The logo is back. At Gosha Rubchinskiy’s SS17 show, Russian teens sported branded garments made in collaboration with the labels of the 1980s — Fila, Kappa and Sergio Tacchini. At Dolce & Gabbana, “fake” logo T-shirts were made a central part of the women’s SS17 collection. At Balenciaga AW17, designer Demna Gvasalia emblazoned a sweater with the logo of the luxury conglomerate group, Kering, which owns the brand.
品牌标识又回来了。在高沙卢布琴斯基(Gosha Rubchinskiy)的2017年春夏季时装展上，俄罗斯少女模特身穿带有品牌标识的时装在T型台上走秀，这些时装都是与斐乐(Fila)、卡帕(Kappa)以及Sergio Tacchini这些始创于上世纪80年代的时尚品牌合推的款式；在杜嘉班纳(Dolce & Gabbana)2017年女装春夏发布会上，印有“山寨”标识的T恤成为了重头戏；而在巴黎世家(Balenciaga)2017年秋冬季时装发布会上，设计总监戴姆纳瓦萨利亚(Demna Gvasalia)推出了一款印有巴黎世家母公司、奢侈品巨擎开云(Kering)品牌标识的毛衣。
Alessandro Michele has been instrumental in reviving the logo at Gucci. His first look for the house on becoming creative director in January 2015 featured a belt fastened with giant interlocking Gs. The logo was first made a status symbol under Tom Ford in the early 1990s. Back then, it was a symbol of raw materialism. By contrast, Michele’s new take has been faded and antiqued to lend it a vintage appeal. For his cruise collection, Michele designed a soft-washed T-shirt with printed logo detail. Innocuous enough, until you discover it cost ￡400.亚历山德罗米歇尔(Alessandro Michele)对于重振古驰标识可谓居功至伟。2015年，他出任古驰(Gucci)创意总监后推出的首个作品就是一款带有巨大G字母相扣标识的皮带。这个显示社会地位的标识由汤姆福特(Tom Ford)上世纪90年代担任古驰创意总监时首推，但它当时是土豪的标志。与此相反，米歇尔的新标识为古旧褪色款，显得古朴典雅。米歇尔专为这个早春系列(cruise collection)设计了一款印有品牌标识的银灰色T恤衫(soft-washed T-shirt)。呵呵，模样实在是平淡无奇，但400英镑的售价肯定会让人咋舌。Net-a-Porter ordered 1,000 T-shirts and it sold out globally in just 10 weeks. “It was our top investment for pre-spring summer and due to its phenomenal performance we are introducing two new colourways for next season,” says Lisa Aiken, the site’s retail fashion director. She credits Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana for having kicked off the current logo trend “by reworking counterfeit tees to create ‘genuine fakes’. [The French brand] Vetements is another power player; we sold 500 pairs of their logoed sports socks (￡60) in just one week, which is incredible.”Net-a-Porter网店上架的1000件此类古驰T恤在短短10周内就售罄（面向全球客户）。“这是我们对早春/夏时装的大手笔投资，鉴于销售业绩亮丽，我们打算为下个时装季另外推出两款其它颜色的T恤衫。”Net-a-Porter时装零售部负责人丽莎艾肯(Lisa Aiken)说。古驰与杜嘉班纳引领了当今品牌标识之风，原因是它们“把山寨T恤改造设计后，打造出了‘货真价实的复制品’。法国时尚品牌Vetement同样表现亮丽，短短一周内我们就卖了500双标识款运动袜（单价60英镑），真是难以置信。”London menswear designer Christopher Shannon reinterpreted iconic brand graphics as miserabilist slogans for AW17 — Calvin Klein became Constant Stress (pictured below) while Timberland became Tumbleweed. “I’ve been using logos since my MA collection in 2009,” he says. “At the time, it really irked people, everyone was so busy with slim tailoring that loud graphics seemed the opposite.”在2017年秋冬时装展上，伦敦男装设计师克里斯托弗香农(Christopher Shannon)把标志性品牌标识改造成表达悲惨主义内涵的标语——Calvin Klein的标语改成了Constant Stress，并把Timberland（天伯伦，意为森林）标识改成了Tumbleweed（意为风滚草）。“自2009年推出MA系列时装以来，我一直使用标识。”他说，“当时这种做法犯了众怒，所有人都沉醉于修身款式，因此醒目标识似乎是背道而驰。”Seven years later, Shannon says: “There isn’t so much snobbery around it. Plus it’s an effective way to make a statement and reads well online — no one seems to look past that at the moment.”七年后，香农说：“如今世人不再藐视它，此外，它能成功造就轰动效应，而且在网上拥者如云——如今似乎每个人都很待见它。”