THE 2020 DISCOTHEQUE AWARDS
Welcome to the first annual Disco—theque year-end awards, the only award show that covers everything from Telfar to Tony Snell. So without any further ado, lets get to our winners.
The Pulitzer Prize for Excellence in Instagram Captions
Winner: Noah
If War and Peace was written today, I’m sure the guys on Noah’s social media team would be writing it. Seriously, their Instagram captions will be 500 words long with MLA citations to let you know they’re releasing a corduroy baseball cap. They put more thought into these captions than I’ve ever put into any paper in my academic career. Come to think of it, maybe my public policy professor made some valid points when she told me I care more about men’s jeans than I do about her papers, but I digress.
The Adele Award for Someone Who Could’ve Had It All
Winner: GAP
Gotta respect GAP for pulling the rare buy-high-sell-low when they dumped Telfar for Yeezy right as Telfar established his brand as the hottest brand on the market. They could’ve had two collaborations playing out dueling interpretations of GAP’s Americana, but instead they have hoodies with no center pocket. Well, at least no one who’s ever met Kanye West has ever failed.
Best Editorial
Winner: And Wander
Who would’ve thought gorpcore would’ve had a moment this year when no one was allowed outside for half of it? Often with hiking gear we saw a glamourization of the outdoors — and wander AW20 is almost the exact opposite. Their surroundings look cold and miserable, and the light reflecting off the falling snow makes the snowflakes seem even more prominent. And wander garments are made for these types of environments, yet everyone I’ve ever known who wears it uses it to stand in the corner alone at parties. Hey, at least they’re warm.
The Icarus Award For Flying to Close to the Sun
Winner: Warren Lotas
Warren Lotas had the perfect Nike bootleg, and probably would’ve gotten away with it too if he didn’t release it at such a large quantity. Nike sued, and Warren Lotas backed down. Nike most likely would’ve won on the basis of Lotas’s design lead to consumer confusion. When I first saw the shoe, I thought it was a legitimate collab.
The Down Bad Award
Winner: Warren Lotas
Then of course after getting sued by Nike he remade the shoe, it was hideous, people cancelled orders, and Warren Lotas missed out on approximately $2.5 million in revenue. Then just to add insult to injury, BAPE bootlegged a dunk, and is probably going to get away with it, just like how they got away with the BAPESTA’s. Really and truly hate to see it.
Instagram Explore Page Champion:
Winner: Dennis Rodman
Thanks to Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance documentary and Grailed’s propensity to post 90s fit pics, Dennis Rodman owned my Instagram explore page. Like most people in their early 20s, I knew him as the former basketball player who’s friends with Kim Jong Un, so finding out he was getting off Chrome Hearts fits before I was born was off putting, to say the least.
Completely Expected Surprise Trend of the Year
Winner: The Y2k Aesthetic
The old saying is that fashion operates in 20 year cycles. If you dressed like a Bratz doll in 2019 people would probably call the police on you; we hit 2020 and now the whole aesthetic runs Depop. Who could possibly have predicted that?
Stove God Cooks Rookie of the Year Award
Winner: Matthew Williams’s Givenchy
Listen, I know that this was by far the biggest appointment this year. Technically we could talk about Kim Jones at Fendi, but I mean, come on. Sometimes the most notorious one is notorious for a reason. Williams’s background with Alyx and streetwear made him ripe for criticism, so the first show was always going to be an arms race to fire off the hottest takes possible, bulldozing through any possible nuance. Now I don’t think it was a perfect show by any means (seriously, what on earth are those hats with the horns, and why did Kim Kardashian take her promo photos with hair on the floor?) but he did exactly what he came to Givenchy to do; revitalize their accessories, bring in his street-smart tailoring, and overall bring a wave of youthful darkness that was much needed at the house.
The “What Could’ve Been” Award
Winner: Chitose Abe at Jean Paul Gaultier
Honestly, I’m surprised this idea isn’t utilized more often, especially when it comes to filling the Creative Director role after the house’s namesake leaves (a la Maison Margiela or Jil Sander). The idea of having a trusted designer come in and gain access to the house’s archives and designs and create within that lens is wonderful from a fan perspective, but it also alleviates the pressure of immediately finding a perfect Creative Director while also easing the expectations for the next permanent designer. You never want to be the person who immediately follows a legend and gets buried in their shadow. On top of all of that, there’s also a sense of freshness and freedom with knowing that a designer is only going to design one collection.
Remembering A Real One:
Winner: Totokaelo
We lost Totokaelo, yet Mitch McConnell is still kicking. Only the good die young, I guess.
Best Fashion Film:
Winner: Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Stitch Me Back Together With Gold
2020 was the year of the fashion film, and despite plenty of strong contenders from the likes of Gucci and The film unfolds like a memory of a dream you can’t quite place, instead relying
Most Uncomfortable Fashion Film
Winner: Enfants Riches Deprimes, Desolate Then
Desolate Then presents the sort of discomfort that defines Enfants Riches Deprimes. It’s a sort of discomfort akin to Poe’s poetry in the way that it physically makes your skin crawl; shots of a dentist appointment with all-to-real audio and meat that’s so rare it’s still bleeding were so moving that I physically had to look away so as not to gag. But for all the films emotive strengths, it ultimately fails to include any models of color at any point in its 11-minute run time. Like all luxury brands, Enfants Riches Deprimes uses price as an indicator of exclusivity, which is baked into their very name (Enfants Riches Deprimes is loosely French for depressed rich kids), but this exclusivity runs far deeper than just the price point. I wanted to give ERD the benefit of the doubt, but upon researching their collections, we have found just five (5!) non white models across their 10 collections. At times Enfants Riches Deprimes is a bit of a watered-down version of Saint Laurent; perhaps casting all white models is one thing they do as well as their Parisian counterparts.
MVP Awards:
Winners: Jonathan Anderson and Telfar Clemens
I genuinely don’t believe in singling one thing out as the greatest, especially in something like fashion with no real objective metrics for judgement. Instead, our MVPs are based around how they adapted to the pandemic (Jonathan Anderson), their role in driving the cultural zeitgeist (Telfar),
Telfar:
The Telfar bag is really something for everyone. How often do we see luxury houses talk about luxury being for “everyone,” with the very explicit subtext that you must be able to afford the four figure price tag to be included? Well, Telfar showed everyone up with the Bushwick Birkin. Aspirational yet attainable, a statement piece that’s subtle, 2020 was undoubtedly Telfar’s year, and it’s been a long time coming.
Jonathan Anderson:
While everyone zigged, Jonathan Anderson zagged. As runway shows quickly evolved down into fashion films, Anderson instead brought the fashion straight to you with his show-in-a-box concept. Fashion has a soft spot for dolls and paper figures because that’s how so many designers began working with clothes as children, and despite seeing runway shows that refer to dolls themselves, we’ve never actually seen someone try something quite like this.