The Business of Ego: Hanan Besovic's Take on Fashion

Hanan Besovic, the content creator and fashion commentator behind @ideservecouture, shares his unconventional journey and outsider perspective into the fashion world. Moving from Croatia to the US, Besovic garnered a significant following on his platform during the COVID lockdown, using it to channel and convey his perspective on fashion—which he comes by through sheer obsessive passion. His honest and timely critiques often challenge traditional norms in the industry.

Besovic details the evolving role of influencers, advocating for discernment in evaluating their contributions to fashion discourse. Expressing admiration for Gen Z’s assertiveness and knowledge, he navigates the industry with a focus on community-building and networking, while maintaining an authenticity that he sees as all too often lacking on social media. His overwhelming fashion insight gives him a unique perspective laced with nuance, allowing him to see what’s contemporary now as both the influence and image of businesswoman Kim Kardashian, as well as pervasive mediocrity that comes from the industry’s exclusivity and commercialism.

Episode Highlights:

• Serendipitous start: Introduced to fashion in 2010 after seeing a McQueen show, Besovic transitioned from hospitality to fashion after a move from Croatia to the US and following a layoff from hotel work during the pandemic.
• Following a passion: Though he treated fashion as a hobby, joking that he failed algebra because of his obsession with Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert, he found a role in the scene during the COVID lockdown.
• Superfan: Citing Plato’s Atlantis and the Horn of Plenty, Leigh Bowery lips, and Dior silhouettes, Besovic recounts how McQueen’s show was “a perfect introduction to fashion because I got a history of fashion in 13 minutes.”
• Ending up on a panel for Show Studio, through which he had first been introduced to the fashion world, was a full-circle moment for Besovic.
• @ideservecouture: Having been called a content creator, a fashion critic, and an influencer, Besovic sees himself as a commentator, remarking on how the fashion world has changed to include more critiques like those pushing for body diversity. 
• On influencer culture: Besovic sees the importance of having a discerning view on social media, where unresearched or misinformed influencer opinions on fashion proliferate alongside those of influencers who have dug deeper into the contemporary moment and its historical roots.
• Gen Z: Likening the feeling of maintaining an outsider perspective among the insiders to those that look down on Gen Z, Besovic notes that he admires the younger generation’s activeness and knowledge of their value.
• Organic growth: Quoting a drag queen, Besovic says that “goals are preplanned disappointments” and prefers relying on organic personal—and social media—growth.
• Navigating the industry: Besovic’s advice to young designers is to work more toward networking and building community, as he does on his platform.
• “Nice, genuine, and down to earth”: Besovic’s contemporaries don’t have the same egos as most in the industry, and Besovic himself is happy to forgo sources of status, like physically attending the shows. 
• “I like to know the reality of the things.”: When asked whether the world needs the 24/7 dream or fantasy of fashion on social media, Besovic insists that the world needs to know instead that everything’s not as perfect as it looks.
• When clothes speak for themselves: Besovic says storytelling is crucial to a collection, except when garments are too good to need a narrative.
• Dream job: Besovic thinks he would be a good consultant for brands like Givenchy, which don’t understand their worth or history. 
• Polarities: For Besovic, the Kardashians are what’s contemporary now (still), because “no one can dispute how smart of a businesswoman she [Kim] is.” On the other hand, additionally, what is contemporary now is “mediocrity, it’s commercialism, it’s lack of creativity.” 

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