i’m quite fond of looking to the past for inspirations and since history is a bit of a obsession with me, i often gravitate to the nostalgic. i still try not to become too sentimental… although with limited success.
i suppose i’m not alone in my affinity for nostalgic re-visitation since many retailers are so fond of re-capitalising on the history of their brands. it seems that the historical faith in respected brands never wears out regardless of what they have since produced. nearly every fashion house has done their version of it and fabric houses often dip into their archives for re-newed inspiration. for obvious reasons, cosmetics and technology seldom see this return phenomenon apart from a stylistic point of view. what is however a more recent manifestation of the same nostalgic dream, is the re-invention of brands that have since retreated into obscurity. both the fragranced candle cire trudon and the more recent l’officine universelle buly have been re-established by multi-miracle-maker ramdane touhami.
although in my opinion it is easier to rekindle a quality product than invent a new one, it is an even greater feat to maintain it’s brand independence in the monolithic luxury market and i must take my hat off to anyone who dives into the fickle fashion retail storm. still, having such a wealth of artisan products on the extinction list, i sincerely hope touhami’s success ignites a blaze of serious individual discernment in retail developments to balance out the mediocre flood of inferior newness.