Fashion Trends Are Consumed by Insecure People Without Ideas

I have a different approach to observing the fashion scene than critics who are more focused on the social scene and entertainment, which is not an area of my interest.

Interviewed by Jelena Gotovac
Photo by Dražen Lapić

Newspaper columns, TV segments, the eyes of critics and fashion enthusiasts will this month be focused on presenting the latest collections of the domestic fashion scene at the XV. Nivea Cro-a-Porter. What does he think about the domestic fashion scene and whether our creators manage to be original while also following global trends, whether fashion dictates should be followed or are they intended only for insecure people, how important it is to build one’s own fashion style, and why the fashion industry is still dominated by men, we asked the pioneer of domestic fashion criticism, commentator, journalist, but above all, doctor Nenad Korkut. 

• When your name is mentioned in public, the first association is that you are a fashion expert, but your working day is dedicated to a completely different profession.
– It is interesting that I am known for my hobbies, but it is only mentioned here and there that I am an orthopedic specialist. I have been a great film buff since childhood. I attended the V. Gymnasium, and I spent every free moment in the Cinematheque. I remember an interview with Liv Ullman that solidified my decision to become a doctor. When she became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, in response to Bergman’s question about why she was giving up acting, she said she did not want to look back at the end of her life and say, ‘I was just an actress.’ That was the trigger for me to also do something that would leave a mark, which is helping people and the feeling of being socially useful. The childlike idealism that I could save the world has grown into altruism, as I practice medicine like my other colleagues who are not concerned with status and money, given that it is a very difficult study, and later a very responsible and demanding profession. Succeeding in healing a patient and seeing gratitude in their eyes are my reasons for enjoying this vocation. 

• On the other hand, with your knowledge of fashion, photography, and film, you have been present in the professional criticism of these industries for the last eleven years. Where does such love for these arts come from?
– Even as a child, I had a wide range of interests: I was involved in acting, writing, singing, and drawing, which is why teachers expected me to pursue art. My mother often posed in her youth due to her exceptional beauty, and she worked as a chemist at Jadran Film, so I often went to montages and followed the creation of films firsthand. That is where my love for film developed, and I learned the most about fashion from my ex-girlfriend Vlasta, who was studying fashion design at the time and built her style very beautifully. With her, I began to study the fashion world, read, and learn about global fashion visionaries, both current and those from fashion history.

• You are a commentator for the live broadcast of the Oscar awards, and the media still highlight you among fashion critics. Do you enjoy such a position perhaps due to a lack of competition?
– I have never imposed myself on the media because I have no need for that nor do I live from it, but from my profession, which does not allow for compromise, which is why I have always been careful with public appearances. I made my first television segment from the Oscar awards back in 1999 in the show ‘Glamour Café’ by Siniša Svilan. At that time, I had a foray into fashion criticism, mostly because no one had dealt with it until then. However, for a long time now, I have found it much more interesting to write about the history of fashion, sociology, and the phenomenology of that world. I have a different approach to observing the fashion scene than critics who are more focused on the social scene and entertainment, which has never been my area of interest. I strive to be educational when I get media space.

• How do you view the domestic fashion scene? Can it be compared to the global one in following trends?
– Our fashion scene is progressive. There are very talented creators who make unique things, but they do not have an industry that supports them. Global fashion shows take place six months earlier, which is why it happens that some ideas overlap with ideas from foreign manuscripts, but true fashion connoisseurs find among domestic creators those who follow trends but also their own style.

• Is it important to follow fashion trends, and does the clothing we wear reveal our personality?
– Following trends is a reflection of insecurity. People who are afraid to stand out from the crowd and have their own ideas wear what a fashion icon has recommended or what is displayed in the window as the latest fashion item. Collections are made for such people that change from season to season. However, the recognizability of someone’s personality lies in style, not in trends. A person who is self-aware and knows how to build their own style does not care about the latest collections but wears what they like, what suits them, and in which they feel good. The dressing style of, for example, Nina Violić and Ivanka Mazurkijević cannot be found in any magazine; it is something that makes them different from others and completely their own. 

• There are more and more high fashion stores in Croatia. Are there enough people who can afford them, and what does it actually mean to wear such a piece of clothing?
– We are a transitional country, and as in any such country, there is much poverty and few rich people, for whom such stores are opened and for whom this market exists. Here, individuals can buy a dress for 30,000 kuna regardless of the current economic conditions. However, no matter how much money is invested in fashion, that piece of clothing does not speak for itself. Fashion is an enhancement; it is not the only segment that makes a man a gentleman or a woman a lady.  

• How do you explain the phenomenon that in fashion, although it primarily addresses women, men still dominate in a creative sense?
– This should be viewed from another angle: a lot of money circulates in the fashion industry, and where there is business, there are also men. In the fashion world, as in other industries, it is much harder to succeed if you are a woman. Therefore, even gay men are more acceptable and successful in this business than women. It is probably a matter of sexism, as in most other jobs. There are few women at the top, although they are neither less talented nor less dedicated in their work. On the contrary, they sacrifice much more on the way to the top. Most fashion design students are girls, but when you look at the big global fashion empires, unfortunately, you can only count two or three female names in leading positions.

• You are a collector of monographs of famous historical names, and you are also the author of many texts about the fashion world. Do you plan to compile your knowledge into a book about the history of fashion from your perspective?
– Not yet. Along with the medical work I do and to which I strive to be maximally dedicated, I do not have time to focus on such a writing and research endeavor, although I think about it. I have never done anything superficially in my life, so I would not want to sign something at all costs that I would not be completely satisfied with. However, I believe that the right moment for that will come.