An indie influence in fashion
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 13, 2006 9:00 p.m.
It was just another Monday night at the Silver Lake club
Spaceland, and local indie rock band Army Navy was performing
onstage. The bassist, Ben Gaffin, played an almost-hypnotizing riff
as the band’s catchy music filled the room. After the show,
the patio was flooded with people who had anxiously rushed outside
for a post-show cigarette. Now that the band and the fans were no
longer separated by the stage inside, something became clear: It
was almost impossible to tell the band members apart from their
fans. Nearly everyone was wearing the same thing.
Two years ago, this scene would have been, to the average
person, like stepping into a completely different world. These
days, however, the dangerously form-fitting jeans, shaggy unkempt
hair, blazers and band T-shirts traditionally sported by male indie
rockers have finally crossed over into mainstream fashion.
“The look is really hip right now,” said Shaun
Islam, a fourth-year philosophy student. “It’s chic to
be rock ‘n’ roll.”
Three days after the Army Navy show, Tristan Bunning, guitarist
of the band Underage Cuties, was sitting at a Westwood Starbucks
discussing his displeasure with indie rock’s influence on
mainstream fashion. As he spoke, three teenage boys walked by
sporting Bunning’s exact look.
Bunning was clearly annoyed.
“The indie rock fashion craze has spawned a whole
generation of fake rock ‘n’ rollers who lie about
playing music,” Bunning said. “I bet those kids have
never picked up a guitar in their lives.”
Although Bunning’s claim is questionable, one thing is
sure: The impact that the indie rock scene has made recently on
mainstream music and fashion alike is almost becoming
oxymoronic.
While genre innovators such as the Pixies were signed to
independent record labels, today, bands such as the Decemberists
share major labels with Coldplay, and groups such as the Arcade
Fire share radio airplay with the Foo Fighters.
Indie rock’s departure from its roots is paralleled by its
influence on mainstream fashion. It’s nearly impossible to
walk into any department or specialty store without encountering
clothing inspired by the indie scene.
Tina Huynh, a visual merchandiser for the Gap, couldn’t be
happier with the mass availability of indie-inspired styles.
“It makes certain items more reasonably priced because
they are mass-produced,” Huynh said. “Certain items
with the indie rock flair used to be hard to find, but now I can
even get them at Old Navy.”
Despite the overwhelming success of indie style’s recent
venture into mainstream fashion, not everyone understands the
look’s appeal. Cassie Cox, a second-year nursing student at
Saddleback College, thinks the style is overrated.
“I think a lot of people with that style look like
bums,” Cox said.
Even Army Navy’s bassist, Gaffin, who can be seen
performing with the rest of his band Nov. 18 at Spaceland,
doesn’t really get it. As one of the few indie rock musicians
who prefer not to sport the slacker style, Gaffin believes that
music should come before image.
“The more talented you are, the less time you put into
these sorts of things. You think the guys in Sonic Youth actually
think about that?” he said. “Music shows
shouldn’t be fashion shows.”
Much to Gaffin’s dismay, a majority of the male models who
walked the fall 2006 runways of Marc Jacobs showed off
indie-inspired shaggy haircuts, vintage T-shirts and blazers.
Jovan Rangel, a fourth-year political science student and indie
rock aficionado, welcomed Jacobs’s attire into his wardrobe
with open arms.
“Marc Jacobs combines the style factor with pop
culture,” Rangel said. “Indie rock fans have been
dressing out of thrift stores, but now Marc has stepped up to the
plate to make a style of clothing that is rooted in the sound of
music.”
Still, it may seem odd that a chic designer such as Jacobs
appeals to the independent-minded. His clothing is primarily
available in high-end shops, a far cry from the grungy thrift
stores on which the style was built.
Jacobs, however, understands that fans closely follow in the
footsteps ““ and style choices ““ of their favorite
musicians. This year, Jacobs signed on Meg White of the White
Stripes to model for his spring 2006 line.
David “Blondie” Lin, a fourth-year sociology
student, acknowledges the impact that musicians’ style
choices have on their fans.
“Fans always try to emulate the bands they like, and since
the recent indie rock explosion, everyone is dressing indie,”
Lin said. “Bands like the White Stripes have a tremendous
amount of influence over their fans’ clothes.”
Although not everyone is a fan of indie rock’s many
influences on the fashion industry, the look is effortlessly taking
over the wardrobes of musicians, bubblegum pop fans and supermodels
alike. For her part, Serena Hendrix, a fashion model for Click
Models and a fan of the genre, isn’t concerned.
“Music and fashion tend to influence each other in a
continuous cycle,” she said. “And indie is definitely a
good candidate for influencing fashion.”
