TRUST THE FUTURE
Fashion is a reflection of how we see ourselves and how we want to project who we are to others. It is a language, a visual one at that, which has become more and more accessible worldwide and also more complex and sophisticated with time. Since the middle of the 19th century when Englishman Charles Frederick Worth formalised the modern fashion system in Paris, it has given us the tools to express our ever-changing desires. So, it is no surprise that fashion’s unique perspective is often the translation of the zeitgeist in a given moment. Whether structural, creative, technical or inherently social, fashion’s transformations are closely linked with the disruptions that we face.
When lockdown was forced upon us, I was asked if the past held any reassuring messages and specifically how the challenging periods leading up to the two world wars impacted the fashion industry. With World War I, women were thrust into the workforce to replace the men gone to battle. At the time, women were corseted and restrained in their intricate Belle-Époque crinolines, compressed under what seems, to the contemporary eye, limitless layers of lace. In order for women to accomplish their new roles, the fashion silhouette was simplified and began liberating the body and consequently its movement. Women couturiers lead the change. Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, Gabrielle Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Mme. Grès (under the name Alix), Augusta Bernard, Louise Boulanger and many others pushed forward the transformation that had been in the making for a decade.
The First World War also brought women to the forefront as business leaders. In only a couple of years, women designers in Paris became successful entrepreneurs, heading companies that in some cases employed up to 1,500 people in their heyday. They introduced health care, established paid holidays and fought for copyright infringement laws, leaving an indelible mark on fashion. Not only did they transform dressmaking by introducing innovative techniques to the fashion vocabulary and technological innovations in the new materials employed, but just as importantly, they went on to create our modern wardrobe.
Among so many other challenges, World War II imposed draconian restrictions on fabrics and accessories. Many of the haute couture houses closed or were severely restricted. A do-it-yourself attitude prevailed. Fashion magazines promoted refurbished materials for upcycling and provided patterns to make at home using trousers and coats borrowed from husband’s wardrobes.
In 1947, one man’s vision created and championed the golden age of haute couture. His name: Christian Dior. His proposition not only incorporated the hyper-feminine ‘New Look’ silhouette with its soft shoulders and cinched waist, but it also established the full apparatus of a modern brand that came to include perfumes, accessories and licensing. For Dior, “the style that was universally hailed as new and original was nothing but the sincere and natural expression of a fashion I had always sought to achieve. It happened that my own inclinations coincided with the spirit or sensibility of the times.”
And therein lies the response. In times of crisis, there are many solutions that are proposed: some viable, some not. The new norm will be established by the creative proposition that best responds to the aspirations of a given moment and is championed by avid consumers. As Vivienne Westwood explained: “Fashion design is like mathematics. You have a vocabulary of ideas which you have to add and subtract from each other in order to come up with an equation that is right for the times.”
Each disruption is unique and has different parameters. No one could have predicted the Covid-19 pandemic and its immediate repercussions. Like in so many industries, the entire fashion value
chain has been severely hit, affecting all areas from the creative side to the production, distribution and promotion of the collections.
“It has been a good lesson in humility,” shared Rick Owens in an interview with Alastair McKimm in July. Respectfully aware of their privilege, for many creatives the quarantine period has been a blessing in disguise, allowing time to reflect, plan and reimagine the future.
Now more than ever, hitting the right tone seems crucial. You have to walk the talk and talk the walk. In January, Phillip Lim announced with serendipitous foresight that he would take a break from runway. “For the past few months, our collective internal conversations have been focused on sustainability in all its forms – product, environmental, but also human. How to make less and mean more, how to create an environment in which our global team can operate sustainably, efficiently and happily, without the inevitable burnout that afflicts us all in this data and deadline driven moment. I realise how much I miss the experience of my own discoveries and I wish to reclaim that. I’d like to take a moment to breathe, to allow myself the time to think about the act of joyful creation again … Having the courage to step back, to try, to experiment, and to accept the results as well as the accidents, as they come, seems more urgent now than ever if we are to successfully sustain ourselves and our business for the next 15 years.” For many years, sustainability has been a recurring theme that has been gaining traction but is yet to go mainstream. The Copenhagen Fashion Summit has been spreading the message for more than a decade, with “agenda-setting discussions on the most critical environmental, social and ethical issues facing the industry”. Will the pandemic finally accelerate the transition to a more sustainable fashion industry? Is the consumer ready? Now more than ever, each voice counts and every choice made impacts the community.
In May, the initiative #RewiringFashion, a forum led by designer Dries van Noten, Lane Crawford’s Andrew Keith and Altazarra CEO Shira Sue Carmi, brought together a group of independent fashion designers, CEOs and retail executives working together during this critical moment to rethink “how the fashion industry could – and should – work” to slow down, reconnect with its purpose and align to a new set of principles.
Among the recent July fashion shows that all went digital, the French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus decided to show live outdoors. Entitled ‘L’Amour’, the collection spoke of celebration and love. Transporting his VIP audience to a wheat field outside of Paris, Jacquemus, using all the indispensable sanitary and social distancing precautions, remained loyal to his firm belief that the energy of a runway show cannot be replaced. A visually stunning 600-metre winding catwalk was carved out in the fields where the co-ed collection was shown. It was a poetic moment of beauty and emotion where diversity, inclusivity, and authenticity came together seamlessly under the golden sunset.
Transformation and change are embedded in fashion’s DNA. Labelled as futile or frivolous by some, fashion has now become a trillion-dollar global industry where fantasy and reality cohabit to give us beauty, strength, power and hope. Kailash Satyarthi, the Indian social reformer and 2014 Nobel Peace prize winner, invites us to “Dream big, dream bigger, dream biggest.” Fashion dresses us in our wildest dreams, but for the moment, the choices are more realistic with the Zoom shirt or home athleisure wear as the favoured choices of dress. That too shall pass.
Pamela Golbin launched the artist residency with Google Arts and Culture and Jacquard by Google, a tech-driven smart fabric, and was formerly chief curator of fashion and textiles at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.