The Sunday News
Let’s Get Stylish
I’M sure, most of us, if not all, have at one point in time come across weird fashion trends, either on TV, at fashion events or you may have bumped into someone clad in something that many would consider eccentric. Of late there has been a growing trend, where a substantial number of people are opting to wear or follow some trends which I believe deserve to remain on screen or on fashion runways.
I mean seriously thinking about it, who would want to walk around clad in “rags” or plastics sewn together, perhaps with the aim of promoting awareness on the importance of littering or something of that nature.
Designers these days are coming up with some of the most bizarre or should I say rebellious trends. I wonder if it is because of the timeline we are presently in or just a way to earn a quick buck because people have become so much gullible when it comes to fashion.
Anyway who knows? But where do we draw the line in terms of fashion? Yes, it does boost one’s ego to be dressed differently and appear to be fabulous than the rest but is it really worth it when you wind up looking like trash!
There are trends that are just meant for the runways and not for the streets and those are called conceptual-fashion trends.
They describe the ways in which designers and the fashion-aware dare to push visual boundaries while challenging the ideals of the traditional fashion establishment. In the context of contemporary fashion, which has seen various fusions of or between art and fashion, style and design, mainstream and avant-garde, slow and fast-fashion – where’s the borderline between what you can wear and conceptual fashion?
It is important to note that conceptual-fashion should not be mixed with conceptual clothing.
Conceptual clothing can be viewed as an artistic instrument, which cannot be worn anywhere else and completely confined to the catwalk. Conceptual fashion is a wearable category of a commercial value, where some of the clothes can be marketed and sold for the market.
Nonetheless, it is not so much about forms and materials but about ideas and meanings.
Bearing all this in mind the primary question, directed mostly to designers is how then does a fashion designer beat dualism between commercialism and conceptuality?
Clothes are our primary form of visual communication, through which we express our sexual orientation, social affiliation, profession, lifestyle, ethnic identity and personal taste.
When we speak of fashion, we need to make a clear distinction between ceremonial, occupational and catwalk outfits and the clothes chosen for our desire for stylistic novelty and innovation.
The constant need for people to have the latest trends in fashion is the reason behind weird and quirky trends. Such a strictly defined fashion cycle coupled with financial concerns associated with running fashion labels, plants pressure on designers to come up with more creative products. This means that they are left with no option but to the market conceptual clothing to the public.
Even in history the relationship between art and fashion has always been deep and complex.
It is undoubtedly clear that fashion reflects the spirits of the times. The 80s gave birth or paved way to a new wave of social consciousness and avant-garde approach has coloured the fashion industry.
European designers suggestively brought modernity into the fashion scene. Some of these designs that were introduced were inspired by technological advancements.
Having briefly explored conceptual fashion, which aims at using wearable clothes for raising consciousness, it seems that form and function must exist alongside each other for any designer to survive.
As fashion is a highly commercial entity established around seasonal collections such as winter and summer, it is difficult for conceptual designers to juggle between their artistic conceptual needs and the commercial demands of the industry.
If a fashion-house designed purely clothes that cannot be worn in the streets then where would financial backing come from to create them?
Successful contemporary conceptual designers should learn to be adaptive and create designs that will not only be seasonal but should be adaptive to the need of having trends that last a lifetime.
Feedback:
Hi, am your big fan of your articles Let’s get stylish, as for me I thank you very much because I now know how to dress appropriately. You are a star. Bravo – Silent, Emganwini
Mr Writer thanks to have a man like yourself. I was mistaken for a gay for taking care of my skin, oral care, hair, carrying a mirror with me and being fashion zealous. When you shed more light on these matters it sets us free. I love and date ladies. – 0773 711 988
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