The quality of Haute Couture has taken a nosedive. The desire to sell more products faster has moved most fashion production from Europe to China. Artisan’s crafting bags, shoes and clothing are no longer doing so for the consumer. Instead, what is?

Marc Jacobs’ “The Tote Bag” and Supreme’s fashion line feature prominent brand names and logos. While Gucci and Chanel are sometimes guilty of plastering Gs and Cs all over their purses, Marc Jacobs and Supreme take that to a whole new level.

This begs the question: is this fashion or just plain capitalism?

Buying something with the brand stamped on it is advertising for that company, which is actually paid for by the consumer – brands are making money and advertising all at once.

High fashion brands throwing their name all over their products is a transparent advertising technique. I would have thought that creating a status symbol for people who want their peers to know they have money – the nouveau riche – would have been seen as below the standards of high fashion brands.

When fashion is used as a verb, it means “to give shape or form to: to make, construct or create [something] usually with careful attention to the use of imagination and ingenuity.” Which part of large letters spelling out your brand name fits this definition of ingenious?

Fashion is a form of self-expression. As “Gossip Girl’s” Blair Waldorf once said, “Fashion is the most powerful art there is. It’s movement, design and architecture all in one. It shows the world who we are and who we’d like to be.”

Name brands do not show anyone who we are. They show how little we know ourselves and how we dress is based on who we are. It is a way to hide. That is the opposite of the art of fashion.

Something as simple as my mood can be easily conveyed through my clothing choice. If I’m wearing sweats, I’m not feeling well and I would rather be in bed. If I am in jeans, a nice top, and have accessorized with jewelry and bows in my hair, I am ready to face life head-on. This is simple, and it is something that many of us do. Using this analogy, we can begin to understand the importance of every decision designers make. All art is a form of communication, and wearable art is the kind of communication we use every day. The psychology of colors, cuts and fabrics all play into the tone of a piece both on the runway and in everyday life. For example, someone in black is less likely to look approachable than someone outfitted in bright colors.

In design classes, we’re taught to analyze everything. Every decision we make must have a purpose. A cute black dress with pink trim looks and feels very different from wearing a classic, yet sexy, little black dress.

To produce quantity over quality – the opposite of the point of high fashion – haute couture and high fashion brands have sacrificed working conditions and fair pay. Haute couture, which is “the houses or designers that create exclusive and often trend-setting fashions for women,” was once the pinnacle of beauty, art and impeccable clothing construction. These brands were once eye-catching and recognizable.

Fashion eras were defined by silhouettes and specific pieces and combinations of them. We have lost that now. Past the 2000s, we can no longer identify the era when specific pieces of clothing were worn. The 20s were the iconic fitted flapper dresses and skirts with scandalously high hemlines for the time – above the knee! The 30s were less exciting than the Roaring Twenties due to The Great Depression, and in the 40s, World War II led to a shortage in fabric. Exuding elegance and class in the 50s, rebelling with funky hippie vibes in the 60s and 70s or the boldness of New Wave fashions in the 80s, all these fashions had a purpose and were reflective of the time. Now, we wear cropped shirts and jeans – if we bother to put on something more exciting than sweatpants.

We have devolved fashion-wise partly due to the rise of athleisure and the addition of stretch in places it doesn’t belong, and partly due to the lack of originality in the designs companies are producing. If we want to have a definitive style to look back on our college years with when we’re older, we need to rethink the way we’re doing fashion.

I leave you with the question: is this really fashion?