INTERVIEW
POSITION
TIME
LOCATION
RYAN YIP
51.5072° N, 0.1276° W
03.03.26, 11:00AM EST
LONDON, UK
FORM.SPEAKS WITH RYAN YIP
Fashion criticism, fashion history, reviewing collections, and the role of independent voices in contemporary fashion media.
In this interview, we sit down with Ryan Yip: a fashion critic, historian, and founder of Fashion Review, a print publication dedicated to independent fashion criticism. The conversation examines fashion criticism, fashion history, reviewing collections, and the role of independent voices in contemporary fashion media.
"HONESTY KIND OF SERVES NO PURPOSE IF YOU CAN’T PINPOINT WHY YOU FEEL THAT WAY."
ERIC
RYAN
E
I wanted to begin before your work, before you were interested in fashion even, and to give you the chance to introduce yourself to those that might not know you. So on that note, who are you, where did you grow up, and what was that environment like for you? And how did you get your first inkling into the fashion space?
R
I’m from Hong Kong, born and raised in Hong Kong. I left Hong Kong when I was 18 and went to Vancouver. That’s where I went to UBC for my degree in food, nutrition, and health, so completely not related to fashion.
During that time, I went through different phases. I had a phase of being super into bodybuilding, working out, and then going into food science. That made sense, because going into the whole gym-food industry kind of made sense to me.
But then I think it was in second year that my vision changed from a clear path into the food industry into, ooh, I took an interest in learning about watches and also whiskey. So I was like, there’s these so-called finer things in life. So I started reviewing, I started talking about whiskey, and that’s when I started really my, I guess, first taste of content creating.
And I love talking about things. I don’t just want to say this is a new thing, this and that. I love to attach my own opinion on the design of it, or the nuances in the taste, and the design in watches, or taste in whiskies and whatever. So that didn’t work out.
But while I was taking a break from content creating, I was still feeling that itch of, I want to find something to talk about. Then that’s when I switched focus to fashion, because I was looking for something that I already had an affinity towards. And fashion, or maybe just styling in general, has been in my life forever because my mom is a fashionista. She loves dressing up.
When I started learning more about fashion, that’s when I realized that she’s been buying Yohji Yamamoto from the early 2000s, very niche brands here and there. My mom has pieces from these brands, but she doesn’t necessarily know about fashion. So then I was like, fashion seems to be something that is in my life already. It feels natural to start talking about it.
So I started just buying books from big bookstores, just learning as much as I can. That’s when I came across this book, forgot the actual name of it, but it’s something like Fashion Evolution: Important Looks Throughout the Past however many years, 50 years or something.
And I was just like, each page is a moment. The white collection from Valentino in the 1970s or whatever. And then learning about BodyMap, learning about Granny Takes a Trip, all these very specific moments kind of opened my eyes to, there’s just so many different interesting stories out there.
So that’s when I started reading a page a day, making a video. So I’d read a page, make a video a day. That’s how I started my TikTok. And then it slowly transitioned back to, I don’t just want to tell stories. I want to be able to attach my own opinion onto fashion. And then I started honing my craft in criticism. What does it actually mean to give a good critique, or how to actually review things from a nuanced angle, understanding the designer while also being assertive?
So that’s where I am now with, I guess, my magazine as well.
E
I want to get into your reviewing process, but I want to stay with that history for a second, because I know you’ve spent a lot of time studying fashion’s past. When you engage with fashion history, what role do you think it plays in your thinking specifically? Is it more of a basis of evidence? Does it come as a wave of inspiration to you? Or is it something a bit more intimate, or something you feel as an obsession to study? And how does that inform your process?
R
I guess it’s a point of reference, but I don’t actively recall it and think, who did this in the ’80s, so it’s better back then, or this and that. It’s a point of reference for me in the sense that fashion is quite, well, very restricted to whoever pays attention to it. They will know. It’s not as widely accessed now, so the way things were is much more restricted than things are right now.
If you say, recently I was making a video talking about the effect of a show versus a good show. So I mentioned this brand called BodyMap. They had a show where in the finale, I think it’s just a bunch of kid models rolling on the floor. So it’s just a very rogue moment. It’s like having fun. But that moment is not just an entertaining moment. It’s what also consolidated the show because it echoed the clothes.
If someone were to copy that nowadays, it wouldn’t make sense. So if I see that exact moment being recreated today, and I have that knowledge of that’s BodyMap doing that back in the ’80s, I wouldn’t do a direct comparison. It’s just informing me that, wait, they did it back then like that. Let’s try to understand how they’re doing it now. Does it make sense for nowadays, or are they just copying for the sake of copying?
