A midst the variety of creativity the 2015 Fall Winter Couture shows provided, the collections bring slices of observations distilled into finery that will play a role in inspiring other collections. This is more to do with who wears it compared to before when couture set the bar for collection directions.

Now, our world has changed, and we not only have technology letting us know how global the influence sphere is, but also provides the tracking to see the origins and how it spreads. The democratization of information has changed our creative landscape to a degree, but in the end what we experience is what gets translated. Take out the source and we still get the observations worth reviewing. 

Despite the advances we enjoy and the freedom of sharing information, other aspects are pulling us back. The archaic rejection of the modern world plays out in strange ways that defy rational thought: the rejection of modern medicine in communities avoiding immunization despite evidence to contrary concerns surrounding autism or religious groups resisting common scientific fact such as the age of the world or the process of evolution (or even whether the Earth revolves around the sun) in favor of preserving beliefs. Meanwhile, we fight the increased threat  of drug resistant diseases becoming plague threats that demonizes health institutions. Public reaction becomes fear in general rather than via informed response. As the situation in Greece and the awareness of collective debt dependency fosters mistrust of the stability of our institutions, current events are bringing concerns of societal fragility that can reduce our way of life to the most rudimentary pending structural collapse. And in the name of real estate, empires continue the divide between have and have nots to levels of influence that seem almost...well...medieval.

And cue fashion slipping in a nod to it all, such as pone item out of Ateleier Versace that seemed like a hybrid of medieval and 70s, or the caped gown that was medieval-meets-goddess found in the collection by Giambattista Valli.

This isn't the first time this influence source has infiltrated fashion, and the timely and sustained interest that the pop culture sensation Game of Thrones inspired shows no signs of abating. But when influences return at this level, they are worth a glance. They warn us of where we're returning, which, in this recent downer of economic news between the extreme weather stories, is just another indicator that we are having trouble moving forward when it feels better going back.