It's hard not to tune out the insanity of our world today. While there are those doing well, there are many more who are not. Whole nations displaced, global tension via ragtag terrorism and subsequent exploitation for political gain, and a once-profitable energy sector that is teetering on global ruin for many countries thanks to greed threaten every aspect of the global economic chain. Throw in real-estate bubble panic and accusations of corruption plus daily reports of senseless violence as our connected world updates every morsel in real time. And did we mention the growing threat of Russia potentially triggering another World War?

The dichotomy that denial feeds has pushed society to new levels that need comparisons to fully digest; our children, the most connected, are experiencing levels of stress and anxiety that would have only been reserved for child psychiatric patients in the 1950s, according to the American Psychological Association. And adults aren't faring much better.

We retreat to comfort, to protection from all that we are aware of, much the way we did in the 80s when global tensions were high in the face of Cold War escalations. It is not enough to protect ourselves. Now, we seek comfort and change. 

Fashion is the most well-connected of industries for information as it needs to be timely and plugged in to properly process the most current sentiments into product relevance. The industry already is adjusting itself to be more real-time based on the massive influence social media is causing regarding interest and product fatigue as industry institutions such as New York Fashion Week are soul-searching to redress how it fits in the changing landscape. This sensitivity knows more about what is going on in the world than you might think, and it's nervous like its customers. It knows the future does not look good. And yet its survival is to connect to remain relevant as we trudge forward to live our lives despite the most negative of bellwethers.

The somber palette, profusion of black (the colour psychologically associated with the desire for change) and high energy colours (yellow in particular being a colour of fear when paired in contrast) work with layering and oversize proportions plus structure to maximize defensiveness, a look that has overtaken most Fall Winter 2016/17 collections coming out so far. Not only are we armed, we are comforting ourselves in the process. The distorted proportions such as handpuppet sleeves such as what is seen in collections by Hood by Air and ICB also show our infantilization of the self; we retreat to a feeling that we get when we bury ourselves in the safety of our parent's favorite sweater and oversize clothes serve to bring us back to that point. This retreat puts us back to a time when the world was simpler, less complex and when we knew we were cared for.

We know that all these things are placebos to the ills of the world, and that the world is way more complex (and, take comfort, more resilient). But fashion helps us feel good. It has always served this purpose in one form or another, and when designers aren't trying to find ways to get our minds off these issues and excited about continuing to live instead of exist with the promise of new wares, it offers sincerity in understanding...and a warm blanket of creativity, it's gift via love of its craft.