V&R is wedded to the idea that a business is most moral when modelled on the estate of Max Scheler (V&R, Chapter 5). A good example of the estate, even within vast industries, is the genba — the solidaristic and innovative worker’s ethos of Japan (“Japan’s Famed Manufacturing Model Is Facing a Crisis” [WSJ:…
In an interesting article — https://fashionista.com/2018/10/sustainable-ethical-fashion-clothes-aesthetic-style — Dominique Drakeford explains that African slaves were required to wear drab clothing. However, for liturgies and veneration, they had license to make their own clothes and so favoured cloth of vibrant constellations of colour. She writes: “In order to feel liberated and to make a distinction between their…
“Warhol loved snapping nudes, full on nudes, which he called “Landscapes”” (https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/op-ed-in-the-universe-of-warhol?) This is an interesting idea: The body as a landscape. It puts me in mind of Leibniz’s beautiful claim that the body of the monad is like a garden. Warhol is the definition of avant-garde and with skincare companies scanning the face…
Over at Law and Liberty I have a new post on geopolitics. It’s a review of the latest book by Robert D. Kaplan: https://www.lawliberty.org/2018/10/01/american-power-in-a-medieval-world/. His books are always excellent and offer “big picture” analysis of major world trends. Kaplan is extremely well-read but also has his “nose to the ground” and so combines understanding…
Instagram is a “best foot forward” platform. It’s a digital space for people to showcase their best selves. Hume would love it! Pope Francis also seems to be keen (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/technology/instagram-celebrities-cultural-powerhouse.html?). Inspired by the “best version of your self” idea, Francis has an Instagram post where he declares: “It’s good not to do evil. …
I am just back from the magnificent “Heavenly Bodies” exhibition in New York. The exhibition is a respectful and fascinating exploration of the influence of Catholicism on fashion designers. I highly recommend. For me, I literally laughed when I noticed a bit of papal subversion. One hears all the time about fashion subverting the…
My delphiniums are looking super at the moment. Tolkien would approve: https://voegelinview.com/gardening-and-nobility-in-tolkien/
A book doing the rounds in France is causing a stir in fashion circles (https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/sep/02/academic-exposing-ugly-reality-high-fashion-giulia-mensitieri). We have to hope that anthropologist Giulia Mensitieri’s book makes it into English (if not, I’ll give it a crack in the original and try to give my take on it). Happily, the account in The Guardian is full…
Formally, ours is an egalitarian age. One of the great custodians of this idea is the fashion establishment, at least in America, where fashion editorials relentlessly drive home equal rights, inclusion, globalism, etc. It is also absurd. Many brands trade on national identity and massive unequal wealth polices luxury, and especially haute couture. Asymmetries…
This is a super article about the new tech incubator in Paris and both Burke and Kolnai (V&R, Chapter 7) would approve. http://fortune.com/2018/09/03/in-the-lab-of-luxury/ It’s a good example confirming Kolnai’s idea about the resilience of hierarchy.