Blue jeans, white shirt Walked into the room, you know you made my eyes burn It was like James Dean, for sure ...
No, this is isn’t a romantic ode to some current love interest that’s got my attention, that's Lana Del Ray's song from 2012 “Blue Jeans”. There are few things that are as synonymous to jeans, as music and maybe James Dean - 'The rebel without a cause'. But, jeans and music are inextricably linked from well before the days when Bruce Springsteen was proud to be ‘Born in the USA’.
In fact, that is one of the most recognisable visual connects between the long love affair that music and indigo have been having for decades. One can trace the journey that music has taken over the years and link it almost perfectly to the journey that your proverbial denims have taken- era after era.
The roaring 50’s and its rock and roll influences gave birth to Gene Vincents ‘Blue Jean Bop’, the late 70s saw Neil Diamond seducing us ‘Forever in blue jeans’. So much so that the 1971 Rolling Stones album cover for ‘Sticky Fingers’ is ingrained in my memory as classic Andy Warhol pop art that just re-iterates one thing— the jeans that built America have taken over the world!
From the 80’s bad hair days to the electro vibes we’re dishing out today, jeans have also gone through a transformation. In the 80’s we saw these high waist jeans sported by Wham in the 90’s they got low rise and in the early to mid 2000’s they got so low that it became mandatory to show off your underwear.
Sported by ‘rockstars with an attitude’ and by the ‘hommie from the hood’ rapping his woes away, every genre of music has its own avatar of ‘the jeans’.
Today, brands have integrated denim with music so holistically that one defines the other. Italian fashion brand UMM literally stands for ‘Underground Music Movement’, Kanye West- the bad boy of music, recently designed denim ranges for APC.
It will be interesting to see the turns and twists music and denims make in the years to come with designers, brands, boutique labels, etc; evolving not just the fashion, but, in keeping with the tunes that your strumming on Spotify.
Vito Dell ‘Erba, creative director, with a fashion brand says, “Denim has always been an integral part of every cultural movement in society. It has innately become a symbol of comfort and freedom. Denim wear started as attire for the workers in the minefields and today it has penetrated every strata of society be it pret, of the peg clothing of luxury wear. Denimwear has progressed to be a reflection of a subculture and a movement that is usually influenced by music.
Today Jeans are about embracing the human body. The garment has become body conscious in terms of silhouettes and fits.”
Till next time, keep it sharp!
— A film maker, script writer, stylist, marketing junkie, the writer indulges in the latest fashion; brainstorming about fashion brands like 'Youth fashion brands under FLF and 'Breakbounce Streetwear' to name a few.
