Fashion needs a Revolution

[tctra]

Looking at all the current fashion shows, it all just seems to be the same ol' same ol'. Nothing's new, all designers seem to do is look into their archive and reinterpret old designs never actually moving forward.

When is high fashion gonna start embracing new materials and technologies and look well into the future. Enough with all the 60's and 70's redux, its time for something new. When are we gonna see the use of rheological materials, materials that change shape, comform to the body no mater the body type, or smart materials that can modify depending on the current situation. With nano technology, you can get materials that will never need to be washed, water proof and wrinkle proof. You can get tiny LED embedded materials that will light up clothes etc. I mean, all these things are currently in use such as Nike and Adidas who use these materials to enhance performance and I'm sure the fashion industry for all their innovation would be able to come up with something revolutionary.

In other fields of design, architecture, interior, and industrial design, research into new materials and technologies and manufacturing processes are the backbone of revolutionary design and yet the fashion industry seems firmly rooted in the old ways of doing things, content to send a girl down a runway with a shirt inside out and call it 'revolutionary.'

And another thing, as a student of industrial design, we are always taught the importance of responsible design, and efficient use of materials and be aware of its effects on the environment. You only have to look at the automotive industry with their hybrid vehicles and fuel cell technology to minimize pollution to see the concerted effort taken on by these industries to move forward.

I mean, fashion designers are still using fur and crocodile skin.

Fashion seems to be in a bog, of all the design related industries, they are the least forward moving. Fashion needs a revolution

 

[lemeray]

^ I agree, I am not impressed with this season at ALL. It seems the same.

 

[softgrey]

You can get tiny LED embedded materials that will light up clothes etc.

but who wants light up shirt?......
lots of those ideas have been tested and haven't proven actually practical for clothing in the same way that they are for a wall treatment let's say...


sure- a revolution would be nice...
but i don't think it will necessarily be a technological revolution ....

 

[stylegurrl]

There was something on the news last night about a handbag that lights up when you open it (so you can fing\d things if you are in a club,etc.) I found that to be a bit strange

 

[fashionista-ta]

I'm not sure we do need a revolution. A couple of recent seasons have shown little continuity, and so having it this time doesn't seem so terrible to me.

Call me a Luddite, but I'm not so enthused about technology. We have been so "smart" since WWII that we have utterly polluted our environment and set our planet on a course for self-destruction. We are fast setting in motion technologies (example: GMOs) that we can't control.

Instead of flashing LEDs (trying to imagine the appropriate setting for that) and other weird s*** like that, give me a little cotton, linen, hemp grown the way it was 2000 years ago, give me an attractive, imaginative design, give me some pretty colors ...

No, I don't want a revolution ... I just want some nice clothes to wear. If we need a revolution, I'll take a political one instead

 

[m.j.]

Fashion needs a revolution

 

[Couture_Tribe]

I STRONGLG agree with the title, but I want a revolution in style, not nesscery material, as Softgrey said it's not that practical, and fashionista-ta said it's not enviormental which I feel strong about.

I mean, I have been discussing "the end of fashion" with my friend for a few days, because the several stylish girls in our school are wearing the same thing or dressed down a lot. Why? Because there is nothing new in fashion, when American Eagle and Holister started to sell skinny jeans, stripes, polka dots, leggings, but our high fashion designers are stilling doing the same thing!?!?! But unfortunately ss07 seems to be a boring season, we will have nothing new,unique, and interesting to wear anymore, all the stylish people might start to dress down.

WE NEED REVOLUTION

 

[Inaya]

I actually feel that there have been a lot of significant changes recently

although the majority of the trends have definitely been blatant rehashes of previous eras, at least some of them were much needed. Such as higher waists and / or skinny pants, for instance... a return from back to a more slender silhouette than flare and bootcut pants which had been the mainstream norm after a long time which were terrible, looking back, imho. Whereas not so low-cut skinny pants/capris which more often than not will look more chic in general.

I feel that there have been styles lately that are fresh imo, for this century anyways Very voluminous sleeves paired with higher necklines as opposed to tighter, shorter shirts with fitted sleeves.

 

[madrid_qon]

I agree aswell
i think we need to get back to the year 2000 and start all over again this time looking too the future of fashion.
Fashion can't make history if it keeps repeating trends from other decades.

 

[tctra]

I'm not sure we do need a revolution. A couple of recent seasons have shown little continuity, and so having it this time doesn't seem so terrible to me.

Call me a Luddite, but I'm not so enthused about technology. We have been so "smart" since WWII that we have utterly polluted our environment and set our planet on a course for self-destruction. We are fast setting in motion technologies (example: GMOs) that we can't control.

Instead of flashing LEDs (trying to imagine the appropriate setting for that) and other weird s*** like that, give me a little cotton, linen, hemp grown the way it was 2000 years ago, give me an attractive, imaginative design, give me some pretty colors ...

No, I don't want a revolution ... I just want some nice clothes to wear. If we need a revolution, I'll take a political one instead

I dare say this attitutude pretty much sums up fashion at the moment. Too content to create 'nice' clothes without pushing for anything new. Sure you may think that flashing LED's on a shirt is innappropriate and it may be so, but thats all you've seen it do. I'm sure there are a myriad of possibillities yet unseen. As a designer to be myself, I find it necessary to find new and appropriate ways in which to utilise these materials that is not gimmicky but could totally set the way for the future.

