We look to fashion to serve multiple purposes. The obvious is to cover ourselves. It offers protection from the elements and comfort in our daily lives. It serves our morals, upholding modesty or framing our hedonistic desires. It serves to advertise to others our desire to blend in or stand out. It signals to others our affiliations and broadcasts our tastes. Sometimes it broadcasts our beliefs, our politics and our values. Other times it carries our dreams and desires. It allows us to be our fantasy, to role play, and to add to our projections. Fashion does a lot for us while navigating the fickleness of relevance.
Most of the collections for Fall Winter 2016/17 presented their language "as is". The various elements to be dissected helped to tell the tale of where we are and want to be. Some are proud in their sophistication of message, bringing intricacy of craft and complexity to the design process. These clothes make us think and stir reflection. Others are more straight forward, be it in utilitarian obviousness or in common trend vocabulary that allows us to connect more easily.
Occasionally we find the desire to be more direct. If we are communicating ourselves, why not do it through language? Literal messages were commonplace in the 70s during the t-shirt craze as we wore our hearts not on our sleeves, but blazoned across our chests for all to read. Messages were cheeky or provocative, but utilization of language cut to the chase and made our thoughts direct. This carried off and on in subsequent decades as we oscillated between the satisfaction of our creative process versus the desire to let our clothes tell it like it is.
At times, this wording can be cheeky, reflecting our appreciation in silliness or the absurd. Other times times, it can be moralistic or provocative, such as the awareness-inducing messages that were hallmarks of the astute eco-warrior Katherine Hamnett. (who is a proven role model that sustainability and ethics are easy to achieve in fashion).
For the most recent collections, some designers gave us range. Just as current trends display the hybridization of influences and references showing a wider range, so are the selections of word utilization. Be it poetic or declarative, a few design houses such as Chalayan, Red Valentino and Vetements utilized wordplay to communicate their sentiments. Meanwhile, Chalayan also played with graphics simultaneously and Anrealage with concept in pattern to convey deeper meaning to the fashion audience.
Designers work to relate to the audience but also take time to reach out and communicate, to engage. The relationship they form with us is not to talk at us but to intermingle with us. They listen to what we feel and relay this to further connect. That is all we ask in return: to communicate so that we can connect. And subsequent fashion collections will let us know who is listening and speaking our language, as it always does.