Fashion is a form of ugliness: so intolerable that we have to change it every six months.
Oscar Wilde
Is fashion alive or dead? Who will determine the future of fashion? The opposition FASHION vs CLOTHING will determine the future of the fashion industry. “We buy clothes, but look at and this inspires us. Fashion hangs in our shop windows, clothes in our wardrobe. That’s why you don’t wear fashion but you wear clothes.”( Alessandro Michele)
There is a difference between clothes and the word fashion. According to etymology, fashion is the same as a trend. It is fluid and passes (quickly). However, fashion is more: it has become an umbrella term for clothing and the clothing industry. Many fashion designers do not like the word fashion. After all, fashion can also imply inferior clothing. Designers are innovators and want to stand out. To do so, they call on fashion psychologists. These have to define emotions and buying behaviour.
Globalisation makes fashion individualistic. “After all, we want to look different from the advertising campaign,” says Demna Gvasalia.
Who will define the fashion landscape? People with a vision! Designers as visionaries who bring a message to their followers. They will become the fashion gurus of the future.
Fashion is a necessity. That is also what makes it so profitable. We cannot live without clothes. How big our wardrobe is, depends on ourselves. Women often go shopping as a hobby. They often do this alone, while their partner prefers to do something else. And what about men?
Fashion lives and evolves! Men invest mainly in clothes for work, sports and leisure. Alessandro Michele of Gucci says: “Our view of fashion can be masculine and feminine, but actually we need to look at how we see fashion. Do we see fashion through the dominant male gaze or through the feminist gaze? Or just through our own gaze? Do we just stay ourselves? “
The view of fashion as the brave new world where everything evolves and traditions is under pressure. Who or what is new? What or who is next? Twenty years ago, SOCIAL MEDIA was called NEW MEDIA. The 2000s brought us the mobile phone, the tablet, the apps with the famous faces on social media. The New makes you buy. How much time do we put into fashion? Far from being dead, fashion is more alive than ever. Trendwatcher Li Edelkoort said 10 years ago that fashion was dead because clothing had become too cheap and disposable. The unethical processes of fashion making also contributed to fashion’s death. Haute couture was supposed to provide the solution through tailoring. This is where the shoe pinched. The price tag for haute couture was just too high. The pandemic and the energy crisis ravaged the fashion world. Designers come and go. Their work received critical acclaim. Reinventing yourself became difficult for Demna Gvasalia, Raf Simons and John Galliano. Couture is an experiment that requires craftsmanship and knowledge. Your reputation also influences sales. Clothes are the basic elements of fashion. Li Edelkoort describes it as follows.
Clothes are fashion minus hot air and empty talk.
Fashion is clothes with vision, emotion and social value. German fashion designer Helmut Lang wrote that he was not crazy about fashion at all. He did not like the traditional catwalk because it would be too far from ordinary people. Therefore, he had his models walk on the ground among the audience and no longer on stage. Helmut Lang wanted his clothes to have a long life. His pullovers had to last for years and comfort was always important. He compared clothes to coffee beans. After all, everyone makes coffee with beans according to their personal taste. You can drink coffee black, with or without milk or sugar.
Fashion is constantly changing. The future of fashion no longer lies in the West, but in the East. New fashion hubs are emerging. Think of emerging fashion cities like Tokyo, Shanghai, Dubai and Mumbai. French fashion house Dior has presented their latest collection for fall 2024 in Indian Mumbai for a good reason. After all, India has the fastest growing population and surpasses China as an industrial giant in population and economic growth. At Dubai fashion week too, everyone wants to stand out and be seen by the world press. After all, the high society of the Arab world gathers here.
Riccardo Tisci criticised the fashion world: ” Why doesn’t the fashion world give everyone a place, regardless of race, sexuality and religion?”
Miuccia Prada herself admits that she had to adjust her views on fashion and modelling: “In the beginning of my career, the focus was on unattainable beauty. Then I came up with the so-called ugly girls.”
Gvasalia Demna said: “People want to belong to a group and you know this better as a designer.” Fashion is becoming a study and a universal thing.
Kyoto Costume Institute KCI president Yoshikata TSUKAMOTO describes Western fashion as follows: “Clothing is inseparable from our way of life and changes with every shift in history and society. Western clothing is the origin of what many of us wear today. The internationally accessible concept of fashion, for example, is considered a social and cultural phenomenon that marked the 20th century and is still very much alive today. KCI also aims to bring Japanese designers and their innovative style to global attention.”
Designer Stijn Helsen says: “Fashion is an ever-changing phenomenon like time. That’s the beauty of fashion. Changing clothes is like changing cars. A new car can become an old-timer and regain its charm. Fashion is a form of self-respect and expression. I see fashion not as art, but as business. You cannot compare the dress code of the past with that of the future. I believe there will always be a need for handmade and unique garments.”
As consumers, we are still willing to pay, but only for luxury. Campaigns that capitalise on our desire for luxury will always succeed.
Fashion history teaches us a lot about fashion psychology and is part of our common memory. Fashion museums, trend watchers, fashion psychologists and fashion journalists work daily on fashion as a profession in its own right. I consulted futurologist Richard Lamb. He outlines the 5 trends in consumer behaviour as follows:
These are the 5 trends for the future:
1. Customers become casual narcissists. Shoppers today have a strong focus and seek fashion that suits their character.
2. Artificial intelligence agents amaze us with their latest technology that supports our lives in fashion, food and exercise
3. We buy online and offline. The latest trend now is to buy on the fly, which means we see someone wearing something, we take a picture of the item, scan it and can buy it ourselves.
4. Visualise added value: while cheap goods produced in China become fast consumer goods, haute couture items have an implied added value because of knowledge and design.
5. Immersive social shopping experience in shops create an unforgettable experience of the space combined with virtual reality or sensory elements such as changing smell and light.
Clothing changes over time. You can love a revival, but that revival will never be the same as its introduction. The fashion industry has always been connected to the world and its historical events. From the 1970s and 1980s, technology became available. Today, we see technology integrated into fashion and the rise of graphic design. Technology such as electronics tells us exactly what time we are living in. New fabrics and technology will determine the future of fashion. Iris van Herpen designed and printed clothes in 3D. Viktor and Rolf are designers of bold clothes with lasting value in the fashion landscape. They are Dutch pride in fashion.
So how do you decide what fashion is or should be? I asked
Patrizia Bambi, founder of the label Patrizia Pepe: “I think fashion creation requires observation and knowledge about what people like and choose to wear. And for that you have to travel, always looking at the world with new eyes, absorbing every influence and unleashing your creativity to design unique items that truly reflect the tastes of modern consumers. But above all, I believe it is our personality that defines our style.