If you had taken my advice last week, you would have had a chance to read through past articles to see that a lot of the territory we have covered before applies to now as far as what is happening in fashion. The evolution has been predictably slowed to a practical crawl much as did in the 90s when austerity dealt ostentatious creativity a surprise blow. Designers who got too carried away with their art and an egotistical drive to lay claim for most original were forgetting that most of the people work and not necessarily in environments that embrace personal creative self-expression.

The result was a step back to more utilitarian wear and enough time had passed that a new generation, having fun associations of the 70s through pop culture reruns, could appreciate the irony when cuts and silhouettes from the 70s were brought into the mix.

It is now about four decades later from the original place of that decade and a newer generation has even less knowledge of this decade but they do have a connection to the 90s. Designers of course have to ensure their customer base has an affinity with what they produce and so the sensibilities of that decade, which were far more innocent than everything from September 11 and the Middle East wars to our enhanced knowledge and experience with global climate change and economic woes, of course hold more appeal.

And just as environmentalism was important in the early 70s, so were gender role redefinition and the examination of equality. Looking at conversations that professional women are having, the realization that equality hasn’t come to an acceptable level is again an issue resurfacing, especially when austerity causes us to take stock of personal economic value. That these issues were more scrutinized in the 90s with empowerment finding more support, just as in the 70s and now, makes those past decades a bit more relevant as a reference. This 70s influence can be seen in collections from Belstaff, Carven, Gucci, Jonathan Saunders, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, Paule Ka, Ports 1961, Pringle of Scotland, Rachel Zoe and Sea.

However, we also have something coming back into the conversation, and that is sexual exploration. The newer generations have way more knowledge at their fingertips than any previous generation. In the past a parent could keep their children in the dark concerning carnal matters but today’s generation will find out everything regardless, and with the tools so prevalent at their disposal they are finding and exploring these things sooner. Entertainment reflects this awareness with more adult issues incorporated into the plots. . We now are having conversations about having conversations, readily admitting that we can’t give vague answers anymore lest we lose their trust. One way or another, the truth will be found.

This loss of innocence was similar in the 70s when youth were more willing to search for answers, with the mantra “trust nobody under thirty-five”. That generation didn’t want to be shielded from the adult world; they wanted to test it out for themselves.

It is no wonder that, in addition to the plethora of 90s silhouettes and cuts that we are seeing also a lot of 70s and some Bohoisms that marked the age of the free-loving hippies from designers such as Alberta Ferretti, Anna Sui (no surprise here, though), Givenchy, Moschino, Nicole Miller, Sonya Rykiel (vaguely and mixed with 80s touches) and Tory Burch.

To be sure there were designers who saw other things of this decade and brought those references into their collections, and as there are many collections to look over, there are other things to talk about. I can almost sense them coming...next week.