We are a generation obsessed with phrases , 10% of all pins on Pinterest are Quotes “Pinterest is designed to be a visual experience,” said Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based company, adding, “We were surprised by the popularity of these quotes.” Blogger, Bonnie Tsang, like many users, leverages the visual experience by layering quotes on top of images, A recent pin that reads “Don’t Hate What You Don’t Understand!” with an image of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, was re-pinned more than 1,600 times.
Twitter is another popular place for the quote hungry, with hundreds of accounts dedicated to motivational quotes, infact my #amberattitudes tweets are among my most favourited and RT’d tweets. But where do the really die hard quote fans go? WeHeartIt . Favourited by designer Mary Katrantzou, this huge pre-teen social playground is massively under utilised by retailers , at one point, WeHeartIt Founded in 2008 by Brazil native Fabio Giolito,was nearly five times the size of Pinterest.
Ashish Gupta is the man behind quote and sequin tastic Ashish! The tongue in cheek, playful London fashion label that’s known for its craftsmanship and quality just as much as its pop-culture influenced branding. I wore Ashish last night to the wonderful Liberatum dinner in honor of John Hurt ( see below- my real dad?! #couldnotresist) and it got a lot of attention, but moreover it sparked an interesting debate about our appetite for quotes in all forms and what they mean to our culture. Whilst slogans enjoy a continued fashion revival, see Susie Bubble’s recent post revealing Kenzo have sold 20,000 of those Tiger sweatshirts with ongoing waiting lists at stores, designers including Markus Lupfer and Zoe Karssen enjoy growing commercial success with their witty phrase tees and sweaters.
Markus Lupfer ‘CHILL’ Tee Sweater £298
Ashish himself remarks, “I find Tumblr very inspiring, it’s like an ever-evolving giant scrapbook of ideas from millions of people all over the world. It’s just an incredibly good source for visual research.” taking the trend to display these quotes rendered in beautiful typography and transferring them to tees and sweaters is proving to be a lucrative concept. Whilst cats, one of, if not THE most popular thing on the internet, is seeping its way into fashion- I noticed Topshop have cats on their carrier bags now- will popular hashtags transfer over to be branded over clothes next? #JustSayin either way as Ashish’s Tee says, Je Suis Fatigue. Time for bed.
O bed! O bed! delicious bed! That heaven upon earth to the weary head. ~Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg – Her Dream
