Intensive Use
Some garments are worn almost daily. They become both a backdrop to - and practical facilitator of - our lives and reflect true resourcefulness. Their features speak of an ethic of extended iterative use.
800 days
"My wardrobe is from Op Shops, not vintage but the real deal, poverty sources (laughs). But I do have a Lanvin ready to wear jacket on. It’s from spring/summer 2006. And I got this from a friend, who sells second hand luxury brands that he sources around the world. I bought this when I had a bit of money and he kept it aside for me thinking that it would be perfect. When I saw it I was like, ‘No I can’t afford that, I can’t afford that!’ But I chose to buy it because I just connected with it, just the look of it... And I honestly don’t think I’ve taken it off. I think I wear it every day, summer, winter, I just bulk up underneath and keep warm… I bought it about three years ago, 2010… and in that time it has probably been on my back 800 to 900 days… …It actually looks like the original pieces that Jeanne Lanvin designed way back in the 1920s and 30s or so. And I think that’s what drew me to this piece. And that it’s black. I’m always in either black or black."
Melbourne - March 2013
Photograph by
Paul Allister
