Optimism and pessimism: those are the foundations of perspective in every situation that we have as an essential default, and this blog captures that well when looking at influences in fashion. Some of the influences come from more uplifting perspectives, such as the promise of progress from innovation and what our technological marvels bring. At the same time, we also have more pragmatic observations, such as economic disparity and threats of war. Because we are so informed we have an amalgam of perspectives, and hence we have hybridization of influences in design.
Our fashion is the sum of what we see and who we are. We see an a lot. In fact, we are overloaded with what we have available, and to keep up with the flow of information is proving impossible. The capacity to do so has created burnout, reflected in the public’s waning interest in social media participation as we realize we cannot possibly keep up. Recent statistics showed that most people don’t even read the articles they share as time becomes a precious commodity. We are finding we are unable to keep up with the very things we have incorporated into our lives.
The emerging erudite perspective and emergence of workshops on mindfulness and on ways to unplug all point to technical overload. We’re not fully rejecting it, of course. Technology is a part of our existence and we accept this inevitability as an aspect of our evolution. However, the languid resignation of gradual disinterest in being so fully immersed is like a kind of decay, a letting go of this hyperstructure as we run out of steam. The more stressful reminders of threats to our world from reminders of escalating tensions in Syria, Korea and Crimea remind us of what matters more, and thus the trumped-up importance of the commercial structures propped up by progress loose full support as we quietly abandon them to return to what we deem more personally satisfying.
We fall away from this structure and order we have created the way aged wallpaper peels away from a wall, a victim of passive neglect in favor of simpler things. And, amidst the structure and business of fashion some designers such as Rodarte, Rosie Assoulin, Zimmerman, Helen Lawrence, J.W. Anderson, Topshop Unique, A.F. Vandevorst, Celine, Chalayan, Christian Dior, Iris van Herpen, Kenzo, Maison Martin Margiela and Maiyet let us know they see this. This falling away can be components of the garment literally doing so, or elements peeling gently off the body, or the garment itself slouching off the body, abandoning the intended structure we have been long maintaining. Various elements hint to the fashion audience and inform the public at large that we are losing grip while marching forward.
It may be due to exhaustion, or perhaps because we are distracted. It could be that we are losing focus, overwhelmed by all we must pay attention to. Or that we are accepting that we can’t keep everything together all the time, yet finding beauty in loosening our hold. Not fully, but artfully so where it counts. And we’re OK with that. The appreciation of this comes in the acceptance of this expression in our design, reflecting our acceptance for now in the very same.