A s we head closer to the unveiling of the Spring Summer 2016 collections, the fashion world at large has time to speculate about what will come, largely based on the combination of what it emerging versus what has been along with awareness of current sentiments emerging. The sensitivity of these factors is much what a designer atunes themselves to as they translate this into tangible expressions. The translation of mood into material is the domain of the artist, of which the successful designer has within, balanced by great business acumen because fashion is, at the bottom line, a business.
Among those pondering the direction of fashion is the fashion powerhouse of Vogue, who recently restructured their style archive Style.com, transforming it into Vogue Runway. Here, the article refereed to research done by fashion collective K-Hole (the ones who rebranded the resurgence of 90s utilitarian fashion-as-trend as "normcore"), suggested that fashion was moving towards an aura of magic, albeit the personal variety by indicating the growing cultural obsession with spiritual attunement towards manifestation of reality.
The examples were meant to provide support towards this acute observation (our spiritualism mirroring the 90s exploration post-economic stumble) but actually provided a window towards what is occurring due to the evolution of various factors that our current marketing landscape has been crystallizing.
Our technological landscape has been pushing us towards personal customization with 3D printing leading the way as we create new platforms to propel individual manufacturing. This moves with our increased variety in our daily choices ranging from increased style options supported by the DIY movement to increased variety in our consumer goods and increased individualization in selection of a range of items as we introduce apps and algorithms to comb through the mass information now available to tailor what is available to our personal needs.
All this allows us to tap more into what we want and, in turn, supports learning more about who we are. The marketing drive towards authenticity and emotional connections in message delivery through storytelling have allowed us to explore vulnerability.
Now we struggle with transparency as our technology shows cracks via information leaks such as the Ashley Madison hacking scandal that has opened dialogue on what is personal and private as we've been increasingly sharing our lives and opinions on social media. Now, faced with the prospect of addressing what matters regarding what is private versus what is public, we find our willingness to let our guard down in the name of manifestation; you cannot get if you do not ask (in the spirit of this I ask for massive backing to expand now ;) ). And so designers are opening up their hearts to share what matters, what is intimate, and what is close to their heart just as we are all exploring to do.
What this may mean, for fashion, in the authentic opening of the soul to provide individual choices in the hopes of securing business in the face of economic uncertainty, the likes not seen since the end of the 80s excess. Our fashion has already nodded to this over the last few seasons, with both the 80s and 90s mined for inspiration. Perhaps we have manifested this repeat unwittingly in the name of creativity, with the byproduct of pushing us towards the moment of unabashed introspection made public to turn our fate. If nothing else, we may have clothes that have meaning beyond the translations they already provide.