Techno to Reclaim the Runway?

[ChrissyM]

News

August 17, 2006
The House that Jack Built
Techno reclaims the runways

Long before Kate Moss hooked up with Pete Doherty, the runways had been running away from electronic music. Hedi Slimane's stick-thin rocker schtick may have crossed over to the techno community — Minus artist Troy Pierce, for example, typifies Dior's minimalist incursion into Berlin's minimal-techno scene — but from the shows to the magazine spreads, fashion's sound and aesthetic remains driven by loud guitars and rock iconography. (It's ironic to think that only a few seasons back, Slimane tapped F-Communications' Readymade FC to soundtrack his presentations.) But a new spate of fashion/techno crossovers suggests that rock's runway hegemony may be ending.

Producer, DJ, and owner of the Bpitch Control label Ellen Allien announced the release of her first-ever collection this month after several years of hinting. The globetrotting DJ is known for an elegantly rumpled, quintessentially Berlin sense of style, so it's no surprise that her shirred dresses and separates, fusing 19th-century peasant shapes with an understated Bohemian femininity, come with the instructions "ironing is forbidden." Allien designed the collection in collaboration with Markus Stich, an alumnus of Dior, Lanvin, and Plein Sud. Other potential collaborations are even more intriguing: Allien reports that she's in talks with the androgynous, Goth-inclined designer Rick Owens for a possible multimedia project.

But techno-sartorial crossovers are going the other way, as well. The press release for Danish minimal techno producer Trentemøller's debut album intriguingly noted the collaboration of one Henrik Vibskov on percussion; the Vibskov in question is none other than the Saint Martins-trained designer and visual artist, known to shoppers of obscure Berlin boutiques and Honolulu's exclusive Aloha Rag alike for his dandyish shapes, origami imagery, and psychedelic use of color. "Yes, I am the drummer guy as well," confirmed Vibskov in an email far more minimalist than his designs. Perhaps Trentemøller is rubbing off on him.


-PS

source: beta.earplug.cc

 

[ChrissyM]

I think that when it comes to runway music designers want to choose something that compliments the look... when we think of rock music we think of a very specific sort of style

Is there a certain style associated with techno? No real clear cut image comes to mind... glow sticks and raves perhaps? Shiny or neon clothing?

If as this article suggests, techno will be taking over the runways then what kind of fashions would we possibly expect to accompany it?

On another note... has anyone heard of any of the "musicians" mentioned in the article? Are they worth a listen? I'm not too familiar with techno culture and specifics...

 

[J'aime_la_mode]

I'm a huge fan of rock on the runway but techno seems so runway-appropriate..a perfect match. Karl Lagerfeld seems to use techno a lot and it always seems to complement his clothes and the mood of the show.

 

[droogist]

I think that when it comes to runway music designers want to choose something that compliments the look... when we think of rock music we think of a very specific sort of style

Is there a certain style associated with techno? No real clear cut image comes to mind... glow sticks and raves perhaps? Shiny or neon clothing?

If as this article suggests, techno will be taking over the runways then what kind of fashions would we possibly expect to accompany it?

The rave look is pretty much a 90's relic, thank heaven. I think you are right in saying that there's no readily identifiable "techno look" anymore, beyond a general hipster look. As far as the artists go, a lot of the males favor the limited edition trainers + limited edition jeans + limited edition tee + hoodie look...

But I don't think the blurb actually suggests that a techno influence on fashion is imminent; the headline's pretty misleading, and doesn't seem to have a thing to do with what they're "reporting."

On another note... has anyone heard of any of the "musicians" mentioned in the article? Are they worth a listen? I'm not too familiar with techno culture and specifics...

Ellen Allien is ok - clean beats, nothing mindblowing but yes, worth a listen. You can hear her stuff on her website.

 

[ChrissyM]

I didn't mean to suggest that techno would be the next big sort of "movement" in fashion as grunge was in the early 90s or as rock has been for what seems like forever...
but how would the use of techno as runway music (even if it doesn't happen in reality) reflect what is going on on the runways?

Will techno be the music of choice because there is often no real "message" behind the music and the designers can use it to convey whatever they want?
...sort of just as some cool beats accompanying their clothes and setting the pace as models walk down the runway?

I tend to think of techno as lacking the emotion of other more lyrically driven music, and if designers will supposedly be choosing more techno to accompany their clothes down the runway then will the clothes have a sort of colder harder edge as well?

I guess I personally would envision straighter lines, less prints or just geometric sort of prints, solid colors etc....

Regardless of what the article is implying it has just made me wonder what other people would envision for the clothes/collections that designers would choose techno for on the runway...

 

[Perickles]

Will techno be the music of choice because there is often no real "message" behind the music and the designers can use it to convey whatever they want?

I disagree, I think always there's a message but you have the option to interpret freely. B) I want techno on the runway! especially 90's because I don't like so much the monotone minimal techno of nowadays.

Those are like pure and cold air in my face in a white landscape




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