I'm not gonna lie. If there are people who have a real problem with fashion, there's a ton of things they can pick on to cement whatever point they are trying to make; the materialism, the vanity, the vapidity, the unethical practises, the cost, so on and so forth. But I have to make a stand when one of the most UNLIKELY designers is getting a battering. Some of you may have read about designer Peter Jensen's current plight. Thirty or so women in Nuuk, Greenland took to the streets last week to protest against Jensen's A/W 08-9 collection, more specifically the white leather thigh-high boots printed with flowers, inspired by Greenlandic Kamik boots. Jensen is accused of directly copying the country's national costume and that he is looking down on Greenlandic culture. As a result Jensen is receiving death threats from these protestors.
Seriously?!? Jensen doesn't deny that his shoes are anything more than an innocent loving tribute to Greenland's national costume and for that he's getting death threats?!? Possibly being punished for being Danish (Greenland was once a colony of Denmark…)?!? More to the point, Jensen is just about the cutest designer you will ever meet; sweet, gentle and sincere in what he does. Any theme, any season, he creates a world around it in the form of a collection and in the case of this A/W09 collection, it was his dear Aunt Jytte who lived in Greenland that inspired it all. Of ALL the designers to be protesting against… Jensen shouldn't be one of them.
As Carola Long points out in the Independent, 'borrowing' from other cultures in fashion is so rife that if you're gonna pick some bones, there are so many other instances and examples that are to my mind far MORE dubious than Jensen's cute Kamik boots. Hows about the use of 'ethnic' as a general word used wherever and whenver we're not exactly sure WHAT ethnicity we're harping on about? Are the Japanese sending Galliano evils over his kimono-laden Dior couture collection? What about this season's "tribal" trend – what tribe, where, when, how? Oh, this particular grey area of fashion would be pure heaven for a pedantic fashion killjoy indeed…
One look at Jensen in Greenland on his research trip last year and you simply have to scratch your head… as Phil from Streetpeeper would say "Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!" ('tis no lie he slightly crushes Jensen…)
A wee note about the collection – I for one am glad Jensen has returned to what he does best; unabashedly cute and immersed into a theme that is personal to him…
(Photographs by Kate Rodgers and Rod Edmonds)
Those boots are beautiful. I’d say they were inspired by and promoting a culture, not looking down on it.
I am a Danish girl who has lived in Qaqortoq, a town in southern Greenland, for half of my life.
I agree that Peter Jensen has done nothing wrong, but I do have one thing I would critizise about Peter Jensen’s design: in my opinion it doesn’t have much of a “creative value”. Whereas a lot of other designers would have used “ethnic” themes for inspiration and then added their own touch to it, the only thing Peter Jensen adds to the traditional kamik is a high heel. I would have liked to see him use the treaditional embroidery technique on, say, a pair of stilettos?
Greenland could use some promotion, so I find it sad that some people in Greenland see this as an attack on their culture. Fortunately, it is not all greenlanders who share this opinion. Especially the young people; some of my classmates and I discussed this and we agreed that there is nothing wrong with Peter Jensen being inspired by Greenlandic culture 🙂
Check out this page to see pictures of the beautiful details in the Greenlandic national costume: http://www.groenlaenderdragten.blogspot.com/
All I have to say is that Peter Jensen’s was my favorite collection this fashion month. Like you said, there are so many other countries that designers have “borrowed” ideas from, Russia is one that instantly springs to mind. Why is Peter the one who is being battered for something that so many designers do?
This is absolutely ridiculous!!!!
Poor Peter….
Like people have said above many deisgners borrow from the cultures and folklore of different countries… nothing new!
http://aforteforfashion.blogspot.com
Oh no, Poor Peter! I love his work and the boots are quite wonderful and aren’t at all degrading about Greenland. xx
If an artist did a painting of a group of Greenlandic women, in traditional costume, no one would say anything. That artist could theoretically (depending on the artist) sell that painting for thousands of dollars. It is exactly the same as what Peter Jensen has done, taken a beautiful traditional inspiration, worked it into his art, and is now selling it. I’m not saying fashion “is” art, but why doesn’t it deserve the same respect and freedoms?
Tell Peter Jenson to come to the U.S.A. We love fashion and don’t care about silly stuff like what Greenland got so offended
over!
Excellent points Ms Bubble. I find it interesting that when it comes to creativity, people seem to feel there is a percentage rule needed for validation. Like if the only thing Peter changed from the original boot is to add a heel, then than means less of a percentage of creativity and thus not worthy of much accolade. It is often the smallest changes or simplest of ideas that can be revolutionary. Like YSL and his smoking suit on a woman. Men’s Suit = not a new idea, on a woman = fashion revolution.
I cannot describe how awesome those boots are to me right now
I try not to say negative things on the internet because I know they’ll come back to haunt me, but honestly, the stupidity of protesting over a pair of boots simply because they’re based on traditional costume! I love those boots and I think the “offended” people are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overreacting.
