Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I'm here today
to invite you
every time
before you are getting dressed
to think two minutes
consciously
how you want to be perceived.
And I will try to convince you
that this will improve your life.
I believe that every person in this room,
actually everybody,
can look and dress,
attractive,
appealing
and authentic.
And that your imagination can be the catalyst
of becoming the person you always wanted to be perceived as.
Now, some of you might think I'm going to talk about fashion,
trends, brands and garments now.
I won't.
I love the industry I work in,
but I do not overrate it,
and what I've learned in many years of being in this industry
and many collaborations with designers
and many shows, from London to Milan
that you do not to look more attractive,
just because you're wearing the latest fashion item,
and you're not more appealing to others
just because you've spent lots of money on your clothes,
and you most certainly
do not lose authenticity
just because you have put effort into the way you dress.
Now, if we think about dressing,
we have to go from one certain point.
It all starts here.
If your brain agrees
that your life might improve
if you don't dilute
your presence
with unthoughtful outfits
you will open the door to your imagination.
The first impression
is not a myth.
There's vast evidence that when we meet other people,
that snap judgements,
like this,
occur within seconds.
And these judgements are very accurate and they tend to persist for a long time.
Even if you have been able accumulate more information about this person afterwards.
And these judgements and evaluations
are instantaneous.
And we can speculate that the neural basis of these kind of judgements
involve rapid, unconscious processing
which leads to a certain gut feeling.
So to create a positive gut feeling towards ourselves,
the first thing we have to do,
is to dress with respect for others
and to put effort into our looks.
Now I have people saying before to me:
"Why would I like to do that?
I'm quite happy with my outfit and presentation."
Of course you are.
And you have every right to think and feel like this,
but I would like to invite you
to reflect with me one more time
and use your imagination
about what I just said, about that blink moment,
when people meet you for the very first time
and create an impression about you.
And I can tell you,
that these people
will think differently about you,
if you have put effort into the way you dress.
They will think
that you're more successful,
that you're more trustworthy,
that you're more interesting
and that you're more fun to be with.
But most importantly of all,
it is highly likely that you will feel
different about yourself,
because your feeling of pride,
self-esteem,
and satisfaction will change.
and this will change many other aspects in your life
and play in all your relationships,
at work
and at home.
Now let me show you a little film
about someone who put himself to the test.
(Eagle screaming)
(Video) Csaba Manyai: Tomorrow I'm gonna go through a process
that is very new to me
and I approach this whole thing with mixed feelings
and I really wanted to make sense of it.
Why? There were some important things.
I wanted to feel comfortable
and I wanted to feel OK with how I look,
but I've never, ever used the way I dress to express myself.
Probably, and I don't know it yet,
that's the whole idea behind the adventure.
It may, or it does, set the mood
and the stage for engagement with other people
and it's the part, the without mirrors part,
because it's not about fashion in the sense that
I've always thought of fashion.
And I really am curious what is style that is beyond fashion.
(Music)
["Thank you for opening doors, I never knew were there" - Csaba Manyai]
(Applause)
Thank you Csaba for your courage.
Now when it comes to perception and presentation,
many people are afraid of having to show some of their vulnerabilities,
are secretly ashamed
of not being perfect
in size, height
weight, looks.
And some people simply don't know
how to create the right perception.
They are not alone.
They are many.
Now let me approach this whole theme from a different angle.
Why would we like to dilute who we are
and our achievements
with inappropriate presentation
or unsuitable outfits?
I know,
some of you might not care this much and fashion and grooming.
You possibly just get dressed every morning
because after all, we are a species born naked
and never grow any fur.
And, of course, there are also all these life responsibilities --
the family, the kids,
the job, the team at work,
our friends, our house, our relatives,
our hobbies, the list goes on.
All of a sudden we have no time and resources left
to invest in our own appearance.
But we can avoid this trap.
You can avoid this trap by thinking consciously
every time before we're getting dressed
and run through the following questions.
Every time,
and your life will improve.
It will improve
because you will be wearing curated outfits.
Outfits which will make you feel good
and which will make others feel good
in your company.
And the process to get to curated outfits
is very interesting and can be divided in three steps.
Be open,
wake your imagination,
let inspiration happen.
Don't be shy.
Be curious, eager to learn.
Look out for advice and try to understand
what it could mean for you to be style conscious,
and develop your style eye.
Take yourself on a journey,
allow yourself and your mind to explore.
Change perspective,
feed your senses
and enjoy
and you will understand the building blocks,
you will overcome your fears,
and you will get, you will get,
to your own dressing concept.
