The collections of London are now done, and most of Milan’s has been shown at the time of writing. There was a lot more variety of elements to examine from the collections in Europe once you stripped away the more obvious mainstream components that have become the requisite references to qualify for this 2013/14 Fall Winter season. Unfortunately, many designers have become hostage to the expectations of the public as they churn out designs that so closely follow expected trend directions that seem almost laid out by marketing departments keen on ensuring maximum profit for survival. Retro has become de rigueure to qualify, with some decades getting their current spot in the sun as if on a guaranteed sale checklist. And you cannot blame them; it is, after all, a business.

The obvious reference to the Costume Institute’s show on punk has become the poster child of irony as many designers milk details from a counterculture founded on rejection of mainstream. However, like every counterculture before, the marketplace finds a way to capitalize on its fresh aesthetics and incorporate them into capitalism. The expression behind counterculture, like that of all observant artists, tends to bring voice to repressed and yet-actualized sentiments of the larger society. The frustration over institutions that have failed us and the harsh, angry rejection of them is part of what makes punk relevant today.

How interesting to see this more expressed in Milan, where the economic picture is shaky and their industry is bring encroached upon by foreign production that does not share the investment of craftsmanship the country has long heralded as a source of national pride. Thus the collections tend to rebel by being more focused on the very thing the country knows is its hallmark. This has been readily noticed by the media attending the shows.

But if the 80s supported punk, it also was about the creative expression and exploration of form and the jubilance as fashion became status, and this was as much a decade ruled by the UK as it was by Japan. The jubilance London has felt with being the center of attention over the past few years has lent to a more optimistic wave that has translated into its designs (and punk just another feather in the cap of being the source of influence), with many merging the other various retro influences with the cocooning and guarded swathing armour the 80s was known for. So some designs here have had less anger and more fun with club elements (some obvious) mixing with high tech textile nods to the future.

In both places this influence has met with other retro influences that have been mashed and mixed in an effort to create new forms and ideas without losing the interest of the customer by being completely alien. Thus the familiarity results in the compounding of elements rather than the formation of new ones.

If each decade referenced has a happy place it also holds the dichotomy of less optimistic expression that becomes mined in cultured where mind states are unfortunately in tune. The austerity and disillusionment of the 90s takes the punk plaids and brings them to a looser direction without losing the anger. Meanwhile, the early 70s is another period where austerity and anger at “the system” and has found influence in some collections with some elements and aspects becoming part of a melancholy collage. In fact, the general geometry and hard lines that have been abundant over the last few years seem fitting in a period where everyone is on guard, on edge and having to keep a hardness about themselves.

So it is no surprise that a decade reflecting austerity, fear and tenacity also finds its way into the collections: the 40s. Though many of the collections so far, this decade that was explored in the 80s and in the 90s is back again. But why the fascination with this period? And why now? For that, you’ll have to wait. But it is on the checklist.