So I try not to let history dictate how I see things, or make me think that history, at this point in fashion, was way better. So whoever is trying to copy it now, they’re never going to live up to that expectation. I try not to let that influence me, because it’s very easy to fall into that trap for a lot of people.
So yeah, it’s more like a point of reference, just a bank of knowledge in the back of my mind that I can refer to.
E
How did you start training yourself to look at fashion more critically? Because I know you started with books, but what did you study first? Was there a specific point of reference that was really formative for you?
And what do you think most people skip in that step when they’re trying to look at fashion critically, when they’re talking about fashion? What do you think most people skip? And how do you recommend people who are starting to get into fashion start?
R
It is a very hard question, because I started from a very different place, I suppose. I was just using my university library access to look for as much as possible, looking for academic journals that you cannot find in big bookstores. That was my edge, I guess, because I was just reading papers.
But then I found this book. It’s a textbook, and I think it’s literally just called Fashion Criticism. I forgot who it’s by. I think his name is Peter or something. The book is just old-fashioned criticism in a very scientific way, almost a guide to how to form a strong opinion. How do you form a good criticism? What does it entail? Let’s look at history. What is a good criticism? What’s a bad criticism? What angle do you need to consider? What things would you normally not think of, because you just think it’s a personal opinion dressed in a professional way?
But it’s more than that, because the point of criticism is that you want to help whoever you’re criticizing. Whether it’s a bad or a good criticism, you want it to in some way better it. So I read that book and I was absolutely mind-blown. I was like, oh my god, I didn’t know it could be so scientific.
And then that’s when I started finding different critics’ work. I started reading Susan Sontag, I started reading Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, Christopher Hitchens, different people with drastically different styles talking about different things that aren’t fashion.
That’s when I understood that even just to analyze how they start their article, what do they talk about first, then how do they ease into it. Susan Sontag is almost cruel. She’s a bit cruel in the way she talks about things and she just goes right into it. But Virginia Woolf, I always say she’s a bit more motherly. She lets you know what went wrong, what went right, but in a roundabout way.
So by reading them, not intensely, but whenever I get a chance I will search them up and try to learn it as best as I can, you start to realize that it’s not just about the opinion, it’s how you craft it, how you dress it. And as I said, the angle is very important. You cannot come off as arrogant, like it’s all just about you. You need to also consider, or maybe it’s just me, you need to consider where the creator is coming from so you can give something that’s actually constructive.
So yeah, that’s, I guess, my tip.
E
That actually leads right into my next question, which is about honesty in fashion discourse. You’ve written about this as well in your work: the idea that bluntness alone isn’t really depth. What’s the difference for you between a take that’s honest and one that’s useful? Which do you personally feel more responsible for delivering as a critic?
R
I think honesty is definitely a key component in good criticism. I can’t say the word criticism smoothly, I always stutter. But I think honesty is definitely a big part of it.
As you mentioned, my opinion on honesty is not just, I think… anyone can be honest in a way that you can just say, I don’t like that, this is very bad, or this is very good. And that is not helping anyone, because that’s just, I guess, the starting point of things.
Even when you say that’s very beautiful, it’s an adjective that describes the thing as very good-looking, but at the same time there are different kinds of beauty that you should expand on to let people know, okay, what kind of beauty are you talking about here? Is it the sublime kind of beauty, something that scares you, or is it a serene kind of beauty?
It’s a starting point to be honest. And if you are unable to pinpoint your actual emotion, why you think something is good, honesty kind of serves no purpose. It serves as entertainment, and I think entertainment is a big driving force online right now. As long as people are entertained, they don’t really care about the content.
But also I feel like a lot more people are starting to understand that being entertained, being superficially entertained, is not enough. They want to pick your mind. They want you to actually tell them more. Why do you think something is bad? Then they can also get into agreement or disagreement, which I always welcome.
So yeah, bluntness itself is not enough, but it should serve almost like a foundation to how you express your opinion.
E
And when you review a collection, I’m interested to know, before you’re even writing a word or speaking a word, what your evaluation framework is. And specifically, I’m interested in where your personal instinct enters the criteria, because I think there’s a level of fashion that’s so entangled with our own personal views. Just as you’re looking at a piece of art, you feel. So how does that enter the equation for you, and how do you even start to evaluate a collection that way?
R
I think instinct, first impression, is very important.
Just by you asking that question, that reminded me when I first saw, I think it was three or four seasons ago, Saint Laurent, when Anthony started putting out collections that were very limited to just a variation of a few looks. The whole collection is just a few. At the start of that, my first impression was, wow, this is lazy. So I saw that and I just kind of discounted it. I didn’t even want to talk about it, because that was my only thought of it. So I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time just telling them, I think that this is lazy.
