𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 જ⁀➴ 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎

High heels and meggings, from our devices to yours જ⁀➴

MØRNING. For this week’s Screen Share, MØRNING Strategy Lead Rohani lets us into her online world, from impractical yet visionary high heels content, to dare we say it, the birth of meggings - male leggings that is.

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1. THE SEDUCTION OF IMPRACTICALITY 

The girls reclaimed ‘girly’, and now outright displays of impracticality are in.

Credit: @erotocomatose

As a reaction to ever-evolving ideas of gender, femininity and womanhood, we’re seeing many aesthetic movements resituating the feminine body as a site of subversive resistance. 

Although previously exemplified through the viral hyper-feminine coquette aesthetic of bows, lace and frills, I’m most drawn to the subgenre of content which celebrates the impractical - especially through the lens of gendered items, namely high heels.

erotocomatose

A post shared by @erotocomatose

Accounts like @erotocomatose curate the idea best, with content that distinctly warps, distorts and ultimately rejects the modern notion of ‘the practical woman’. As the ‘weird’ and ‘ugly’ are increasingly pushed from the edges of society to the centres of culture, this type of aesthetic rejection of the traditionally ‘beautiful’ and ‘logical’ is leading us to explore more interesting and expansive avenues and identities. 

I won’t get deeper into the cultural and economic analysis this topic warrants (sorry…or you’re welcome). My point is simple: deeply impractical = deeply appealing. Social media is a place we go to be entertained. I don’t know about you, but I like the voyeuristic indulgence of seeing someone skiing in red stilettos, especially when it interrupts an oversaturated and homogenous scroll. 

2. MATERIAL MATTERS

When it comes to branded content, audiences are more interested in ‘process’ than ever. They want to map out the stories and craftsmanship that actually goes into what they wear. For new leagues of discerning buyers - material matters. 

at.kollektive

A post shared by @at.kollektive

Whilst many brands are leaning into this more and more (Loewe gets it), we’re rarely privy to the experimentation that comes much earlier than product design. Many established brands and suppliers have the financial privilege of being able to innovate, test, and play with materials in ways many smaller designers don’t, yet it’s often from the smaller designers that we see the real test-and-learn processes that informs their practice. 

eccoleather

A post shared by @eccoleather

 That’s why I love seeing the above content from @At.Kollektive and @EccoLeather. Together, they’re playing with the possibilities of leather. It’s refreshingly not all about product or performance, it’s about experimentation, creativity, and not taking it too seriously. You can sense when there’s a team of genuinely curious people behind-the-scenes, and it doesn’t hurt that it builds audience trust in a brand’s quality control and technical expertise. 

The lesson? If you have the privilege of play, use it.

3. CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS >>> BRAND COLLABORATIONS

With collaboration fatigue at an all-time high, distinct cultural value is a must.

Brands from every category are desperate to conquer new audiences, borrow credibility from their partners, and, most importantly, make a lot of money. For some, like Kiko x Asics or Martine Rose x Nike, it’s a formula birthing cult products that win the hearts and minds of the consumer. 

Credit: @throwing.fits

However, as audiences grow ever more discerning, climate conscious and bored, most brand crossovers are getting a one-note reaction: “nobody asked for or needed this”. Today’s landscape demands justification, a reason for being. Beyond product, what cultural value is your collaboration bringing to the table?

However, as audiences grow ever more discerning, climate conscious and bored, most brand crossovers are getting a one-note reaction: “nobody asked for or needed this”. 

That’s a question Japanese brand Goldwin clearly asked themselves in their recent creative collaboration with London-based studio, OK-RM. The two entities partnered on Collective Study, a book, film, and exhibition mediating on the nature and possibilities of collaborative practice, with the goal of establishing new practices. Not another product for product’s sake.

In OK-RM’s words: “A collective study broadens out and radically transforms the conceptualisation of learning as a solitary pursuit. When shared, the activity of study takes on new dimensions of risk and possibility”.

okrm_london

A post shared by @okrm_london

Creative collaborations that prioritise curiosity, conversation and collectivity often say far more about a brand’s culture and values than a product collaboration ever could. Rather than polluting the world by needlessly producing more, brands should take a leaf out of Goldwin and OK-RM’s book. 

By working with a respected and credible thought partner, utilising their respective resources to ADD to culture and stimulate new dialogues, Goldwin demonstrates an exemplary self-knowledge. Whilst a brand is a brand, with the right approach it can, and should, be a facilitator, platformer, and supporter of culture far beyond itself.  

4. MALE + LEGGINGS = MEGGINGS APPARENTLY

@kapowmeggingsBlazer + Meggings = 😍 #mensfashiontips #mensleggings

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A recent obsession of mine is an apparently new phenomenon: meggings. Initially, when this brand showed up in my feed I was convinced it was a joke. Although on the surface it appears and behaves like a run-of-the mill, TikTok startup brand account, it feels like pure satire. So un-self aware that it collapses into self-awareness. I had to scour their posts to find a website, which I eventually did, but even with this evidence, I cannot be completely convinced.

There’s two possible truths here:

1. It’s real and men are buying and styling meggings

2. It’s a genius social experiment

Credit: @kapowmeggings on TikTok

Whilst I selfishly hope it's the latter, I must accept the former as the likeliest truth. It does however leave me with questions:

Have a lot of men been wondering how to ‘elevate their leggings’?

Are meggings ‘streetwear’ as the creator declares they are?

Is this the male reclamation of the 2010s chokehold that leggings had on women’s fashion? 

Are people really wearing ‘formal wear’ with leggings as the bottom half?

I’m sure, with time, all will be revealed..

5. DJ, PLAY MY SONG THE TIKTOK RECORDER MAN

Lastly, my favourite social account right now is this man who either does or doesn’t understand how to remove suggested audio when making and posting TikToks. 

@aikthyewee @aikthyewee ♬ Put in Work - Wildstyle

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On his recorder (?), he dutifully performs the same simple tune, over and over and over again, sometimes with extremely loud, randomly selected backing tracks, and sometimes, when he feels like it, acapella. I follow the school of thought that he knows perfectly well what he’s doing and has a deep, meta-understanding of digital culture that far surpasses the rest of us.

What is he teaching us? 

1. A USP is a must.

2. On TikTok, consistency is key as you never know where your audience will meet you.

3. Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.

But really, the earnest practice of dedicating 10,000 hours (or TikToks) is a lost craft. We have much to learn from him.

Perhaps this man and his page represent the best parts of our digital existence? A repetitive loop that reminds us what the internet could be, and once was: a playground for discovery, a haven of uncurated, impossible-to-stage entertainment and most meaningfully, a site of sincere self expression. In the words of the brilliant Willow Defebaugh “remember: the internet may be coded in binary ones and zeros, but we are anything but.”

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Until next time readers!

Words: Rohani Coombes

Editors: Sui Donovan, Letty Cole