me, my couch, marc, and yves

after quite a messy weekend, again, all i looked forward to was renting some flicks, putting on my sweats, and spending hours upon hours vegging out on my sofa. i was gonna go to the video store by my friend's house on my way home, but then i remembered i owe them some late fees so i vetoed that and headed on over to the college street branch. all i really wanted was to rent the b.b.c. production of pride and prejudice and not have to worry about changing channels for eight hours. oh i also wanted to rent "le dernier jour" because i have a crush on gaspard ulliel but of course it wasn't there. however as i was scrolling through the selection of french films lo and behold, the last one was a documentary on yves saint laurent right before he retired. obviously i was hella excited and grabbed it thinking that that was all i needed. but as i walked towards the counter i happened to notice that the documentary on marc jacobs was also available so i was even happier and basically ran home.

first up was "marc jacobs and louis vuitton". it was the first time a film crew has been allowed inner access to marc jacobs' own studio and at louis vuitton. this actually came as a surprise to me because i've always looked at marc as not just a fashion designer but an integral contributor to pop culture so i was certain his creative process was captured on film before. the influence of marc jacobs has never been a question. he's basically like an andy warhol. say what you want about marc, his blue hair, the drug habit, and the rent boy boyfriend. when it all comes down to it, after seeing this video specially, is that he is completely devoted to his art and all the influence that comes along with it. although he does fall into the "mainstream", it doesn't mean that just because he has commercial success that his work is not rooted in a sincere place. all the great minds of modern times has managed to combine commerciality with outsider influence and interpretation. marc has been able to achieve that. you can't sell out on a hideous bag for over $50,000 if people didn't think your work was important. and you know what, his work is. and it has been for almost twenty years. say what you want about his eccentricities, but he is in good company. not that i'm championing substance abuse or anything, but fitzgerald, hemmingway, van gogh, and now marc, they might have something up on us.

ok the second one i can't even talk enough about it. i guess when you look at someone like saint laurent you basically see someone who is superman. someone who is not susceptible to mortal shortcomings. and then you watch the first part of the video and he talks about the hardship of dealing with his homosexuality while growing up in an all boys school in morocco. or how he was suddenly fired after his third couture collection for dior, or his difficult break up with pierre berge. i guess when you look at someone who has acquired a halo, you can't help but look at them as someone who is divine and with no fault. for most of us, saint laurent is a messiah. the person responsible for democratizing fashion to make it more accessible for mere mortals. in this age of celebrity designers when the media plays such importance and accessories matter more than the execution of design, saint laurent reminds me that the attention to the craft, the dedication to perfect something that makes it transcendent and goes beyond clothes into the realm of sublime is what made people like him channel, and balenciaga so important. in an age when quick fix beauty is as routine as a botox injection, saint laurent, along with his beautiful entourage, reminds me that beauty takes a lot of discipline and work. and with all that time put into completing the whole idea of beauty, it ultimately comes down to the woman. if she can't convict to her own idea, no matter how beautiful the clothes are, it will always fall flat. fortunately, saint laurent is the verbatim that connects the fabric with the posture.