Resort collections for 2013 are coming out and so far the story for many is the same as before: 90s lean silhouette, blocking of pattern, cacophony of print when print is utilized, and pastels and solids done in 90s simplicity.
If the few collections released are any indication, movement has grown to a crawl, with textiles taking center stage for variety much in the way the 90s did when austerity shocked designers into slowing things down to restore confidence in their customer base. Here, class distinction is definitely in the details.
Chanel’s was somewhat different in that it at least came clean on who it’s catering to, invoking 17th century ruffling, padded hips and embellishments and mixing them with street smart textiles. The silhouette is similar to what Dior explored in his new Look and it is this traditional opulence that will of course find its rightful audience. The variation, though, was somewhat a clean grunge version of Versaille(incidentally , where the show was held), a hip “let them eat cake” glamour to it that does more to encapsulate not only the perceived perspective of their clientele, but almost seems to cater to them in brilliant irony.
If this is any indication, we are seeing two types of fashion establishing a divide much in the same way that our economic scenario is cultivating. And that it leans so much on a decade where we rehearsed austerity post excess means that what we see as retro is actually foreshadow of our culmination.
I do respect the craft of a designer. It’s a hard job combining creativity and commerce. Yes, the clothes shown so far are beautiful. They’re wearable. And they’re certainty in familiarity can be comforting. But perhaps our pop culture has trained us to see a more pronounced evolution in design and now we are returning to a pace that is more reflective of how fashion has evolved previously. Will those of us raised with consumer consciousness have the patience? I don’t know, but so far…2013: all that and a bag of chips? Not!