A Feel For Fashion: Hanan Besovic

While Hanan Besovic’s widely popular and amusing alter ego, @ideservecouture, makes him an obvious choice for this week, his commentary on fashion extends to all corners of the industry – runway, red carpet, designers, models, magazines — served up in a distinct flavour of meme. From his home country of Croatia to his current home in Florida, Besovic’s breakthrough voice has proven that the tired preconception of outsider-insider no longer applies. With humour more than snark, he dares to go where others do not, which helps explain his ever-rising following – 338,000 at the time of this feature. 

What excites you in fashion right now?

What excites me in fashion right now is seeing if the new wave of creative directors in many houses is the right choice. I’m always rooting for the designers to do their best, but there has been a change in so many houses that it feels like it’s a TV show that I cannot stop watching. 

What is one reason to be optimistic about the state of fashion going forward?

Graduate collections. I always love a good graduate collection because it is a fresh take on fashion and it's a fountain of new ideas.

Is AI contradictory or complementary to haute couture?

I think that it’s contradictory. The beauty of Haute Couture is the fact that there is a human factor to it. All these spectacular designs and inspirations that we see on the runway are from somebody’s mind, experience, life. There is nothing fabricated about that. AI cannot give you that. It might give you an amazing design; but it’s computer generated. There is no story behind it, and that is why I have a hard time connecting to AI in fashion.

We often hear couture designers refer to their ateliers as laboratories. Can haute couture still define new ideas in design?

Yes. Haute Couture has been a laboratory of ideas since the beginning. And if you want to talk about a laboratory, look no further than Jean Paul Gaultier, who gives designers access to the archives to re-create his designs and come up with new ideas. Haute Couture gives us an idea of what we can do. Is it always practical? No, but is it the best portrayal of fashion? Yes. 

Can you suggest a fashion mantra for ’24?

Creativity is alive and well. I think in a sea of extremely commercial collections that we are being presented throughout the whole year, we have to remember that there’s still amazing designers out there that are doing remarkable things. Designers that are putting their dreams, hopes, money, time and dedication into their craft. 

This interview has been lightly edited.