Stephen Bayley

Famous quotes by stephen bayley:

“Fashion is the most intense expression of the phenomenon of neomania, which has grown ever since the birth of capitalism. Neomania assumes that purchasing the new is the same as acquiring value.... If the purchase of a new garment coincides with the wearing out of an old one, then obviously there is no fashion. If a garment is worn beyond the moment of its natural replacement, there is pauperization. Fashion flourishes on surplus, when someone buys more than he or she needs.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)

“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of ‘style.’ But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. ‘Taste: The Story of an Idea,’ Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)

“‘Where do architects and designers get their ideas?’ The answer, of course, is mainly from other architects and designers, so is it mere casuistry to distinguish between tradition and plagiarism?”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)

“Watteau is no less an artist for having painted a fascia board while Sainsbury’s is no less effective a business for producing advertisements which entertain and educate instead of condescending and exploiting.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)