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The Ultimate Style Icon?

post #1 of 74
3/25/08 at 6:53am
Thread Starter 
Is Kim Jong Il the ultimate style icon? Fade to Black brought up a good point with all these Asian boys wanting to be fashion icons, but failing desperately in all their pre-fabricated artificiality. Leisure suits, high-heeled shoes and outrageous eyeframes--you can't fake that.
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post #2 of 74
3/25/08 at 6:56am
i'd vote for Gianni Agnelli. i'd like to add that Lapo Elkann has done a good job of carrying the torch... other definitive style icons: - Yohji Yamamoto - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - Serge Gainsbourg - Elton John - Michael Jackson
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post #3 of 74
3/25/08 at 6:57am
Thread Starter 
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/r...m_jong_il_look I think those glasses he favors might be vintage Cazal.
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post #4 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LabelKing View Post
all these Asian boys wanting to be fashion icons, but failing desperately in all their pre-fabricated artificiality.
it's even worse when you see this sort of celebrity style trickle down into the average Asian youth. Yesterday at dinner I passed by this group of young guys, they were all wearing those hip, "in the know" Japanese brands...Mastermind Japan tees, Levi's X Fenom jeans and what not, but it was all pure hype, no swagger. That's the problem...people are concentrating too much on the implications of the clothes themselves rather than thinking about the implications the clothes have on their personality.
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post #5 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fade to Black View Post
i'd vote for Gianni Agnelli.

i'd like to add that Lapo Elkann has done a good job of carrying the torch...

other definitive style icons:

- Yohji Yamamoto
- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
- Serge Gainsbourg
- Elton John
- Michael Jackson
I also favor '60s and '70s Yves Saint Laurent.
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post #6 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:06am
YSL was good back then, but I can't help but think how he's kinda faded into the background and he doesn't feel relevant today. For that, I think in the greater picture of history Karl Lagerfeld is a better style icon than YSL.
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post #7 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fade to Black View Post
it's even worse when you see this sort of celebrity style trickle down into the average Asian youth. Yesterday at dinner I passed by this group of young guys, they were all wearing those hip, "in the know" Japanese brands...Mastermind Japan tees, Levi's X Fenom jeans and what not, but it was all pure hype, no swagger. That's the problem...people are concentrating too much on the implications of the clothes themselves rather than thinking about the implications the clothes have on their personality.

Indeed, I was in Hong Kong about a year ago, and saw all this firsthand. A whole lot of those" brands that were worn to obvious effect, like Undercoverism Number Nine, etc.

Rather than showing apparent individuality, it shows their whore-ness.
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post #8 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:17am
Kim Jong-Il is a style icon only in the Bond villain type of way. He's like a Korean Gert Froebe, and as I write that I can hear the latter (or his dubbed voice by David de Keyser) chuckling, "Golf is not yet the national game of Korea, eh?"
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post #9 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:22am
Thread Starter 
The other conspicuously Bond-esque villain style icon I can think of is Mobutu Sese Seko with his leopard-skin hats, tortoise-shell eyeframes and weird leisure suits:
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post #10 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:25am
Idi Amin? He wore military uniform like no other.
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post #11 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:25am
There is only one fashion icon.

Zoolander.
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post #12 of 74
3/25/08 at 7:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fade to Black View Post
Idi Amin? He wore military uniform like no other.
According to sources, Idi Amin used to have people look for assorted, completely random medals to buy so he could wear them on his tunic. Or perhaps Qaddafi of Libya: Also Bokassa who holds the record for world's most expensive shoes also known as a pair of bespoke pearl-studded Berlutis for his coronation, which were interestingly given to him by the government of France.
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post #13 of 74
3/25/08 at 9:21am
Qaddafi is a good call.

Reza Shah Pahlavi was okay, but I don't have time to search for a picture.

I would definitely second Yves Saint Laurent if you want people from the fashion world. Lagerfeld is bit too weird.
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post #14 of 74
3/25/08 at 10:21am
You cannot beat the king of Chin, Burt Lancaster!


Paolo
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http://gentrystyle.com
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post #15 of 74
3/25/08 at 10:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PCabrelli View Post
You cannot beat the king of Chin, Burt Lancaster!

I thought that was Bruce Campbell.
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