Perhaps like music, cheery colours and Smileys can be used as universal symbols that transcend masks, barriers and borders
commissioned by a Massachusetts insurance company in the hopes of boosting morale after a series of stressful mergers and acquisitions. It has since undergone various permutations and perversions, including the counter-culture movements in the 1980s, coming to symbolise electronic dance music during the Second Summer of Love, imprinted on ecstasy pills, and even becoming the symbol of morally ambiguous superhero The Comedian in the 1985 comic series Watchmen. But its revival today brings the Smiley back to its intended purpose: a sincere and literal urging for people to look on the bright side.
Most recently in Loewe’s 2020 Paula’s Ibiza collection, which launched in July, the Smiley made a roaring statement woven onto basket bags and outlined on tie-dye T-shirts. “I have always been fascinated with subcultures that bring people together that create bonds and erase differences,” writes creative director Jonathan Anderson in the press notes.
Shopping post-pandemic will be littered with metaphorical landmines, mired in heightened awareness over sustainability and social impact. Consumers are more likely to ask how each purchase will impact the environment and reflect their own level of cultural awareness. Is it OK to purchase items from a brand that’s been called out for institutionalised racism? On the one hand, sceptics say this is just all marketing strategy—no one likes to buy from a doomsayer. But with potential shaming associated with buying anything at all, perhaps there’s also something comforting about buying something that makes you happy, and to lean a little harder onto the “only buy what sparks joy” aspect of sustainability. After all, you can measure the carbon footprint of a T-shirt but you cannot measure or discount the joy it might bring to you and to others.
There is no doubt that the tone and contours of dress will also undergo a remodelling; periods of upheaval often give rise to a reactionary form of dressing. While the shape of ours is yet to be defined, Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele, who was one of the first to announce his departure from the seasonal fashion schedule, gives us a hint, writing in an impassioned letter that there will be “irregular, joyful chapters” of fashion showcases akin to symphonies and rhapsodies of creative output. “Music, after all,” he writes, “has the sacred power to travel beyond borders, to produce reverberations and connections.” Perhaps like music, cheery colours and Smileys can be used as universal symbols that transcend masks, barriers and borders. That might sound trite, or kitschy, or simply not your jam, but any bit of cheer will set off some good vibrations.