The death of the logo in the late 1990s was largely a feature of its own success. The logo became all too ubiquitous in the early 90s when brands used the logo to prop up licenses, especially in foreign markets, and sell diffusion lines.上世纪90年代末，标识之风偃旗息鼓，“罪魁祸首”正是由于其“如日中天”。上世纪90年代初，带有标识的装束司空见惯，因为当时各大品牌都借助标识以推行特许经营制（尤以外国市场为甚）与销售副线品牌(diffusion lines)。“In the past, the logo was about duty-free kind of stock, and slapping your name on it”, says Robert Forrest, a fashion consultant who has worked with Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein, of that era’s overdependence on its initials. “Now, it’s become cool to have logos used in the main high fashion collection — like when they showed Obsession perfume logos on the Calvin Klein runway for mens’ AW14.”“在过去，标识针对的免税类存货，随意打上自家商标即可”，时尚顾问罗伯特福雷斯特(Robert Forrest)说。他曾与阿玛尼(Giorgio Armani)以及Calvin Klein等品牌合作过，当时那个年代，时装界过度依赖首字母缩写的使用。“如今，高档时尚品牌上带有品牌标识很酷潮——比方说，2014年Calvin Klein秋冬季男装发布会上就展示了印有Obsession标识的香水。”The economic crash in 2008, and the minimal stealth-wealth era of fashion that coincided with those times, also spelt doom for visible branding. “After the crisis of 2008 there was a premium for very expensive products that didn’t look obviously expensive,” says Geoffroy de La Bourdonnaye, president of French label Chloé. The luxury market was “all about non-conspicuous consumption”.2008年的全球金融危机，加之当时时尚界又崇尚隐富，宣告了品牌标识招摇时代的终结。“2008年金融危机后，名贵品模样不咋样的大行其道。”法国时尚品牌蔻伊(Chloé)总裁杰弗洛伊德拉波多内(Geoffroy de La Bourdonnaye)说。奢侈品市场“崇尚低调消费”。That market now seems to be changing, but de La Bourdonnaye sees the return of the logo as only a passing “trend”. Under his watch, Chloé has resisted the urge to brand products, even retiring logos where possible. He points to the unbranded Carlina sunglasses as an example of his strategy: “You do not need the logo to recognise they are Chloé,” he says. “It’s easier, if you have a logo or a strong brand, to slap it on stuff that you can find anywhere else. That’s not the route we are taking.”但如今时风似乎开始转向，但德拉波多内却认为品牌标识的回归只是稍纵即逝的潮流。在他的督控下，蔻伊成功阻止了给旗下产品印标识的“冲动”，甚至尽一切可能让标识“退隐”。他举了未印任何标识的Carlina太阳镜这个例子来佐证其所采取的营销策略：“蔻伊产品无需借助任何标识。”他说，“品牌有了标识或者本身是个强势品牌，那么给旗下产品印上标识实属轻而易举，这种情况在时尚界比比皆是，但这不是蔻伊采取的策略。”It’s a concept championed at more established houses to entice a younger and social media-savvy crowd这种理念深受知名老品牌青睐，旨在吸引对社交媒体驾轻就熟的年轻人。In the 1980s and 1990s, logos served as a symbol of wealth. But in today’s fashion culture its meaning is more complex. As consumers have become more aware of their ability to “curate” an online lifestyle, logos have become subtle badges of belonging. Damien Paul, head of menswear at matchesfashion.com, sees the logo’s rehabilitation as something for those in the know, rather than those aspiring to look in the know.上世纪80、90年代，品牌标识是财富的象征。但在当今时尚文化中，其内涵则更为错综复杂。消费者在网上展现自己生活方式的能力与意识日增，于是乎标识已成为微妙的归属标志。matchesfashion.com男装部主管达米安保罗(Damien Paul)把标识的“重出江湖”视为服务内行、而非那些伪内行者。“Influential buzz brands like Vetements and Off-White have made their own names central to the appeal of their clothing,” he says. “And this has the effect of identifying the wearer as part of a particular designer tribe. It’s a concept that is also being championed at more established houses like Balenciaga and Balmain, particularly on entry-level products, such as caps and T-shirts, which entice a younger and social media-savvy crowd.”