Robin Givhan and Jeanne Beker talk fashion

On a particularly stormy night last Friday, Robin Givhan, fashion critic and style writer for The Washington Post, and Jeanne Beker, host of Fashion Television, finished a series of conversations dedicated to architecture, music and, of course, fashion. New to the Hot Doc film festival this year, Critical Mass is a conversation exploring cultural subjects related to film. Robin Givhan is a huge name in fashion right now. Instead of moving fashion forward by design, she elevated fashion journalism by winning the Pultzer Prize (a first for a fashion writer. ) Although Givhan claims she is still trying to figure fashion out, she seemed to have a pretty clear vision of where fashion fits into our cultural dialogue. They discussed the pitfalls of fashion, such as designer's narrow visions of their ideal clients, the link between the ideal beauty shrinking while obesity rises, and design being influenced from sponsorship. Yet the one major change that stood out was the "demoncratization of fashion." With increased exposure to fashion and style, people are taking an invested interest in the matter. What that could mean for the industry is public pressure to progress fashion into something more realistic, such as the presence of more mature models on the runway and more pragmatic designs. The end of glamour and teenage models? Maybe not, but the times are changing and the people are finding their voice in fashion. Jeanne also offered up a little tidbit of news. She will be venturing into a new clothing line "Edited by Jeanne", which will soon to be available at The Bay.