Originally this was going to be a topic to be covered on the heels of the frenzy known in the Big Four as Fashion Week. It came about at the same time as the Oscars, another momentous occasion where fashion flexes its muscles, succeeding in capturing attention when the event should center on cinematography. But film holds great importance in the world of fashion. It, as every other art form, stirs the imagination. A successful film resonates with the sentiments of the public, and can trigger sweeping influences in every design expression.
Those in the 90s can easily attest to this when looking at Merchant ivory films and period stories such as the epic “Titanic”. All inspired massive influences in design in the 90s as its fated romantic undertones and uncertainty of the future meshed well with the spirit of our lives as we came closer to a new millennium where all we knew was that our old ways held an expiration date.
But you cannot cultivate a phenomenon, as those in fashion learned with the hype surrounding the Great Gatsby remake. Although we see drop waists in virtually every collection currently, this is less to do with that film and more to do with a recognition of our coming on the centenary of the decade that ushered in the modern sportswear trend we live by today.
Our glance is less to do with the past than with the future and we had a role model of sorts when the film “her” came out. The long-distance forecasting by hipster-favored label Opening Ceremony showed an utterly intelligent and practical perspective in how fashion may evolve, taking into consideration more realistic approaches to fashion that mirror current modern sentiments, such as gender neutrality and function connecting with our tech. It also recognized the swing of fashion’s fickle tastes and our willingness to bring back aspects of fashion’s past as elements for inspiration. Hence, the high-waisted pant that was in the future-fascinated 50s and 80s came around for this film.
And given the power of the fresh setting in the face of the emotionally connecting storyline, it is bound to find influence with some collections, such as in Alexander Wang and Creatures of the Wind when looking at gender neutrality in modern design expression; at Richard Chai Love when witnessing how grunge elements were combined with the minimalist simplicity of the film; and at Milly, Barbara Casasola, Celine, John Galliano and Louis Vuitton where paper bag and high-waisted pants were featured.
But one needs to think about the fleeting nature in which seemingly modern affinities with our tech world and good story are not always enough to bring staying power to trends, a reason why this subject was put on hold for a while to be brought up when the prescient allure of the film has faded. A good example of stale dated technical influence in film is “Sex Lies and Videotape”. Here, the accessibility of recording our lives ushered in the YouTube/Vevo world of today, but any costuming trends that accompanied the emotional connection to this film did not last because the focus on the technology’s newness, central to the plot, faded as our tech progressed.
Our current fascination with how our tech world has become more integrated into our lives is also stale dated when seeing how the wearables market is threatened with clothing that integrates the very tech currently being reworked into accessories and how our tech is shrinking to the point of where it can be integrated into our bodies, something not happening in years down the road but currently as tech stories are coming out now. And given that we are creating smaller tech for use on our bodies having pockets deigned for tech that may no longer exist or be required may betray our gift of prediction the same way that previous generations with their images of the future did before us. Let’s also remember that we will have new technical qualities with manufacturing and textiles that we are not even remotely aware of that may very much influence our future aesthetic. The gender neutrality we may see as modern could be shunned in favor of another expression depending on what our culture values, and we cannot always know what that may be.
Another aspect to consider concerns trends brought back may only highlight why they left in the first place. Joaquin Phoenix complained about the high waist of the pants as being uncomfortable and restricting, not a feeling we’d associate as something we’d embrace when thinking of the evolution of fashion. Then again, we can’t seem to leave the impracticality of platform shoes behind, no matter how many times models wipe out on the runways. So perhaps any vision is up for grabs. But if you go shopping and find a few items reminiscent of the film not to your liking, take comfort in the evolution of fashion as you momentarily mumble “damn Her” and wait for the next season to arrive.