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Fashion Observed


Trend observations with a sociological eye from afar...

by Darryl S. Warren  

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The 2017 Resort collections are in full force. For those who are paying attention, the most obvious observation is the choices that seem to be of two camps. One is the minimal modern architectural clean approach expressed in simple pieces with minimal embellishment. The other is the naturalistic and detailed counterpart, where drape, texture, colour join with various twists pulls accented by hardware and embroidery and the like.

This seems apt for the world we live in. We have extremes that occupy opposites with a range we refer to in clarifying and quantifying what we have before us. We want our world to be easy when we know it’s anything but. Having scales to fit the aspects of our lives in makes it easier to quantify. It’s a survival mechanism by default that we choose.

We do so to understand our heritage (what is your genealogy history?), our class and place within society (what do you do?), our roles within relationships (who wears the pants in your family?). It’s not the best habit; it’s what we do to make sense of your surroundings so we know where we fit and how to respond to interact with it.

Fashion reflects this in the extremes. Some of the collections (Acne, ADEAM, Akris, A.L.C., Area, ATM Anthony Thomas Melillio, Boss, Calvin Klein, Dion Lee, Helmut Lang, Isa Arfen, Joseph, Maiyet, Marc Jacobs, Mugler, Narciso Rodriguez, Roksanda, Organic by John Patrick, Pamella Roland, Piazza Sempione and Tibi) are along minimal lines while others are maximal (3.1 Philip Lim, Adam Lippes, Anna Sui, Antonio Marras, Delpozo, Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, Gucci, House of Holland, Milly, Missoni, Moschino, MSGM, Peter Pilotto, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, Rebecca Minkoff, Red Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, See by Chloe and Tadashi Shoji). Most, especially those not listed here have both components to varying degrees or components combined in complement to each other, just as we do when it comes to various traits such as sexuality, gender expression, and stereotypical gender-specific behaviourists that we are now trying to undo in the quest to live a world where equality is more than just a marketing gimmick.

As we attempt to make sense of the world around us, we become more aware of the complexity that we have and are. This combination of extremes that currently occupy the 2017 Resort collections merely reflect what we observe. In time, as we rewrite the rules, our fashion will follow suit. How we reflect that will depend on what we redefine as parameters. For now, the traditional “hard vs. soft” will have to suffice until we evolve to a new definition…one that will aptly reflect our 21st century that we are coming into.

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