“Vetements 与Off-White这类红遍宇宙的时尚品牌的标识本身就是其流行时装不可分割的组成部分。”他说，“而这能把穿者成功归为某类特写设计师群体的拥趸。这种理念同样深受巴黎世家以及巴尔曼(Balmain)等知名老品牌追捧，尤其是对帽子与T恤（它们深受对社交媒体驾轻就熟的年轻人青睐）这类入门级产品更是如此。”In turn, today’s designers are using logos in a more playful, knowing way: when Maria Grazia Chiuri made her debut at Dior, she did so with bags and bra straps boldly branded with the words “J’adior”, a play on the “J’Adore Dior” slogan created by John Galliano during his tenure at the house in the late 1990s. The message received was that her Dior would be inclusive, respectful of its design past and commercially savvy.反过来，如今的设计师以更为玩谑与世故的方式运用标识：当玛丽亚格拉茨亚基乌里(Maria Grazia Chiuri)推出自己到迪奥后的首个时尚系列时，她大胆地在手包与文胸肩带打上了“J’adior”的标识字样，这是对约翰加里亚诺(John Galliano)上世纪90年代担任迪奥创意总监时所创标语“我喜欢迪奥”的戏谑。它传递这样的信息：她掌舵的迪奥兼容并包、尊崇往昔历史，而且时刻关注商机。Brand consultant and sportswear expert Gary Warnett credits much of the current logo fetishism to the influence of Dapper Dan, owner of the legendary Harlem boutique in New York, which opened in 1982, and sold fake monogrammed jackets, coats and tracksuits. The shop closed in 1992 when Fendi officials spotted Mike Tyson in a Dan creation. But while Dan’s influence was once despised by the houses, his vision was eerily prescient. Today, Fendi sells ostentatious branded furry pool slides and scarves that perfectly recall Dan’s flamboyant fakes. Kim Jones, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear, credited Dapper Dan as a reference in his AW17 notes to introduce a logo-heavy collection made in collaboration with skate brand Supreme (pictured below).品牌顾问兼运动装专家加里瓦内特(Gary Warnett)把当前的标识热潮归因于Dapper Dan的深远影响，他是极富传奇色彩的纽约哈莱姆门店老板。该门店开设于1982年，专售由知名品牌改造过的夹克（绣有交织字母标识）、外套以及运动装。门店于1992年关门，起因是芬迪公司(Fendi)高管发现拳王迈克泰森(Mike Tyson)穿了件Dan设计的服装。但尽管各大品牌曾极度鄙视Dan的影响力，但他的怪异设计极富远见卓识。如今，芬迪大量销售印有花哨标识的毛皮料拖鞋(pool slides)与围巾，让人不由想起Dapper Dan“设计”的那些花哨夸张山寨货。在路易威登(Louis Vuitton)男装艺术总监金姆琼斯(Kim Jones)推出的2017秋冬季时装中，带有醒目标识的系列（与主打滑板的美国街头服饰品牌Supreme合作推出）就是借鉴了Dapper Dan的设计。Robert Forrest, meanwhile, argues that the prominence of the logo has arisen with a more homogenised market. Why design something new when you simply can stick a label on it “You used to recognise an Ossie Clark, because you knew the cut of the dress,” argues Forrest. “Likewise with Sonia Rykiel. Most brands don’t have that any more, so they hang their name on it. The design aesthetic is less valued than it used to be.”
与此同时，罗伯特福雷斯特说：标识大行其道会使市场更趋同质化。那么为何只需贴上标识即可了事，却还要不断推陈出新呢？“过去，诸位一眼就能认出奥西克拉克(Ossie Clark)设计的时装，因为对其风格一清二楚。”福雷斯特说，“法国品牌索尼娅里基尔(Sonia Rykiel)同样如此。多数品牌如今的风格不再迥异独特，所以它们得印上自己的标识。如今时装的美学价值已大不如前。”It’s telling that when Raf Simons took over at Calvin Klein, a brand that has long relied on logoed products, he called on acclaimed graphic designer Peter Saville to reshape the branding. They dubbed the new logo “a return to the spirit of the original”, and replaced the lower case with a new font in capitals and with each letter closer together. A new logo, for the new, informed logomaniacs. It was the ultimate reboot.据说拉夫西蒙斯接任Calvin Klein（长久仰仗带标识的产品）创意总监一职时，曾要求知名美术设计师彼得萨维尔(Peter Saville)对标识再设计。他们昵称新标识是“回归初衷”，并用新大写字体替换了所有小写字母，而且字母间距更趋紧凑。新标识代表了全新万能的标识痴狂程度，它是对品牌根基的终极回归。