By Hannah Taylor ’15, LifeStyle Section Editor

Fashion Week has always confused me. Four cities, hundreds of shows, countless models, and a myriad of pictures clogging my Pinterest feed. And on top of that, the outfits seem more clownish than fashionable: gold encrusted eyebrows, plastic shirts, ginormous hair, neon goggles, the list goes on. Was I supposed to replicate this? The closest I ever got was wearing an apron and safety glasses in chemistry, but no one likes the indented goggle line.

But that didn’t matter. There was no possibility of buying from any such couture brands let alone coming across an opportunity to wear them. So I refused to notice the over-documented weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. But it didn’t last long. The mania was everywhere.

So I started reading, stole some cursory glances, and maybe watched a video or two. I still don’t understand the hype. But now I’m willing to respect it. While unsuitable for daily life, the couture costumes are creative and inspiring. The thematic elements of the runway shows deliver themselves seamlessly. And the rate at which the models and journalists run from one show to the next is slightly impressive. Nevertheless, I still raise my eyebrows when TeenVogue attempts to translate the fashion week trends to suburban style, however now I understand their motive. Fashion Week shows aren’t trying to coax viewers into imitating their outfits, as I had foolishly thought. The purpose is to inspire creativity, individualism, and risk-taking; designers are promoting change.

This is exhibited no better than at Chanel’s show at this year’s Paris Fashion Week. Revolutionary within it’s own right, the show took place on a runway the width of a city street and sent models down in groups to create an organic sidewalk scene. The spectacle ended with a feminist protest led by none other than Cara Delevingne. This bold political act is exactly why I have started to respect fashion. When people start to believe that it is nothing but frills and sequins, it dares to make loud statements. Feminism and fashion week are a good mix; you have my attention.