But then I remember, maybe a collection or two later, while he was doing the same thing, just variations of a few looks, I gave it another go and I was like, wow, I was wrong. Because this is a good thing in the sense that he’s confident in what he can provide. He knows what he wants people to enjoy. He doesn’t need to cater towards a wide audience, and therefore is allowing customers to choose from almost like, okay, this is a template that I’m going to provide you with eight variations of, where you can go crazy on. I think that’s a very mature way of merchandising.
So almost like that internal conflict, I remember, was wow, I was so wrong. This is not lazy at all. This is actually very good, and I quite liked it. Ever since that point, I started really liking that kind of vision.
So when I look at a collection, I always listen to my first instinct, but also it is important to me to always revisit collections that I’ve talked about, because I don’t believe in seeing it one time and then forming your best opinion just from seeing it one time.
So yeah, that’s how I work. The two things that will definitely happen are: I will listen to my initial instinct, and I will always revisit collections that I’ve looked at and formed an opinion on. Whether I made a video or wrote about it, that’s different, but I will always revisit, just to check myself.
E
And on that note, is there a specific thread that you see when you’re reviewing a collection, or when you’re changing your mind about a collection, that actually causes that change of mind? Is it just purely one-off based on the collection you’re reviewing, or is there something you’ve seen where this actually happens again and again, and you find yourself changing your mind consistently about this particular thing?
R
I think the common thread that causes the mind shift is that sometimes I forget that’s how I look at things. It’s a weird concept to tackle, because obviously you should know how things make you feel instinctively, but your instinct might be very ignorant. It might be a very selfish point of view.
So just now, let’s say I looked at the collection and I was like, it’s kind of limiting, this is boring, this is lazy. From my very selfish point of view, I don’t want to just broadcast that, because that helps no one, right?
But then I also remember the reason why I love Thom Browne. I mean, I don’t have such a strong affinity towards them anymore, but the reason why I used to like Thom Browne is because I really admire the idea of evolution instead of complete change. It’s the same visual, but just tiny tweaks each collection. And I enjoyed that.
So looking at the Saint Laurent collection, it almost reminded me, wait, I do enjoy that, because I do see the value in it. So that sort of becomes an internal battle of my own selfish point of view versus something that I objectively do like seeing in brands. So that conflict will happen, and I will start to wrestle between, okay, where does my actual opinion now lie between the two? Then that’s how my shift of opinion happens.
E
I want to go into your founding of Fashion Review, because I think that’s really interesting. What problem were you trying to solve by founding Fashion Review that digital platforms just couldn’t solve for you? And why was print the best format for that?
R
I guess the problem is that sometimes I’ve got a lot to say and I couldn’t fit it in a Reel that would still retain people’s attention. I still don’t know how sometimes people can make five- or six-minute Reels and they pop off. Every time I try to do that, no one watches it. So I was like, maybe it’s just not my strong suit to sit there and speak for six minutes.
But still, at the same time, it’s not just about the length of video. It’s also about how, if I give myself time to process my thought and condense it, maybe I need to use 30 words to form one thought, but I can use six words to express that more succinctly. And I think looking for that, being straightforward, being able to really hone in on what I’m trying to say with the least words possible, is the reason why written format is so close to my heart.
I do still love writing because I find myself expressing my thoughts in different ways. Even if it’s the same topic, I might have different ways of packaging the same message.
And Fashion Review started because, on one hand, what I just said, and on the other hand, every time I tried to pitch anything to big magazines, no one liked it. Literally, I have a zero success rate. No one ever wanted to move forward with my articles. I don’t know if it’s my problem, or if it’s like, hey, maybe it’s too cerebral, maybe that’s not what our audience would want to read. It’s okay, I don’t mind. But it’s just my personal experience.
Everyone seems to have great success in pitching, or says, hey, have you tried pitching to magazines or newspapers? Yeah, I tried 20 times. Zero success rate. So I was like, what? I’m going to start my own magazine. I’m just going to have my own platform.
And with that, I found out that a lot of people struggle with the same thing. They want to write more in-depth articles that are not, I guess, traditionally associated with bigger magazines, bigger media, print media. And they all loved that there’s almost an unrestricted space for them to just nerd out, speak about things that normally your normal fashion enjoyer wouldn’t think about, or would even be interested in.
So yeah, it’s a very interesting phenomenon. The moment I started, it was just overwhelming support and, my god, this is exactly what I’m looking for as a writer. I would love to pitch. So that’s why I started.
