- December 2nd – Advent - 2 December, 2013
- Fashioning a Female Future - 29 November, 2013
- Fashionably Floral – A Return to Nature, Heritage & Spiritualism - 22 November, 2013
Did you hear about the new phone? Your tweet has now been sent. What about that new app? You have to see this new product. You have 3 new notifications. Phones now send scent. One new snapchat. Have you downloaded that new software?
We are fully immersed in technology. I mean, I am guilty of that internal panic if my phone breaks or runs low on battery. Just what exactly would I do? My life cannot function without it. So my phone stops working. I stop working. I am in a generation in which technology seems simultaneous with breathing.
I was having dinner the other day with friends and we were laughing that, for some, their initial waking seconds entail a stretch. But this is not to let out a yawn. No. Rather to reach for their phone. But I momentarily stopped laughing. I paused. I considered. Since when did this become normal and what exactly did this mean for the fashion world?
There is a constant fashion fight to have the latest trends and technology within stores – just exactly how long will this go on for? Will it ever stop? But most importantly, what does it mean?
With any trend, there will always be an antagonist movement. Fashion has already made initiations against the claustrophobic technology world in a search for quiet through Selfridges’ ‘No Noise’ visual merchandising concept. Just recently, The Guardian discussed Levis Strauss’ desire to slow down fast fashion with sustainable practices. What was interesting about that sentence was the concept of ‘slowing down’. In an ever increasing consumptive climate, fashion is now reacting and searching for meaning. And thus, a trend for a return to nature, heritage and spiritualism is taking over the industry. In a quest to discover authenticity, fashion is reacting against the turbulent technology world.
A return to nature and heritage is prominent on the agenda for Spring/Summer 2014. Christopher Bailey celebrated British craft by seeking inspiration from Nottingham’s iconic lace heritage. Raf Simons stayed true to Christain Dior’s legacy by implementing floral designs within the collection. A return to nature was present in Christopher Kane’s flower jumper and petal inspired cut outs on his dresses. Fashion can seek comfort in tradition that comes with heritage. By returning to the past, fashion is searching for authenticity in an ever increasing robotic realm of technology. And what better way than a retreat to nature – something that is left untouched by the artificiality that comes with technology. In a rejection of the intrusive technological world, fashion is turning floral this spring/summer 2014.