Now this is the time where we finally do that wardrobe clear-out,
and get rid of all these old socks and underpants, and these shirts,
we haven't worn for quite a few years.
And we enjoy the process
because we're lead by our understanding and knowledge
and all of a sudden, even something like shopping for clothes can be fun.
Style does not appear suddenly when you look into the mirror,
style is development,
encouraged by our own mind
and mindset and imagination,
based on our upbringing, our past,
but also based on awareness,
curiosity
and enjoyment.
And the ability to be inspired
by beauty and harmony in general.
To find inspiration in art, design, culture,
music, food, travel,
journalism, social media, literature,
science, sports, TED,
yes, and fashion and grooming.
And all these seeds, and many others,
will create your very own
personal style garden.
To expose ourselves to beauty
is not just a vanity pursuit;
it's a stimulant to our imagination.
Now let me show you a few
very simple but effective examples.
How you can stimulate your mind
and use your imagination
to improve your life.
Some landmark buildings in London, Liverpool Street.
Most of us see this location like pictured in this photograph.
Others might see the exact same location
like this.
Now look at the atmosphere
Howard Kingsnorth has created in this fantastic photograph.
The position he has chosen to take the photograph from.
We can sense --
the dynamics in the city, the strong contrast
we can feel the whole environment including the will of weather.
Our imagination can change realities,
can take it out from the ordinary
and make it special.
On the left
we have a permanent installation
in the Saatchi gallery in London.
It's called "Twenty-fifty" by Richard Wilson.
It's an illusion to our senses
because ceiling and floor become one,
and only the smell might give it away.
The room is flooded with recycled engine oil.
And when I first saw it I was mesmerized and disorientated
and so was everybody else I've taken there so far.
And on the right
I've chosen the work of a famous Austrian artist,
Gustav Klimt, who created "The Kiss" in 1907.
What we all can see is gold, flowers
and two people kissing.
But have a closer look,
the two bodies intertwine
and form a very important part
of the male body.
Now what I would like to show you with this
is not that Mr Klimt was a "naughty" artist.
What I would like to show you with this is
that we all sometimes only can see
what the surface gives us
and that we have to be brave
and look closer and deeper
to see all the details,
because details train our style eye.
One of my favorite magazines is "Wired"
because I can feel the future when I read it.
I do not recommend to only follow fashion trends.
I recommend to follow
intelligent trends,
trends which describe
how rapidly everything changes around us, where we are and where we are going.
Because if you understand this you will also understand style,
because style is born out of environment too.
And the Twitter image is there,
because we not only have to take care of
our physical appearance,
but also of our digital appearance.
Now this is a bit of fun,
if it were not so true.
Have a look at the pictures,
and the food on the pictures.
I will now show you
a choice of different people
and we can all guess
who has eaten what today.
Do you think you know the answers?
Food is nourishment for our senses.
If we put effort and quality in our food and eat well,
the outcome will also be quality.
It doesn't matter if it's a home-cooked meal
or a dinner in a Michelin star restaurant,
good food will influence our style,
because it helps change our body shape
and also gives us an appreciation
of taste and quality.
Travel educates,
but most importantly of all,
it helps us think differently.
By taking ourselves out of the environment we're used to,
you might like to change things,
because our body and mind
is exposed to different experiences.
And this will shift priorities
and creativity can flow better.
And all of this
will add to your personal style garden.
Easy to surround myself with beauty
if I've got three million pound for a villa like this on the beach.
If you thought this or similar,
I'm sorry,
but you were wrong.
Of course, you get what you pay for,
but beauty can be found in something
so fantastic and futuristic like this.
As much as
in an architectural example like that.
Look at the pattern on the wall.
Look at the colours.
Look at the arrangements of kitchen utensils.
Look at the simplicity,
the humble atmosphere.
Money cannot buy style
and beauty sometimes costs nothing.
Now these four elements will influence greatly
how successful we are in developing our own style.
And by doing this
we can also be fantastic role models for our children,
because we not only teach our children
how to walk and talk,
we also teach our children
imagination
and how to be compassionate.
The ability to put ourselves
in someone else's shoes
is imagination.
And extremely important
for forming relationships,
empathy
and the understanding for others.
And our ability
to be able to dress
with respect for others,
will not only improve our lives,
but will also be an essential guideline
for our children in their future.
I truly believe
that it really only takes
two minutes
of thinking consciously
every time before you're getting dressed,
how you want to be perceived,
to develop a good dress sense over time.
We humans have style in our DNA.
Come on,
take yourself on a journey
and open those doors,
those doors you possibly always knew were there.
Thank you.
(Applause)