E
I wanted to double down on that point you made about big institutions, big magazines, and writing hubs, because the contemporary fashion ecosystem is structurally entangled in that way. You have brands that fund this, you have influencers that rely on access, they rely on media advertising. In that environment, what does this type of independence actually mean to you? And how do you protect your credibility in a system that really incentivizes you being aligned with the brands, the media, or the advertising with the largest budgets?
R
That’s a good question, because I’m going to be honest, that is the actual struggle of running an independently owned magazine, which is money. Because you’ve got to be out there promoting brands, but I don’t want to lose that integrity. So it is an active struggle, and I don’t think I have a very smart answer to how I’m positioning myself, because that’s something I am still trying to solve.
But at the same time, I guess in a philosophical way, I understand that this is what a lot of people want. I do believe that deep down, even though it may take me some time to find a substantial group of support, I do know that this is where the pendulum is swinging to. People are yearning for independent voices, or just voices that actually want to speak about something worthwhile.
But I don’t want to say this in a sense of condemning quick content, because it’s a balance of both. I love quick content because it gives you a lot in a short time. I love that. That’s how the world is going to continue to work. But it’s also, okay, we have that. Can we also have longer-form content that talks about, as I said, more in-depth things that require you to sit there and give it a think?
I genuinely believe that’s also what the community is looking for. And that’s why, even though I am struggling to find an answer to solve that issue, this idea and this confidence is what is keeping my drive alive.
E
And I guess on the point of going in depth and educating people, I think that’s really where people are seeing a lot of value: education in fashion. Do you see education and critique as distinct responsibilities, or to you are they really inseparable? And when you publish something for someone to watch, who do you ultimately feel accountable to?
R
I don’t think I will align with the idea that I’m educating my audience, because I think that is a bit egotistical, that I’m teaching them things. But I think what I’m doing is providing a perspective, and that’s it. I’m letting them know it’s possible to look at things also from the other contributor’s angle. That is what I try to do.
I don’t think I’m trying to educate my audience or people that I talk about because, on one hand, who am I to teach them anything? But on the other hand, whatever I’m trying to teach them, they might already know, or they have no interest in learning. So it would be weird for me to do this with the idea of teaching.
But yeah, I do enjoy, I guess, my target audience that I have in mind that I write to. In general, just anyone that actually cares about fashion as a practice, as a culture. But yeah, I think the overarching thing that I’m trying to do is provide a perspective.
So critique as a whole is already kind of a loose term, because I don’t think I’m always critical, but I’m always trying to provide a perspective.
E
There’s this sentiment that’s always recurring, that criticism doesn’t matter, that designers create the work and critics kind of react from the headlines. Where do you think criticism has true impact? Where is its true value for you?
R
The true value is that I do believe that designers don’t have to find it valuable in the sense of, I can learn something from this. But I think it is a matter of: do they feel seen? And whatever thing I want them to improve on, can they agree with it? They don’t need to take it on board, but I think there can be a relationship where they don’t need to be rivalries.
You created something. Now watch a bunch of critics just tear it down in front of you, right? I don’t think that should be the dynamic. But it’s about: I respect your work, I know you’re a professional, and I want you to also respect my work. We don’t have to have this symbiotic relationship, right? But I think it can be a parallel kind of relationship where we both acknowledge each other’s professionalism.
And also hopefully acknowledge that we are trying to do the best we can. They are providing new ideas in the form of a product or in the form of a campaign. We’re trying to provide perspective in a different, interesting way, or in a thought-provoking way, to look at art, to look at the creation that you made.
We don’t have to step on each other’s toes and have them point at us and be like, you’re just waiting to prey on our work, and we are just looking at them and being like, when’s your next work coming? I can’t wait to write about it. So yeah, that’s the relationship that I hope we can all strive for.
E
Looking beyond the current cycle of fashion, what are you trying to build toward long term? And when all is said and done, what do you hope to have contributed?
R
That’s a big question. Currently I’m trying to be published, so I guess that’s my long-term goal, I don’t know. But I do hope that I can leave a mark in a way that I was pushing for that relationship I was talking about, whether it’s with Fashion Review or another project that I might do in the future, whatever my whole body of work is.
To push for the idea that perspectives don’t need to be overly critical for them to be entertaining or valuable. It is all about how we can look at art in a fun way, and everyone can join in. So yeah, it’s a big question, so I’m just thinking top of mind, trying to condense what I actually do. But yeah, that I think describes where I want to walk towards in the future.
E
Before we close, where can people find your work?
R
I’m on TikTok, I’m on YouTube. I think they’re all called Ryan Fashion. I’m pretty sure it is. I also have a blog. The website is ryanyip.fashion. And I also have a magazine, Fashion Review. Issue three, I think, is coming out later towards the end of the year. Look at my stuff. Watch them with an open mind. I hope you enjoy them.