There are few ethnicities or cultures left in Europe that have not been exploited for fashion. Though death threats are freakishly over the top, I can see this as almost inevitable that a country so endangered by global warming and its industrialist causes would react angrily to the symbolic appropriation of their as-of-yet-less-touted cultural signifiers. German/Austrian trachten, Dutch wooden shoes, Greek fisherman caps–all have reached levels of camp culture from being propagated as mere fashion accessories and are for that maybe slightly less potent culturally. As loving and quite attractive as Jensen’s tribute was, it was very difficult to tell the embroidery pattern he was using was Greenlandic to an outside observer–it could look Czech, Finnish, German or what have you to those unfamiliar with that particular floral. The less exposure and typification a culture has been subject to in the world media (or the less notorious or exploited, conversely, as in the case of the Romani with gypsy chic appropriations, etc) perhaps the more tenuous its symbols are when recontextualized? Maybe fashion needs to play from stereotypes to remain comfortable, and when a tribute is genuine and heartfelt like Jensen’s it becomes too close to home.
its not my taste but you can see his strength in the collection
i really dont understand how his use of the kamik could be seen as negative
Idiots and psycho’s; they do need to lighten up, the lot of them.
Absurd! And what an intelligent, thoughtful post by Kaye. Thanks Susie & Kaye for contributing so much more than the usual fashion blurb. xo
This is such a fun looking website! I love the layout — very inviting. Makes you want to hang out for awhile…
http://derherzen.blogspot.com/
I don’t see anything wrong with what he is doing. Everyone takes inspiration from other countries. And doesn’t that mean you love that part of a country’s culture when you do take inspiration from it? Hell in NZ we make a living off selling native patterns on shirts and skirts (for $1000 you can pick up an authentic Maori-styled feather cloak). The only thing a country can get mad about is if you steal from their culture and get it wrong. I remember a lawsuit filed by one of our tribes to an American outdoor company- they ripped off the idea of our mythological beasts (called taniwha) and then did Americanized versions of our sacred carvings and then proceeded to get the names for them wrong (which is a huge insult to our people- even speaking our language wrong can get you a clip over the ear- I should know).
I think there are a lot more things to get angry about and these protesters need to get a life. If you don’t like them, don’t buy them!
I am loving those knits!! So sweet
And yeah, wtf about the death threats :/
Susie,
Wonderfully said. When a debate or some uproar is going on, its hard to find some opinion on it that can provide a little understanding.
I find it sad that Peter has to go through this, since you know that any collection he would make would be about something he loves and not something that he wants to belittle. A collection is the artists/designers heart and I am sad that his is being stomped on.
i can’t tell you enough how much i appreciate your bringing lesser known designers to light. good fashion is costly, and, especially in america, where we’re experiencing a recession, it’s been under a lot of attack. i think it’s important for people in the industry to be in support of each other, and i love the awareness you promote.
bravo on your consistently relevant and extraordinarily attentive information!
Hej Sys! Hurtigt ude ;D
It is nothing new that excentrics and conservatives protest against using our folklore costume in a different way. We had the same rage going over the country a few years back when an official woman had only worn half of the costume. She had done it, only to make it feel more like her own style, and perhaps a little more contemporary. The same women did the same stunt. The way that these few women have exaggerated and received interest of the Greenlandic press is extreme. But hey, Greenland is such a little country and the press needs something to rag about that is not our social or economic problems. Many people are very nationalistic and can be offended by almost anything. And this time they were lucky! Finally they caught a big fish that causes uproar and attention to Greenland all over the world! Congratulations to those, I would say. Hopefully bad reputation is after all just reputation.
Where can you buy those boots and to what price? I would love to wear something that would remind me of my home country and make me laugh of all this uproar. I love his design and would wish he used white seal leather – it has such a beautiful surface and the noise it makes sounds just like walking in the snow…
I’m of the opinion there’s no such thing as bad publicity and whilst it must be entirely unpleasent to receive such letters – it is a fact of public life that it attracts all sorts. The focus on Greenland is a recent development and they’ll get over it at some point. Meanwhile how super cute and divine are teh designs. I definitley need a Norwegian log cabin now!
PS you were in Epsom! Were you at UCA??
Kate (Make Do now Film Upstart, it’s weird chinging names I feel like a new wardrobe is required for my new personna – any excuse!)
Luckily for Peter Jensen I’m not sure that the rest of the world cares what 30 women in Greenland think.
Are the Russians and Ukranians going to protest against Galliano?
What’s next?
I too am a Danish girl who grew up on Greenland, and I love this collection. It reminds me of growing up in this beautiful country that I truly love! I had a national suit and kamikker when I was a girl, so seeing this just makes me happy!
i actually didn’t hear of this until now.
it doesn’t make sense to me either.
You know what this now means!!!! Peter is going on santa’s ‘naughty boy’ list. Just throw them some carrots…they’ll soon pipe down.
beautiful collection, but i understand the sentiment. though, i think it would be promoting knowledge in the culture more than anything.
people get worked up over the craziest of things sometimes.
Delurking to echo the sentiment of “wtf.” There are ethnic-inspired pieces and designers that can come off as patronizing, but this isn’t one of them. Death threats? Sounds like a few folks need a sense of perspective, ASAP. I would expect this kind of frothing outrage at, say, genocide. Not a pair of boots.
I can almost hear the sound of thousands of Greenlanders collectively rolling their eyes at these nutcases.
those boots are gorgeous. sweet & sexy. nuff said.
omg susie, why you gonna tell everyone about my crush on peter jensen!! haha
great PR for a pair of boots, they are lovely boots. and I probably wouldn’t have given them a second thought until now. My bet is they sell out come next season.
OH no poor peter
This should not be happening to him of all people!!!
pinknapoleon.blogspot.com