N  ow the fashion floodgates fling open as the Fall Winter 2017/2018 collections stream in. While other world capitals have shown, the Big Four really got formally underway at the beginning of last week. But those who have been watching know that collections started streaming in earlier in the month from London, Paris and New York in advance of their proper calendar. The fabric of formality is slowly being torn asunder as she collections test the "see-now-buy-now" model while others stay with tradition with pragmatic caution.  

The collections so far are being scrutinized in a large part to the past political changes represented in ideological shifts within various western nations. The struggle of "left" versus "right" has seen the kind of political overhaul that brings great stress. Not only form a business standpoint as immigration sentiments and tax changes loom, but also the revelation of the degree of xenophobia and nationalism that prominent  democracies contain leave the fashion community in a range of turmoil that the largess of the general public is radiating.

But as fear-based division threatens the kind of growth first-world societies have cultivated, just as many are holding fast to uphold what we know makes sense for the greater good of mankind. As New York is near the epicentre of the most aggressive of tumultuous change, it seems fitting that it conveys this chaos succinctly. Vogue Runway in particular is finding a few choice approaches designers are making regarding the translation of sentiments that reflect the public's equally diverse mindset, especially where economics is involved.

The segmenting of the public is one influence that cannot be missed that is easy to translate in fashion almost literally. Collections from Beaufille, Milly and Prabal Gurung took to segmenting to emphasize the growing division (similar at Katie Eary on the "other side of the pond") while those from Custo Barcelona, Gary Graham, Gypsy Sport and Public School had the ecological effort of textile collaging or even patchworking (with sentiments reflected overseas at Cedric Charlier and Vivienne Westwood) to show a diversity at odds yet still together somehow. And most collections involved the haphazard styling of incongruous pieces layered to form our 21st century uniform of confusion; wearing our chaos in mismatched print or contrast of textile and textures seems more the norm for now as we struggle to find our footing now that we know we are not all on the same page.

And yet, we are together. While some find comfort in feeding ignorance, fear and ultimately separation, many more know the cost of this is too high and are seeking ways to find a solution to keep us together. It is a long journey that comes from not just recognizing the sources of division, but to find ways to reach out in the name of cohesion. The recognition of the value of each others diversity is a good place to start.

We'll see what else the collections have to say about us...next article.