INTERVIEW
POSITION
TIME
LOCATION
RYAN YIP
51.5072° N, 0.1276° W
03.03.26, 11:00AM EST
LONDON, UK
FORM.SPEAKS WITH RYAN YIP
Fashion criticism, fashion history, reviewing collections, and the role of independent voices in contemporary fashion media.
In this interview, we sit down with Ryan Yip: a fashion critic, historian, and founder of Fashion Review, a print publication dedicated to independent fashion criticism. The conversation examines fashion criticism, fashion history, reviewing collections, and the role of independent voices in contemporary fashion media.
"HONESTY KIND OF SERVES NO PURPOSE IF YOU CAN’T PINPOINT WHY YOU FEEL THAT WAY."
ERIC
RYAN
E
I wanted to begin before your work, before you were interested in fashion even, and to give you the chance to introduce yourself to those that might not know you. So on that note, who are you, where did you grow up, and what was that environment like for you? And how did you get your first inkling into the fashion space?
R
I’m from Hong Kong, born and raised in Hong Kong. I left Hong Kong when I was 18 and went to Vancouver. That’s where I went to UBC for my degree in food, nutrition, and health, so completely not related to fashion.
During that time, I went through different phases. I had a phase of being super into bodybuilding, working out, and then going into food science. That made sense, because going into the whole gym-food industry kind of made sense to me.
But then I think it was in second year that my vision changed from a clear path into the food industry into, ooh, I took an interest in learning about watches and also whiskey. So I was like, there’s these so-called finer things in life. So I started reviewing, I started talking about whiskey, and that’s when I started really my, I guess, first taste of content creating.
And I love talking about things. I don’t just want to say this is a new thing, this and that. I love to attach my own opinion on the design of it, or the nuances in the taste, and the design in watches, or taste in whiskies and whatever. So that didn’t work out.
But while I was taking a break from content creating, I was still feeling that itch of, I want to find something to talk about. Then that’s when I switched focus to fashion, because I was looking for something that I already had an affinity towards. And fashion, or maybe just styling in general, has been in my life forever because my mom is a fashionista. She loves dressing up.
When I started learning more about fashion, that’s when I realized that she’s been buying Yohji Yamamoto from the early 2000s, very niche brands here and there. My mom has pieces from these brands, but she doesn’t necessarily know about fashion. So then I was like, fashion seems to be something that is in my life already. It feels natural to start talking about it.
So I started just buying books from big bookstores, just learning as much as I can. That’s when I came across this book, forgot the actual name of it, but it’s something like Fashion Evolution: Important Looks Throughout the Past however many years, 50 years or something.
And I was just like, each page is a moment. The white collection from Valentino in the 1970s or whatever. And then learning about BodyMap, learning about Granny Takes a Trip, all these very specific moments kind of opened my eyes to, there’s just so many different interesting stories out there.
So that’s when I started reading a page a day, making a video. So I’d read a page, make a video a day. That’s how I started my TikTok. And then it slowly transitioned back to, I don’t just want to tell stories. I want to be able to attach my own opinion onto fashion. And then I started honing my craft in criticism. What does it actually mean to give a good critique, or how to actually review things from a nuanced angle, understanding the designer while also being assertive?
So that’s where I am now with, I guess, my magazine as well.
E
I want to get into your reviewing process, but I want to stay with that history for a second, because I know you’ve spent a lot of time studying fashion’s past. When you engage with fashion history, what role do you think it plays in your thinking specifically? Is it more of a basis of evidence? Does it come as a wave of inspiration to you? Or is it something a bit more intimate, or something you feel as an obsession to study? And how does that inform your process?
R
I guess it’s a point of reference, but I don’t actively recall it and think, who did this in the ’80s, so it’s better back then, or this and that. It’s a point of reference for me in the sense that fashion is quite, well, very restricted to whoever pays attention to it. They will know. It’s not as widely accessed now, so the way things were is much more restricted than things are right now.
If you say, recently I was making a video talking about the effect of a show versus a good show. So I mentioned this brand called BodyMap. They had a show where in the finale, I think it’s just a bunch of kid models rolling on the floor. So it’s just a very rogue moment. It’s like having fun. But that moment is not just an entertaining moment. It’s what also consolidated the show because it echoed the clothes.
If someone were to copy that nowadays, it wouldn’t make sense. So if I see that exact moment being recreated today, and I have that knowledge of that’s BodyMap doing that back in the ’80s, I wouldn’t do a direct comparison. It’s just informing me that, wait, they did it back then like that. Let’s try to understand how they’re doing it now. Does it make sense for nowadays, or are they just copying for the sake of copying?
