Snobbery and Gimmicks?

Cleanliness, not hipness, is next to godliness (“High Priest in the World of Hip,” by Mark Ehrman, Aug. 23). The fashion-industry types of John Eshaya’s generation should know that being a snob isn’t hip, and that there is no excuse for unattractive behavior. Devoting three pages to this young man and his attitudes lends him the importance he believes that he and his colleagues deserve.

Cissy Wechter

Calabasas

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Fred Segal fashion maven John Eshaya is living evidence that we exist in an age of artistic mediocrity, and that the dumbing down of culture is nearly complete. He carries on about how “fierce” certain looks are when, in fact, the whole retro-’70s genre he and his idea-challenged colleagues are mining is tired. The Gen-X market Eshaya caters to, and from which he emerged, is so devoid of knowledge, ideas and genuine creativity that they may be doing retro-’90s before the decade is even over.

Professionally, Eshaya and his ilk are all about gimmicks, self-promotion and posing. It seems that for Gen-X and today’s kids, posing well is an end in itself.

Jeff Softley

West Hollywood