Otto von Busch, Author at Public Seminar

Corporations

Fall Fashion

Could the collapse of consumption point to a better future for the fashion industry?

October 28, 2020 • by Otto von Busch

----- Outside the window, it should have been autumn season. With the arrival of more crisp weather, a section of the wardrobe opens for the new possibilities, colors, and textures: jackets and closed shoes, knits and tweed. And layers. Layers force the wearer to think in more complex combinations. With a ...

Fashion

Sartorial Steersmanship

We behave as if fashion is superficial — but only because it is so important

April 9, 2020 • by Otto von Busch

Everyone hearing the comment knows, don’t they? It’s never really about the shoes, but about who is in control. The utterance takes aim at my desire to just, for once, be the pilot of my own life, and dress the part, and that is not taken lightly. Teen angst and obsession with minuscule details ...

Fashion

The Dharma of Fashion

If you crave fashion, make friends with your desire

March 30, 2020 • by Otto von Busch

It is said that on the eve of his enlightenment, the Buddha sat beneath a tree and was assailed by the demon Mara. Mara is literally “Death,” the personification of temptation and distraction. Using seductive images and ultimately doubt, Mara challenged the Buddha, distracting him from his goal of enlightenment. ...

Fashion

Fashion, Emotion and the Depths of the Self

February 11, 2020 • by Otto von Busch and Lisa Rubin

Tying fashion to sex is nothing new. Indeed, there is a whole tradition of psychoanalysts since Freud who has never shied away from seeing through clothes and reading sex through dress. Freud famously saw castration anxiety in high heels, and John Flugel recognized how dress is the meandering compromise between ...

Fashion

Do My Lies Say Anything About Fashion?

February 11, 2020 • by Otto von Busch

The answer comes out of my mouth almost as a reflex when my colleague asks about my outfit. It is the quick nature of my response that draws my attention to it, as I so often feel my other replies come frustratingly slow. It seems wit was never my game. ...