So I try not to let history dictate how I see things, or make me think that history, at this point in fashion, was way better. So whoever is trying to copy it now, they’re never going to live up to that expectation. I try not to let that influence me, because it’s very easy to fall into that trap for a lot of people.
So yeah, it’s more like a point of reference, just a bank of knowledge in the back of my mind that I can refer to.
E
How did you start training yourself to look at fashion more critically? Because I know you started with books, but what did you study first? Was there a specific point of reference that was really formative for you?
And what do you think most people skip in that step when they’re trying to look at fashion critically, when they’re talking about fashion? What do you think most people skip? And how do you recommend people who are starting to get into fashion start?
R
It is a very hard question, because I started from a very different place, I suppose. I was just using my university library access to look for as much as possible, looking for academic journals that you cannot find in big bookstores. That was my edge, I guess, because I was just reading papers.
But then I found this book. It’s a textbook, and I think it’s literally just called Fashion Criticism. I forgot who it’s by. I think his name is Peter or something. The book is just old-fashioned criticism in a very scientific way, almost a guide to how to form a strong opinion. How do you form a good criticism? What does it entail? Let’s look at history. What is a good criticism? What’s a bad criticism? What angle do you need to consider? What things would you normally not think of, because you just think it’s a personal opinion dressed in a professional way?
But it’s more than that, because the point of criticism is that you want to help whoever you’re criticizing. Whether it’s a bad or a good criticism, you want it to in some way better it. So I read that book and I was absolutely mind-blown. I was like, oh my god, I didn’t know it could be so scientific.
And then that’s when I started finding different critics’ work. I started reading Susan Sontag, I started reading Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, Christopher Hitchens, different people with drastically different styles talking about different things that aren’t fashion.
That’s when I understood that even just to analyze how they start their article, what do they talk about first, then how do they ease into it. Susan Sontag is almost cruel. She’s a bit cruel in the way she talks about things and she just goes right into it. But Virginia Woolf, I always say she’s a bit more motherly. She lets you know what went wrong, what went right, but in a roundabout way.
So by reading them, not intensely, but whenever I get a chance I will search them up and try to learn it as best as I can, you start to realize that it’s not just about the opinion, it’s how you craft it, how you dress it. And as I said, the angle is very important. You cannot come off as arrogant, like it’s all just about you. You need to also consider, or maybe it’s just me, you need to consider where the creator is coming from so you can give something that’s actually constructive.
So yeah, that’s, I guess, my tip.
E
That actually leads right into my next question, which is about honesty in fashion discourse. You’ve written about this as well in your work: the idea that bluntness alone isn’t really depth. What’s the difference for you between a take that’s honest and one that’s useful? Which do you personally feel more responsible for delivering as a critic?
R
I think honesty is definitely a key component in good criticism. I can’t say the word criticism smoothly, I always stutter. But I think honesty is definitely a big part of it.
As you mentioned, my opinion on honesty is not just, I think… anyone can be honest in a way that you can just say, I don’t like that, this is very bad, or this is very good. And that is not helping anyone, because that’s just, I guess, the starting point of things.
Even when you say that’s very beautiful, it’s an adjective that describes the thing as very good-looking, but at the same time there are different kinds of beauty that you should expand on to let people know, okay, what kind of beauty are you talking about here? Is it the sublime kind of beauty, something that scares you, or is it a serene kind of beauty?
It’s a starting point to be honest. And if you are unable to pinpoint your actual emotion, why you think something is good, honesty kind of serves no purpose. It serves as entertainment, and I think entertainment is a big driving force online right now. As long as people are entertained, they don’t really care about the content.
But also I feel like a lot more people are starting to understand that being entertained, being superficially entertained, is not enough. They want to pick your mind. They want you to actually tell them more. Why do you think something is bad? Then they can also get into agreement or disagreement, which I always welcome.
So yeah, bluntness itself is not enough, but it should serve almost like a foundation to how you express your opinion.
E
And when you review a collection, I’m interested to know, before you’re even writing a word or speaking a word, what your evaluation framework is. And specifically, I’m interested in where your personal instinct enters the criteria, because I think there’s a level of fashion that’s so entangled with our own personal views. Just as you’re looking at a piece of art, you feel. So how does that enter the equation for you, and how do you even start to evaluate a collection that way?
R
I think instinct, first impression, is very important.
Just by you asking that question, that reminded me when I first saw, I think it was three or four seasons ago, Saint Laurent, when Anthony started putting out collections that were very limited to just a variation of a few looks. The whole collection is just a few. At the start of that, my first impression was, wow, this is lazy. So I saw that and I just kind of discounted it. I didn’t even want to talk about it, because that was my only thought of it. So I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time just telling them, I think that this is lazy.