Of course any revolution doesn't come without resistance, and what may seem bizarre now will be common place tomorrow. You just need a designer brave enough to take the next step. As the saying goes, "change the way people think, and things will never be the same"

 

[pixiewytch]

I don't know if I agree that fashion trends are boring and monotonous. Sometimes they change slowly but if they didn't I would need to invest in a new wardrobe each year which would be very expensive.

I guess there is also a matter of preference here. I wholeheartedly agree with the other girls about technology contributing to our demise and preferring ecofriendly fabrics like hemp and organic cotton to sci fi materials. Then again, I admit that I don't always embrace change and maybe I don't exactly know what sci fi materials are. I immediately think of cyber latex type of clothing which looks awful if you aren't stick skinny but I'm not in school studying these materials like you are so perhaps you could enlighten us.

For myself, as long as the material is ecofriendly, comfortable, and flows with my body I will consider it. I guess I just can't imagine these technological creations doing all of those things. Then again maybe I'm wrong.

 

[fashionista-ta]

I dare say this attitutude pretty much sums up fashion at the moment. Too content to create 'nice' clothes without pushing for anything new. Sure you may think that flashing LED's on a shirt is innappropriate and it may be so, but thats all you've seen it do. I'm sure there are a myriad of possibillities yet unseen. As a designer to be myself, I find it necessary to find new and appropriate ways in which to utilise these materials that is not gimmicky but could totally set the way for the future.

Of course any revolution doesn't come without resistance, and what may seem bizarre now will be common place tomorrow. You just need a designer brave enough to take the next step. As the saying goes, "change the way people think, and things will never be the same"

Hey, not trying to discourage you or new ideas

I just bought my second Beetle, a car that looks different from every other car on the road, so I have no problem with different ... but there should be a reason for it. Convince me, I'm there

 

[Alexandra8715]

I know exactly what you mean about there always seeming to be collections drawing upon old fashion from the past. The one trend that springs to mind is the 60s trend. It bugs me how for the past couple of years it's been everywhere!!!It's really stale and unimaginative! We DO need to move forward and recognise that we have to make our mark on the fashion industry...I mean its the year 2006 and as far as I can see there has been no style revolution to match the other changes happening in the world today. What is this decade going to be remembered for? 80s style leggings and a lack of bold initiative is all I see. Everyone seems to scared to move forward as though going back to the sixties or whatever is some kind of comfort when the world of today is deemed too scary or unpredictable.
To be fair though I have noticed some new young designers who seem really keen to move things forward and create fresh ideas.
BTW this is a great thread yay

 

[caryanne]

Wow this is such a great thread! tctra I love your idea that fashion designers should approach new tecnology in the way industrial designers do. I think designers attempt to embrace new technology; Fendi used leather laser cut to resemble mesh and Versace used plastic to imitates the look of metal. But they fail to use technology to improve how fashion effects our lives and instead they just use it as decoration. Maybe they need to collaborate with industrial designers in order to really make fashion innovative.

style.com

 

[gius]

But there are fashion designers already doing this
They are, I guess, just not as famous or haven't reached mainstream yet.
You can find also what you are talking about in sportswear and more 'functional' fashion

There's a great book called Techno Fashion by Bradley Quinn that has some things you might find interesting

 

[fashionista-ta]

Wow this is such a great thread! tctra I love your idea that fashion designers should approach new tecnology in the way industrial designers do. I think designers attempt to embrace new technology; Fendi used leather laser cut to resemble mesh and Versace used plastic to imitates the look of metal. But they fail to use technology to improve how fashion effects our lives and instead they just use it as decoration. Maybe they need to collaborate with industrial designers in order to really make fashion innovative.

style.com

Here's my point though ... plastics are generally toxic. Give me non-toxic clothing, please

 

[chanelnumber5]

Here's my point though ... plastics are generally toxic. Give me non-toxic clothing, please

i agree ok plastics can make gorgeous clothes but if we carry on like this with pollution we wont have a world to wear clothes in. sorry kinda off topic.

But beside surely fashion, with each new, trend that comes along is kind of creating a mini fashion revolution. What about skinny jeans and boyfriend jeans over taking the more bootleg jeans ? Bubble skirts taking over pencil skirts? Manish style (sorry i cant remember how to spell the word for it) on women taking over the more pretty, pretty fememnine styles. They where all little revolutions of their own kinds werent they? Hey they may not have been as exciting as flashing shirts or discovering a self washing and ironing denim but perhaps there little revolutions in fashion?

 

[caryanne]

I don't think going think those examples are revolutions they are the cycle of trends that we are being sold over and over again. bootleg jeans to skinny jeans to bootleg and so on and so on. A revolution could be about more then flashing shirts, it could be about using new technology that is environmentally responsible to improve the life and use of clothing.

 

[chanelnumber5]

I don't think going think those examples are revolutions they are the cycle of trends that we are being sold over and over again. bootleg jeans to skinny jeans to bootleg and so on and so on. A revolution could be about more then flashing shirts, it could be about using new technology that is environmentally responsible to improve the life and use of clothing.

i do see what you mean but in my strage little mind i do see that turning away from the bootleg which has long been seen as far more superior to the average consumer than skinny jeans then one day wham nearly everyone has a pair of skinnies, as almost revolutionary, maybe, just, a tiny bit??

 

[disco54]

a very short lived revolution ....the skinny revolution started my ms.moss came to a horrific end 2 weeks ago, when she came to a fashion show wearing higher waisted wide leg jeans...but nowadays seriously...anything goes....so you have mini revolutions going on all the time , things is trends spread so fast and die so fast because of internet and media, people get bored and move on.