The Lone Pigeon

Just recently I read an article from Thought Catalog. The title was ‘9 Male Archetypes Pop Culture Assumes I Find Attractive, That I Don’t Actually Find Attractive‘ (bit of a mouthful, I know). It wasn’t particularly hilarious, but one character that was written hit me hard.

The lone wolf

This is the guy in movies and advertisements who does things his own way. His background is a mystery. He often wears leather. His bad boy exterior is a cover up of years of hurt and angst.
If I ever met someone like this in real life, though? Can you imagine what it’d be like to talk to this guy?

“Hey dude, how’s it going?”
“The wind goes…the wind blows…”
“What was that?
“Nothing.”
“Oh, OK. So, um, what’s your name?”
“What is a ‘name,’ really?”
“Ha. Yeah. Good point. Well, I’m Nate.”
“…When I was nine years old my father gave me a pigeon. He told me it was a turtledove. Ha. The old man always had a few tricks up his sleeve.”
“Yeah… listen dude I’m getting a beer, can I buy you a…”
“But when I finally met that girl down in Buenos Aires, you know what I realized?”
“…No?”
“I was the pigeon. I was the pigeon.”
Flings hair over his shoulder, storms to a dark place. Aaaaaannd scene.

Ironically this is how I pictured most goth ninjas to behave. Clad in their primal processed animal skins, they dart from alleys to corners. If you ever get to close to them, they fly away faster than you can ask where they got their artisanal steez from, just like pigeons do when you get too curious. And if you actually are close enough to talk to them, well you’d wish you never had because they’ll smite you with pseudo-intellectual verbosity that turns your beer dry.

Here is the back of the jacket to show you the intricacies of Junya’s deconstruction. It is the reason why I always love his interpretations of classic pieces such as biker jackets and trench coats. (Please click on image to enlarge)

The above is of course an incorrect generalisation, but nonetheless I can’t help making it because so many ‘dark’ brands choose to go down that route. Just check out Odyn Vovk’s film, or any lookbooks from Obscur, Julius and of course, Rick Owens himself. I can guarantee there are at least one of these elements involved: concrete wall, partially obscured face (pardon the pun), hoodies as pointy as KKK’s, swathes of fabric wrapped around a model, and desaturated photography. Which then begs the question: is there truly no other way to express obscurity (again, pun not intended), introversion, mystery and grit? Must we always resort to cliched ideas such as the lonely man in the corner, a wistful stare into the horizon, or some bearded, possibly blindfolded dude sitting and contemplating whether he’s a pigeon, in a dark room?

I, for one, would love to see artisanal brands taking themselves less seriously. I have yet to come across any of these designers favoured by goth ninjas (outdated term, I know, but nothing else comes close) who inject a dash of comedy into their presentations. Time and time again I see new names who attempt to create derivatives which I can’t differentiate from one another. If they hope to stand out amongst the sea of black, I’d suggest trying out a completely different approach to promoting their products. I hope this will give them some inspirations.

P.S. I like pigeons, especially the fat ones.