a talk about fashion with Eric Wilson

I have been a huge fan of Eric Wilson's writing ever since I first started reading The New York Times' fashion & style section (I think I started in 2009?). In the past, I sent him a few e-mails. It's kind of hard for me to believe that he ever responded; and he always responded promptly. But anyway, I just recently sent him an e-mail again and I looked through my e-mail inbox and found one of my earliest e-mails from him--it was an interview I conducted for research for a column I was writing for The Purple Tide at the time.

Here's the interview:

ME: What is fashion?
ERIC WILSON: Fashion is the relationship between people and clothes. Clothes are just clothes unless you feel something about them or they make you feel something about yourself or whoever is wearing them — adoration, admiration, betrayal, disgust, rage, comfort, power, whatever. That’s fashion.

ME: Is nudity considered fashion?

ERIC WILSON: No. Nudity is a provocative statement against fashion. It is the ultimate honesty.

ME: How does the human body and form relate to fashion?

ERIC WILSON: Fashion tends to highlight the aspects of the human body that we as a culture may project to be the most desirable or attractive at any given time. Think of corsetry, skinny jeans, halter dresses, hotshorts, platforms and stilettos, all designed to exaggerate the shape of a body.

Oh man. I told Mr. Wilson that I aspired to work in the fashion industry as both a fashion photographer and fashion journalist in the future--that was when I was fifteen--and that desire still holds true and remains the same today (even if my goals have also expanded a bit to cover more areas besides journalism and photography).