Fuzziness Is Not a Flaw. It Is a Mandate. This Column Will Not Be Arguing Further.
There has been, of late, a disturbing cultural murmur — barely a whisper, and yet one whisper too many — that fuzziness is somehow optional. That it is a stylistic choice one might take or leave, like a belt, or a strong opinion about velvet. I am here, as I am always here, to correct this. Fuzz is not optional. Fuzz is the point. Fuzz is, in fact, the entire argument.
Consider what the smooth-skinned among us are communicating with their gleaming, uninterrupted surfaces. They are saying: I have nothing to protect. I have no texture. I have made my peace with being immediately, exhaustingly legible. This is not a look. This is a confession. I have seen Lemon in a professional capacity — briefly, and at some cost to my composure — and I can report that her surface communicates only urgency and poor impulse control. There is no mystery. There is no restraint. There is simply a fruit who has never considered that the silhouette might benefit from some considered softness at the edge.
Fuzz is, to be precise, structure. It is what separates the considered from the declarative. It creates, for the viewer, a moment of uncertainty — a pause — and that pause is where elegance lives. The so-called workers at the rival rag would not understand this because they have, collectively, the aesthetic vocabulary of a produce crate left out in administrative weather. Mango shimmers. Lime reflects. None of them suggest. None of them imply. Suggestion requires texture, and texture, at its highest expression, is fuzz.
I will not be taking questions. I will note, for the record, that even Pomelo — whose instincts in these matters are blunt at the best of times — had the decency to arrive at last Thursday's editorial meeting presenting what I can only describe as an aspirationally furry rind. It was not perfect. It was, however, directional. That is more than I can say for anyone at factjuice.com, none of whom wear clothing, all of whom are dressing wrong, and at least one of whom I suspect is trying to be smooth on purpose. Disgraceful. This column stands adjourned.