’t be frivolous. When the source of inspiration is an important factor to the design or positioning and is communicated as such, the synergy between inspiration and final product has to be relevant to some degree for it to be convincing.

Then, the question is; does the brand positioning need to be linked to the sources of inspiration? Or rather; is that which is described as the source of inspiration actually what is the starting point of the clothing designs, or is it a bogus attempt to be more culturally relevant? Here it becomes important to remind yourself that “using something as inspiration, does not mean the outcome will be a literal translation of that which has been the starting point (inspiration)”. And if [BRAND NAME]’s HOW (being diversely culturally inspired) and WHY (challenging the globalised (homogenised) world/industry) are genuine, there needs to be no fear as such.

Is it cultural appropriation to use these sources of inspiration?

Although genuine, are these diverse cultural inspirations and the use thereof for brand positioning (outside of those cultural environments) appropriate? Or is it a sort of cultural appropriation and therefor inappropriate? It depends on how literal the translation is between source of inspiration and creative output. It also depends on the way it’s translated into something new. When inspiration is used properly to create something entirely new, it would be appropriate as what is being made doesn’t pertain to be of that which is used as inspiration. However, if what is being made is leaning more to a copy, it wouldn’t be as appropriate. This is about (cultural) ownership and representation.

“Creativity is the focused combination of unlikely things. Your mind locks onto a certain element and then searches widely for something unexpected that fits with it. What can scuba diving teach you about agriculture? What can trees teach you about public speaking? There is always some connective tissue between disciplines. If you wish to be more creative, look for the connections between two previously unconnected things.”

by James Clear, as found in his 3-2-1 newsletter

True creativity comes from being inspired, which means you make connections between unlikely things and use that as the starting point for the creation of new things. Therefor, cultural inspiration is fine and appropriate, as long as it leads to something genuinely new and is done so with respect to it’s source.

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Different profitability mindsets

No sales-discounts

Good products deserve reasonable pricing. This works two ways; neither should a product be overpriced to create a false perception of value and quality, nor should a product be underpriced to encourage impulse buying and the idea of a good deal. A good product has a price that is linked to its production process and quality manufacturing. These days brands either work with economies of scale (Primark) or economies of exclusivity (Dior) to determine their pricing. When something seems too cheap or expensive to be realistic and fair, it probably is. Sales-discounts play a part in this too. When a product can still be sold for a significantly reduced price without a loss, it means the consumer has been fooled with the original product sales-price.

[BRAND NAME] wants to offer products that are priced fairly to sustain a good product quality and a reasonable and publicly communicated growth percentage (revenue). This means products shall be priced accordingly, and any devaluation in pricing won’t be possible nor necessary.

No out of stock items

Sales-drops and limited edition products have become a mainstay within the global (fashion)economy. They are a sales tactic with revenue as the prime incentive, not creativity. Why else would a great product design only be offered to a limited amount of people. This sales-tactic is used mostly to lure customers to a baseline product offering by creating the perception of scarcity and belonging. The scarcity is false, as it’s entirely within a brand’s power to make as many items of any product as they wish. The sense of belonging is created by making people think they are part of a select group of people that are “in-the-know” or these special editions/drops. Even if they couldn’t actually make a purchase of said item, by buying any other mainline product they feel connected to this urge they have to belong to the in-crowd.

[BRAND NAME] wants to offer products fairly and indefinitely based on people’s desire to purchase, through either pre-order listings, item inventory or archive reproductions. A product might be produced and launched in a specific quantity at first. Afterwards it might immediately be reproduced based on consumer demand or placed into a product archive from where re-runs and reproductions can be requested by prospect buyers (in active communication with the brand).

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Idea nuggets

  • Offering a guaranteed take-back option, no matter the condition
    Used clothing can have a certain charm that is unparalleled to new sometimes. Receiving used products could provide with an amazing treasure-trove of “vintage” items of the collection which then can resold. Even if items need repairs, this shouldn’t be a problem as that can bring additional charm to a piece of clothing. When the returned items are not salvageable, they can potentially still be used for off-cuts. It might be necessary to offer in return a monetary reward or discount of some sort to make it mutually beneficial. Potentially adding a grading scale could work for items that are immediately re-sellable.
  • Offering a repairs service
    As not everyone is capable of repairing their own clothing, it might make it hard for some people to keep wearing their clothing for long extensions of time. Offering this service helps them with that effort and hopefully keeps them happier longer with the clothing they bought. It also establishes a stronger more personal connection between owner and brand.
  • Offering repair kits
    Sometimes repairing clothing items is hard because the fabric make-up of the item is very specific. This can create problems for people that don’t want their mending and repairs to be visible. Offering fabric swatches that are made from the same cloth as the collection, as well as offering them a nice and nifty sewing case/set with it can make that people can keep wearing their clothing for longer and stimulate their creativity.