Smells like Deyn Spirit
06-10-2009
Deyn's following is possibly unlike any other. Advocates do not openly proclaim their fashion inspiration, but have let the furor seep into society, surreptitiously converting those around them, without even knowing it themselves! Her image appears in countless magazines, propaganda to the target audience, silently imprinting Deyn's influence on vulnerable youth brains. Her face is here, there and everywhere, the spirit rushing through major stores across the nation-rails and racks stocked with copies of the signature style. It is in this way, that so many now showcase her quirky style, homage to the pioneer, whether it be in a pair of shoes, or an entire outfit, parading what they believe to be a unique, and individual appearance.
Of course-Deyn has been openly praised! Her peroxide pixie crop, dubbed "the Aggy crop" saw the biggest uptake in the hair industry since the Nineties when "The Rachel" haircut was popularised by Jennifer Aniston in hit sitcom "Friends". Vogue called it the defining hairstyle of the decade, with the likes of Pixie Geldof and Sarah Harding also sporting the cut.
So is this why we now laud Agyness Deyn as a style icon? Not a blank canvas, as so many models are, ready to be moulded by stylists, but an icon with personal style, the reason she is now chosen for so many campaigns and catwalks, who want to cash in on her spunk. Hysteria surrounds the model where fashion is not just her job, but what appears as her right, to transform conventional style. Stunningly beautiful is just not enough; she is inadvertently determined to change our style forever through everything and anything she steps out in. Not that we haven't seen it all before. Street fashion since the Seventies has the same maverick, effortless vibe, but the difference is the general public wouldn't have been seen dead in it. It's now publically acceptable to go to a party looking like the fairy godmother was having a bad day.
If the austere Anna Wintour is the fashion queen, then Deyn is the runaway princess, causing havoc with her boyish confidence, but physical femininity, messy, undone and the utmost in non-conformism. Like it or not, she is an instigator for a new generation, fabricating new, young female duplicates. It could be the backlash of the uber-girly, Barbie doll fashions, a la The Saturdays and Girls Aloud, which has triggered this wave of support; it could just be the infectious attitude of Agyness Deyn-it could be a bit of both. Suffice to say; one just can't seem to take their eyes of the girl. Love her or hate her, she's shaped a new era of style that's here to stay: Smells like Deyn Spirit.
Words By Lucy Lim
