If we were to transport someone from fifty years ago to our time period, they would be amazed at the level of technological progress that we now take for granted and shocked at the state of the world when trying to explain our ecological conundrums. One thing they would notice would be the traditions and cycles of predictability and how those seem to have morphed into a new expectation.
Every century has nuances for various aspects of life that undergo change as we are a product of evolution ourselves. The difference is that we have been recording history in a more detailed fashion and have been keeping more comprehensive archives of the minutiae of life. Also, we have been looking to better preserve these records, especially as we realize the fragility of information that was kept in less permanent means. As technology has been accelerating in all aspects, our capacity to log change has taken on an intricacy that, should it survive, will thrill anthropologists for decades.
This intricacy and accessibility it affords is reflected in our personal costume, our day-to-day wardrobe. The level of detail once considered special is now commonplace. This covers construction, colour, fabric, cut, and innovation. Of course, as the masses are allowed what was once luxuries, the upper market has to compete to justify its specialization as the bar is raised concerning what luxury constitutes.
Back in 2006, the New York Times reported on Chanel buying six ateliers to preserve the handiwork that makes couture special: the personal artisan touch. As more companies have their ready-to-wear produced in countries with low labour costs, they can request more handiwork and thus the handcrafted intricacy of couture becomes more precious, more personal. This is indicative of a larger trend the Mpdclick.com has been anticipating for a couple of years as they anticipated customers would favour investment pieces over fast fashion, and goes well with their anticipation of Africa and African influences becoming more prominent; the continent's cumulative culture is rich in handcrafted approaches to materials.
And while this would be a perfect segue into the rise of tribal detail that was mentioned in a previous post (“Clear Your Mayan Fashion Calendar”, March 25th 2011) I’d rather point out that, while normally the most fashion-forward concepts would be revealed at the couture level first, the game has changed. Instead, the 2012 Resort collections, with 180 collections reviewed at Style.com, were at the forefront of showcasing new trends and couture was left serving to merely reinforce the ideas and concepts presented.
Whereas couture used to take the reigns being in the forefront of fashion, the internet has created a more democratic atmosphere that has influenced how we digest fashion heavily. Now that all collections are available for immediate examination by the widest possible audience with huge potential to influence market buying decisions, the resort collections, once a filer between proper seasons, have now become a huge marketing vehicle to advertise innovative foresight in the trend arena. And so couture this time did not have the innovative stamp that we are used to; the bulk of concepts were already out in the resort collections with couture reinforcing them.
It’s true that those who wear couture will have the best and will have those ideas before the Resort collections are sold in stores. In that aspect the exclusivity of wearing what is new first still will be a privilege of being a couture client. However, as fast fashion can readily and quickly reproduce new ideas for immediate release, the domain of being on trend first is no longer, for now, about economic hierarchy.
Nor is it “ladies first”. Traditionally, the men’s collections followed a year behind women’s regarding many attributes such as colour, print and even some materials. This time the SS2012 menswear collections were in complete harmony with what was presented in the resort collections. If men are looking to be on par with trends, they now have equal footing.
The overall process reflects our society living with a new construct that was paved by technological advances and how information is received. This public gets their information in real time, and just as the internet allows for information access to all, fashion is following suit. However, couture is quick to respond as it has a reputation to uphold, and they don’t aspire to be “the Joneses”, they are "the Joneses".
Tom Ford, careful to cultivate a line as close to that aesthetic, went back to an Old World approach; his collections are shown in intimate settings and the information carefully meted out with the highest of control at the last minute under heavy secrecy. And Bernard Arnault recently announced in Newsweek that they plan to redirect the focus back onto the clothes with an eye for longevity, citing the understated approach by Céline where the clothes, not the designer, are the focus. This comes after dealing with the fallout from Galliano’s public meltdown and the recent couture collection garnering much negative press, diminishing the power and level of excellence that couture is supposed to have. His desire is a return to something intimate,
The cache and romance of a well-heeled couture collection is the stuff of dreams for fashion fans, and the survival of a house depends on the maintenance of the fashion-forward reputation where being first and being relevant is tantamount to survival. As the pinnacle of design excellence and being at the forefront of trends is expected, this means new approaches to counter the existing structure. It is clear technology is being met with stricter information control and a refocus on the real star of the show: the clothes. Fashion is, after all, a business. And business is about money, which is ultimately what makes the world go ‘round; of that we, Tom Ford and LVMH, are sure.