T here are moments when we as a society feel armed and ready for battle if you will. Despite challenges or in spite of them, we find ourselves ready to take on the world with gusto. Fashion, sensing our moods, reflects this accordingly, and past articles in this blog are testaments to our temperaments rendered into marketable interpretations that we identify with, and thus buy into. Seasoned readers and those in the industry, be it from the design angle, retail, editorial or trend analyses-ends know just what this blog is talking about.

In the past, we have seen us go to battle with armour on in the form of more structured items. Some of it reflects our environment where architectural innovations inform. Other times, it is the reflection of affinity with historic sentiments, such as when looking at cold war defensiveness of the 50s. The re-emergence of shoulders and volume that was found in the 40s, 50s and 80s (all moments where defensiveness and boldness were at peaks) eventually gave way to different prevailing emotions. For the late 80s, there was only so much strength one could muster, and a few avant garde sources looked to a form of binding incorporated into design, albeit briefly, and in some cases it had tie-ins to fetishism with bondage-like restriction coming through in the design theme (Jean Paul Gaultier and his "caged" models of 1989 come to mind). At that time, it was a realization that one's strength could only hold its own in the face of changing circumstances forging forward. In those moments it was more economic that tied into such realizations; our bubbles were collapsing and the anticipated grim results were not pretty.

Now, as we grow into a more complex and more well-informed world, it is our conscience manifest into political realms where power and its effects are felt. The social train wreck of fascism sweeping the globe is gaining ground in more and more places and it feels like there is little we can do to stop the growing tide of ugliness that we once thought was kept well at-bay. Fear is a powerful tool and manipulation in those moments can make people do horrible things. Survivors of the atrocities during the late 30s and 40s in Europe are screaming about history repeating as the global media remains transfixed on the frightening shifts happening in the United States of America where its own tools of democracy are turned against itself. We watch, trying in vain to reason with a growing number of people who, gripped with rage fueled by fear of a future showcasing their perceived obsolescence and strained by taking on too much humanitarian tasks that seem to leave out their own citizens in the process are being tapped and manipulated to steer the populace towards darker actions by clever forces using the tried-and-true of past fascist regimes for ugly and empty aims.

Those in more observant circles are smart. They know what's happening. They can't seem to reach the ones who need to break out of this spell that has gripped them by cult-like forces. Those in the know feel helpless. They...we...feel bound and helpless. Fashion reflects this accordingly in collections by Ashish (example here), Daels (here), Elena Velez (here), Hypnographic (here), Luar (here), Maison Margiela (here and here), Matty Bovan (here), Phoebe English (here), Preen By Thornton Bregazzi (here), Rick Owens (here and here), Thom Browne (here and here) and Yra Mantaring (here).

In various garments, we see the collective monologue include the same observation of being seemingly powerless in the face of an increasingly uncontrollable tide towards history repeating. And the biggest concern is that the very tool that could reach everyone has been tainted by the same forces to create doubt and thus weaken its credibility, allowing for ignorance to reign.

It may not be a long-term trend in fashion, but it is an important one that signals where we are psychologically. We live in interesting and unpredictable times. Revelatory, and disconcerting, the destination will remain unknown, relying on hope and truth to shatter the spell. And fashion will reflect, accordingly.