The internationalization of our economies along with the immediacy of access to information on, well, every part of the world and what it has to offer has made us a very fortunate species, especially when looking at what information we have historically.

Not only does this availability of knowledge allow us the opportunity to gain access to and understanding of other cultures but it also allows us to see just how our nuances illustrate the differences we face. For all the material aspects and inventions available, we still have different mindsets and perceptions that are unique to our personal cultural settings. The navigation of these cultural differences can be frustrating when falling into the trap of thinking the material similarities we share translate into a melding of points of view. Only when we actually travel to another place and navigate through various nuances do we see, despite the internationalization of modern material life, that the world is made of many perspectives and lifestyles. A t-shirt may be just a t-shirt but in different cultures the garment can have different levels of meaning and importance based on the culture it is worn in.

Our collections demonstrated homogeneity of dress that reflected not only similar styles being adopted across international markets but also the impact of economics in how design evolution itself is cultivated. Many designs shown in the SS2013 collections were noticed as being similar as they reached for salability within cultural acceptance parameters.  Luxury for the wearer may be the materials, workmanship and design detail but for a designer luxury is the ability to design unimpeded by economic restraint. Fortunate is the designer who can take their perceptions and influences and allow these to be expressed unbridled.

To take inspiration from entertainment is typical, as entertainment is borne of inspiration from cultural events much as all art is. A large part of what makes certain items of entertainment successful is its relevance to current perspectives and impressions that we have in our day-to-day lives, and a successful designer will naturally find inspiration from such programming as it harmonizes with what they perceive in the environment around them.

How fitting that a fantasy program illustrating struggles from a medieval perspective where different cultures, traditions, moral attitudes and their differences play into part of the plot cam be so timely; we are witnessing struggles within and beyond our borders in varying capacities of similar sentiments every time we look at the news. Add the symbolic protection that a garment resembling armour provides and signs of some cultures (or parts of cultures) rejecting logical science in favor of more religious-based  and regressive perspectives and you have a lot more similarities than meets the eye. And perhaps that is why Rodarte’s collection strikes a chord that, if anything, feels right.

It bucks the trend of practicality that most other collections aim for and yet its honest craftsmanship, seemingly inspired by the HBO program “Game Of Thrones”, captures the more broad-based sentiment of the need for self-protection with regards to the current trend for stiff , away-from-the-body cuts proliferating the runways on both sides of the Atlantic.

That medieval history involved religion in its conflict history and religion and belief factor into current international conflicts puts this era as a seemingly unlikely yet more accurate influence that few designers have mined with as much detail. True, the optical art takes on an almost heraldry-like aura (Acne, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton)and some designers have utilized this in their collections. And while some designers have found inspiration with warrior-like sentiments within this framework (Jeremy Liang’s modern version of breastplates, Richard Nicoll’s modern medieval armourlike cuts), Rodarte takes on something more closely to what is “now”. It’s a risky move, but then again, when creativity is placed as high as it is within this label perhaps this risk, and the expression it conveys, will better translate as it echoes the similar sentiment that transcends the various cultures we have today.