But then I remember, maybe a collection or two later, while he was doing the same thing, just variations of a few looks, I gave it another go and I was like, wow, I was wrong. Because this is a good thing in the sense that he’s confident in what he can provide. He knows what he wants people to enjoy. He doesn’t need to cater towards a wide audience, and therefore is allowing customers to choose from almost like, okay, this is a template that I’m going to provide you with eight variations of, where you can go crazy on. I think that’s a very mature way of merchandising.
So almost like that internal conflict, I remember, was wow, I was so wrong. This is not lazy at all. This is actually very good, and I quite liked it. Ever since that point, I started really liking that kind of vision.
So when I look at a collection, I always listen to my first instinct, but also it is important to me to always revisit collections that I’ve talked about, because I don’t believe in seeing it one time and then forming your best opinion just from seeing it one time.
So yeah, that’s how I work. The two things that will definitely happen are: I will listen to my initial instinct, and I will always revisit collections that I’ve looked at and formed an opinion on. Whether I made a video or wrote about it, that’s different, but I will always revisit, just to check myself.
E
And on that note, is there a specific thread that you see when you’re reviewing a collection, or when you’re changing your mind about a collection, that actually causes that change of mind? Is it just purely one-off based on the collection you’re reviewing, or is there something you’ve seen where this actually happens again and again, and you find yourself changing your mind consistently about this particular thing?
R
I think the common thread that causes the mind shift is that sometimes I forget that’s how I look at things. It’s a weird concept to tackle, because obviously you should know how things make you feel instinctively, but your instinct might be very ignorant. It might be a very selfish point of view.
So just now, let’s say I looked at the collection and I was like, it’s kind of limiting, this is boring, this is lazy. From my very selfish point of view, I don’t want to just broadcast that, because that helps no one, right?
But then I also remember the reason why I love Thom Browne. I mean, I don’t have such a strong affinity towards them anymore, but the reason why I used to like Thom Browne is because I really admire the idea of evolution instead of complete change. It’s the same visual, but just tiny tweaks each collection. And I enjoyed that.
So looking at the Saint Laurent collection, it almost reminded me, wait, I do enjoy that, because I do see the value in it. So that sort of becomes an internal battle of my own selfish point of view versus something that I objectively do like seeing in brands. So that conflict will happen, and I will start to wrestle between, okay, where does my actual opinion now lie between the two? Then that’s how my shift of opinion happens.
E
I want to go into your founding of Fashion Review, because I think that’s really interesting. What problem were you trying to solve by founding Fashion Review that digital platforms just couldn’t solve for you? And why was print the best format for that?
R
I guess the problem is that sometimes I’ve got a lot to say and I couldn’t fit it in a Reel that would still retain people’s attention. I still don’t know how sometimes people can make five- or six-minute Reels and they pop off. Every time I try to do that, no one watches it. So I was like, maybe it’s just not my strong suit to sit there and speak for six minutes.
But still, at the same time, it’s not just about the length of video. It’s also about how, if I give myself time to process my thought and condense it, maybe I need to use 30 words to form one thought, but I can use six words to express that more succinctly. And I think looking for that, being straightforward, being able to really hone in on what I’m trying to say with the least words possible, is the reason why written format is so close to my heart.
I do still love writing because I find myself expressing my thoughts in different ways. Even if it’s the same topic, I might have different ways of packaging the same message.
And Fashion Review started because, on one hand, what I just said, and on the other hand, every time I tried to pitch anything to big magazines, no one liked it. Literally, I have a zero success rate. No one ever wanted to move forward with my articles. I don’t know if it’s my problem, or if it’s like, hey, maybe it’s too cerebral, maybe that’s not what our audience would want to read. It’s okay, I don’t mind. But it’s just my personal experience.
Everyone seems to have great success in pitching, or says, hey, have you tried pitching to magazines or newspapers? Yeah, I tried 20 times. Zero success rate. So I was like, what? I’m going to start my own magazine. I’m just going to have my own platform.
And with that, I found out that a lot of people struggle with the same thing. They want to write more in-depth articles that are not, I guess, traditionally associated with bigger magazines, bigger media, print media. And they all loved that there’s almost an unrestricted space for them to just nerd out, speak about things that normally your normal fashion enjoyer wouldn’t think about, or would even be interested in.
So yeah, it’s a very interesting phenomenon. The moment I started, it was just overwhelming support and, my god, this is exactly what I’m looking for as a writer. I would love to pitch. So that’s why I started.
