A week has flown by at a breakneck pace as the collections fly out of New York. Already patterns are emerging to spell out the point of view that will encapsulate New York fashion and of course not all of it will be a surprise.
As stated in earlier articles (far too many to list here but the observation has been consistent) we are in between the past and the future, losing our trepidation as we cautiously look towards the inevitable direction that our technology and creativity are leading us. But as we are still largely receiving creativity from those who are largely a product of the 20th century, we will continue to see references lodged in the past.
The caution of current economics has spurred a repeat of the 90s. The safe production of minimalism in solids and classics is predominant, with the rise of solids over prints is even noted in the fashion online heavyweight Style.com . Predominance of grunge plaids cut on the bias and sportswear elements, another hallmark of the 90s, abound; the former carrying the masculinity currently embraced in women’s wear and the latter reflecting the casualness in keeping with a return to self-consciousness of consumption that encouraged this casual mindset both in the 70s and the 90s.
This ease does not result in everything being 90s as current collections reflect fashion slipping towards a looser, more comfortable and even forgiving fit that is reminiscent of the 80s, when the comforting cocooning effect of swaddling fabric supported volume play. But don’t be fooled by this ease, for this is not the predominant sentiment as much as the apathy of the delivery.
The defensiveness we feel is in the crisp, yet lightweight structured textile also seen in most of the collections. The past few seasons have seen this defensiveness translated into structured textile usage and as our caution is still high the “armour” remains, although it is lighter now for the bulk of collections presented so far.
There are other aspects cropping up that betray our collective insecurities. The defensive comfort felt in wrapping (10 Crosby Derek Lam, Chadwick Bell, Cushnie et Ochs, Jonathan Simkhai, Opening Ceremony, Peter Som, Rodebjer, Sally LaPointe, and Zimmermann) , a construction feature in the late 80s has been a repeat as it protects as well as hold one safely in itself.
The defensiveness extends to fortification, plying up to the sexiness allowed in the 60s, 70s and 90s with provocative protection through mesh /lattice (Alexander Wang, Creatures of Comfort, Herve Leger by Max Azria, Kenneth Cole Collection, Rebecca Minkoff and Rebecca Taylor). The paradox or revealing and limiting access fits with our current cultural dichotomy as we struggle with appropriateness of expression.
The rise of definitive high contrast prints were embraced when Marc Jacobs brought a more optic collection last year, opening the door to stronger forms of expression as we become emboldened by the power of our point of view. Firm boundary establishment is expressed in the defining lines of contrast trim (Alexander Wang, Alexandre Herchcovitch, BCBG Max Azria, Derek Lam, Lacoste, Lela Rose, Louise Goldin, Nicole Miller (segmenting), Rachel Roy, and Veronica Beard) as we seek to define who we are now and what we are about.
The dialogue we are more gallantly has found its way into our fashion. The strength of our convictions is now in our fashion as the hard cuts and strong colours make it clear that we are expecting a charged and vocal summer. It will be interesting to see what other collections that have yet to be revealed have to say and how strongly the express it.