{"id":6592,"date":"2019-10-16T17:13:37","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T16:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everpress.com\/blog\/?p=6592"},"modified":"2020-03-27T14:24:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T14:24:47","slug":"why-fashion-cant-stop-envisioning-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everpress.com\/blog\/why-fashion-cant-stop-envisioning-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Fashion Can\u2019t Stop Envisioning The Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s winter in East London, and a crowd dressed in heavy outerwear and armed with iPhones has gathered inside a sterile studio space. The walls are pure white and the slate-grey floor is dotted with steel barricades. As the last slivers of morning sun creep in through the windows, the atmosphere inside the room grows leaden with distracted whispers and collective bemusement. The crowd turns slowly, to face a large, hairy monster who seems to be holding a smaller, fluffier version of itself. This creature strides down a runway as a cast of figures follow, some clad in layers of clear PVC, others adorned in cosmic symbols and translucent goo. More follow, wearing lab coats and hideous prosthetic fangs. This transformation of an unassuming events space into a sartorial twilight zone is the work of Xander Zhou, a menswear designer whose AW19 collection was a theatrical look at a surreal and disconcerting, intergalactic future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Xander
Xander Zhou Spring\/Summer 2019 Menswear Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zhou\u2019s show wasn\u2019t the only AW19 London Fashion Week Men\u2019s show that explored themes of apocalyptic futures and humanity\u2019s destruction. Liam Hodges\u2019 collection reflected a similar, yet less clinical and more nightmarishly dystopian, narrative \u2013 think alternate realities ruined by toxic waste and 3D-printing gone awry. For other collection previews, the show notes were littered with buzzwords like <\/span>evolution<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>bionic, technology<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>sustainability<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fashion is now nervously trying to imagine the fearful future it\u2019s created<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, this wasn\u2019t the first time fashion and art has experimented with prospective futures. Fashion and wider culture has long had a relationship with the future. Pierre Cardin and Andr\u00e9 Courr\u00e8ges were dabbling with Jetsons-inspired design as early as the \u201850s and \u201860s; Hussein Chalayan\u2019s \u2018remote control dress\u2019 in the early noughties was pivotal in displaying the crossover between costume and the machine. In film, Luc Besson\u2019s 1997 film <\/span>The Fifth Element <\/span><\/i>gave us the future as envisioned by John Paul Gaultier, and we\u2019ve grown up with cultural milestones like the cyberpunk lure of Blade Runner, and the vector-crazy world of TRON, which have all massively influenced how we dress our distant realities. In music, Bjork has long explored the hybridic harmony between nature and technology, through 3D-printed death masks and glow-in-the-dark headdresses. Record label PC Music have been reimagining hyperkinetic aesthetics and sound since the early 2010s, painting a picture of a highly capitalist future. And lest we forget the almighty Health Goth, which entered our lives in 2014 as a self-proclaimed \u201canti-nostalgic dystopian present,\u201d and had us all wishing we were donning reflective tracksuits and Air Max 97\u2019s as a testament to forward-thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Liam
Liam Hodges Autumn\/Winter 2019 Menswear Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our collective vision of the future through art and culture has long fluctuated, and this year it seemed to take on a new character: it\u2019s started to look like an industry that was notorious for its disregard of, and impact on, the environment, is now nervously trying to imagine the fearful future it\u2019s created, albeit through impeccably tailored, social-media worthy costume. There\u2019s an undercurrent of desperation in the collections being debuted now, as we edge closer towards the point of no return in environmental degradation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some designers, like<\/span> Marine Serre,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0are taking matters seriously. Referring to her own collections as <\/span>FutureWear,<\/span><\/em>\u00a0Serre is overturning the fashion industry\u2019s knack for over-production and consumption through her upcycled pieces. Serre\u2019s AW19 campaign, <\/span>Radiation<\/span><\/i>, is a bold and daunting epitomization of future tropes. Featuring work by digital artist<\/span>\u00a0Rick Farin<\/span><\/a>, the campaign presents clothing that looks and feels supremely hypermodern: skin-tight silhouettes, air-masks and functional detailing all developed to survive uncertain, post-apocalyptic realities. It\u2019s a combination of everything we love and fear about the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Marinne Serre Autumn\/Winter 2019 Futurewear Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Marinne Serre, a combination of everything we love and fear about the future<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fashion\u2019s current attempts to grapple with the future go even further than the physical realm, too. The paradigm seems to be shifting to a point where we\u2019re using modern technology to create our own virtual designs at grassroots, with minimal impact on the environment. We\u2019re wearing<\/span> AR face filters<\/span><\/a> and creating<\/span> otherworldly, androidian makeup looks<\/span><\/a>; some of us are autonomously collating our own perceptions of the future through online neo-archives like<\/span> @2055aesthetics<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> @thisiscala<\/span><\/a>, and<\/span> @magicfabricblog<\/span><\/a>. There\u2019s a distinct aesthetic that runs through these platforms that is absurdly enticing and strikingly resonant: man merging with machine, the material bleeding into AR. As the technology for these applications continues to develop, our boundaries for reimagining future realities will grow with it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking things a step further are brands like<\/span> Carlings<\/span><\/a>, who are creating, wearing and viewing clothes through digital collections. Launched last winter, Carling\u2019s range included items priced between \u20ac10-\u20ac30 that could be digitally manipulated on to a photograph of the customer. Other brands like<\/span> The Fabricant<\/span><\/a> are working towards producing wholly digitised clothes and completely virtual fashion editorials. Their motto reads: \u201calways digital, never physical.\u201d These are clear responses to throwaway fashion and the influencer-heavy saturation of our social media feeds, as both brand initiatives promise zero impact on the environment. Reclaiming digital technologies to produce virtual clothing also democratises the process of creating and consuming clothes, taking some of the power from the industry giants and returning it back to us. And as this technology develops even further, the possibilities for experimentation in design, and boundless self-expression will continue to expand with it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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