by station » Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:11 am
I'm definitely not an expert, so if someone else would like to chime in it'd be great to hear. Anyway: Well mixing designers is not a bad thing obviously, but having an idea of who you're mixing is a good thing which is why I'd rather learn about the designers than place them in some catagory. For example, a brand like Visvim and SLP really don't work together because what they present/represent are insanely different and if you throw them together in a fit, it probably will look off/bad. On the other hand, Yohji and Ann often work well/easily together because they both move in similar directions.
Idk if I would go with a STEM example for it. Maybe more like curating art and furniture in your house/a museum/gallery. Sticking an abstract expressionism next to a Baroque piece doesn't make sense and will more than likely look pretty awful. On the other hand, curators can make gallerys where different artists works in different styles of painting/sculpting/etc. flow really well. Nowadays, I view both fashion and art as this big blob/continuum where the artists/designers exist. Some are closer to others and will have synergy, but I try to make sure I don't draw lines around a group of similar designers and label them as X and say you can only wear that designer with other X designers.
Finally, I think it depends on the outfit and the pieces from the designers in the outfit as to if some designers are “dominant” to others and its not really a way I'd think about it. But whoever wears the clothes can definitely (obviously) have a huge say in the final look that is presented and maybe wear the clothes in a way that wasn't the original intention of the designer. I remember a Rosenrot fit where I instantly thought like she looked like some cool edgy dark cowgirl from a western movie. I don't remember what the pieces were, but the pants looked like Yohji and the shoes also didn't look like they were western cowboy shoes. So yeah, I think you can definitely overshadow the designer “direction” with your styling choices.