E
I wanted to double down on that point you made about big institutions, big magazines, and writing hubs, because the contemporary fashion ecosystem is structurally entangled in that way. You have brands that fund this, you have influencers that rely on access, they rely on media advertising. In that environment, what does this type of independence actually mean to you? And how do you protect your credibility in a system that really incentivizes you being aligned with the brands, the media, or the advertising with the largest budgets?
R
That’s a good question, because I’m going to be honest, that is the actual struggle of running an independently owned magazine, which is money. Because you’ve got to be out there promoting brands, but I don’t want to lose that integrity. So it is an active struggle, and I don’t think I have a very smart answer to how I’m positioning myself, because that’s something I am still trying to solve.
But at the same time, I guess in a philosophical way, I understand that this is what a lot of people want. I do believe that deep down, even though it may take me some time to find a substantial group of support, I do know that this is where the pendulum is swinging to. People are yearning for independent voices, or just voices that actually want to speak about something worthwhile.
But I don’t want to say this in a sense of condemning quick content, because it’s a balance of both. I love quick content because it gives you a lot in a short time. I love that. That’s how the world is going to continue to work. But it’s also, okay, we have that. Can we also have longer-form content that talks about, as I said, more in-depth things that require you to sit there and give it a think?
I genuinely believe that’s also what the community is looking for. And that’s why, even though I am struggling to find an answer to solve that issue, this idea and this confidence is what is keeping my drive alive.
E
And I guess on the point of going in depth and educating people, I think that’s really where people are seeing a lot of value: education in fashion. Do you see education and critique as distinct responsibilities, or to you are they really inseparable? And when you publish something for someone to watch, who do you ultimately feel accountable to?
R
I don’t think I will align with the idea that I’m educating my audience, because I think that is a bit egotistical, that I’m teaching them things. But I think what I’m doing is providing a perspective, and that’s it. I’m letting them know it’s possible to look at things also from the other contributor’s angle. That is what I try to do.
I don’t think I’m trying to educate my audience or people that I talk about because, on one hand, who am I to teach them anything? But on the other hand, whatever I’m trying to teach them, they might already know, or they have no interest in learning. So it would be weird for me to do this with the idea of teaching.
But yeah, I do enjoy, I guess, my target audience that I have in mind that I write to. In general, just anyone that actually cares about fashion as a practice, as a culture. But yeah, I think the overarching thing that I’m trying to do is provide a perspective.
So critique as a whole is already kind of a loose term, because I don’t think I’m always critical, but I’m always trying to provide a perspective.
E
There’s this sentiment that’s always recurring, that criticism doesn’t matter, that designers create the work and critics kind of react from the headlines. Where do you think criticism has true impact? Where is its true value for you?
R
The true value is that I do believe that designers don’t have to find it valuable in the sense of, I can learn something from this. But I think it is a matter of: do they feel seen? And whatever thing I want them to improve on, can they agree with it? They don’t need to take it on board, but I think there can be a relationship where they don’t need to be rivalries.
You created something. Now watch a bunch of critics just tear it down in front of you, right? I don’t think that should be the dynamic. But it’s about: I respect your work, I know you’re a professional, and I want you to also respect my work. We don’t have to have this symbiotic relationship, right? But I think it can be a parallel kind of relationship where we both acknowledge each other’s professionalism.
And also hopefully acknowledge that we are trying to do the best we can. They are providing new ideas in the form of a product or in the form of a campaign. We’re trying to provide perspective in a different, interesting way, or in a thought-provoking way, to look at art, to look at the creation that you made.
We don’t have to step on each other’s toes and have them point at us and be like, you’re just waiting to prey on our work, and we are just looking at them and being like, when’s your next work coming? I can’t wait to write about it. So yeah, that’s the relationship that I hope we can all strive for.
E
Looking beyond the current cycle of fashion, what are you trying to build toward long term? And when all is said and done, what do you hope to have contributed?
R
That’s a big question. Currently I’m trying to be published, so I guess that’s my long-term goal, I don’t know. But I do hope that I can leave a mark in a way that I was pushing for that relationship I was talking about, whether it’s with Fashion Review or another project that I might do in the future, whatever my whole body of work is.
To push for the idea that perspectives don’t need to be overly critical for them to be entertaining or valuable. It is all about how we can look at art in a fun way, and everyone can join in. So yeah, it’s a big question, so I’m just thinking top of mind, trying to condense what I actually do. But yeah, that I think describes where I want to walk towards in the future.
E
Before we close, where can people find your work?
R
I’m on TikTok, I’m on YouTube. I think they’re all called Ryan Fashion. I’m pretty sure it is. I also have a blog. The website is ryanyip.fashion. And I also have a magazine, Fashion Review. Issue three, I think, is coming out later towards the end of the year. Look at my stuff. Watch them with an open mind. I hope you enjoy them.