A '90s fashion trip down to MTV's 'House of Style'
MANILA, Philippines - When The Buggles ushered in the subversive era of MTV, I was a nobody. Literally, I mean. That was in 1981, six years before I was born. I’m part of the age group in between the generation that memorized the lyrics of
Ice, Ice Baby
like it was a badge of honor and the generation that associates the name “Daria” with “Werbowy,” and not “Morgendorffer.” What this also means is that when
House of Style
debuted on MTV in 1989, I was two years old — a travesty, in my opinion, because it meant that I was too young to fully recognize the show’s cultural impact. I mean, even when Daisy Fuentes started hosting the show in 1997, I was still a pre-teen. So when MTV released
House of Style: Music, Models, and MTV
, a 22-minute documentary that chronicles the history of the show last Aug. 7, it was like being handed a missing puzzle piece of some sort. Apparently, I wasn’t alone. Erica Cheung echoed my sentiments exactly in the
Huffington Post
when she wrote, “Oh! That’s what that all was! That’s why I love fashion and that’s why I totally love the ‘90s, even if I wasn’t old enough to truly live it.”
Think of it as a primer for those of us who weren’t cool enough to be born earlier. In it, the show’s creator and executive producer Alisa Bellettini states what they set out to do: democratize fashion by speaking to Midwestern America, which in effect, spoke to all parts of the world that couldn’t witness fashion as it happened in New York and Paris. Apart from being given a peek into the private lives of Naomi, Linda, and Christy, ordinary people were introduced to magazines that weren’t Vogue, like Fame, Spy, Sassy, and Details and were made to understand the importance of photographers Helmut Newton, Ellen von Unwerth, and Mario Testino. It also bridged the gap between couture and Sears, way before Target even heard of Luella Bartley. As producer Chad Hines pointed out, “We always tried to introduce high fashion to the masses, but at the same time, we would counter that with something that was available down the street.”
Upon closer inspection, we discover that House of Style is pretty much the fashion industry’s version of home videos, as in the ones that would make you want to die if your mother ever whipped them out when your friends came over. It was the youth's response to CNN's Style with Elsa Klensch, the gritty precursor to fashion-oriented shows, like America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway, glamorous “reality” shows, like The Hills and Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and the street style blogs that we have today. This was a time when not everybody knew how to appear shiny and beautiful all the time on camera (with the exception of Lena Dunham on Girls, but even that is intentional).
The first season features precious gems, like Anna Wintour being interviewed as a brunette without her sunglasses on, along with a rather svelte(!) André Leon Talley holding an umbrella for Cindy during a shoot with Helmut Newton. We meet Karl Lagerfeld when his perpetually ponytailed hair was still gray and his frame carried an extra 30 or so pounds. On-again, off-again Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear actually took the Spice Girls shopping in Contempo Casuals, no matter how much Victoria Beckham will now deny it. We are introduced for the first time to a fresh-faced Kate Moss on the brink of ushering in a new kind of supermodel, back when she wasn’t too cool (or coked up) for words yet. We see Naomi Campbell actually being down-to-earth by applying zit cream on national television, saying, “I don’t care if the whole world sees this, but everyone has zits. I’m only human.” We witness Cindy, in all her unscripted glory, asking Chris Robinson what cannabis is.
There are other references that the early ‘90s child will not be able to understand without seeing actual episodes from the first season, such as the X-Girl fashion show produced by Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze before they got married and divorced, or designer Todd Oldham’s DIY segments (seriously, I had no idea who that guy was). I suppose that justifies the inclusion of Karlie Kloss, who was born in ‘92, in the documentary: To represent the generation that barely had any recollection of House of Style and provide some insight into what the show’s revival might mean to them. Yes, MTV is reincarnating the show as an online series on the MTV Style website, which will premiere on Oct. 9. The show’s new host will be revealed during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 6. In addition to the documentary, the site also launched the House of Style Collection, an online archive of 170 video segments, thousands of still images, and fresh editorial commentary on each episode by MTV Style senior editor, Mary H.K. Choi, all of which should effectively handle any clarifications that I or Karlie might need.
Although Cynthia Rowley states “Before Facebook, before Instagram, there was House of Style” in the opening sequences of the documentary, the show’s new format will embrace social media, particularly Instagram and Pinterest. In an interview with Fashionista.com producer Dave Sirulnick explains, “The idea of the new House of Style is that it runs on all of our platforms. MTV is a fully multimedia company. You’ll see it on television, on the web, on our aps (sic). Not a lot of people are looking to consume 20-minute television shows on their phones. At least not yet. We want to make it really accessible for our audiences.”
As for how relevant the show will turn out to be for the media-savvy likes of Karlie, Tavi and co.? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves until we start seeing some actual content. Right now, I suggest that you do as I do: go into hiding and scour the entire House of Style Collection, so that by the time October rolls around, you can drop references all you want.
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House of Style: Music, Models, and MTV and the House of Style Collection are both fully accessible on style.mtv.com. No torrents necessary.
