INDIVIDUAL WORDS

Why we Love...the Futurism TrendBy HOLLIE FURNISS

Metallic surfaces, plating, studs, plastic, iridescent colours and geometric shapes; the futuristic trend is an innovation of all that is fantastically unexpected and unusual. Founded on the imagination and creativity of minds the results are often out of this world.

‘But it’s weird!’ I hear you say, yes clothing can appear as if it had been pulled from the depths of Lady Gaga’s wacky wardrobe, hard to pull off and uncomfortable to wear, but the joy of the trend is that it is like no other, a trend that is utterly unique and excessive. The reason we love it is that it is a method of escapism, a way of forgetting about the conventional, mundane rituals of life and instead helps us inject fun and magic back in to our souls via the wonders of our wardrobe.

Think back to when we were five years old and used to dig out Disney outfits from miniature closets and dance around, wand in hand, pretending to be a fairy or princess. The feeling of being someone else was self-fulfilling and exciting to the very core. People treat us as if we were that fictional character, bowing, curtsying and saying how pretty we looked. Then we grew up and for some reason society pressured us to start to dress our ‘age’ and look more appropriate. Why? Why can’t we carry on living out a fantasy innocently through the power of dress? Why is the alternative frowned upon and disliked?

The futuristic trend is obviously for the confident and fearless. People unconcerned with others attitudes and instead pre-occupied with the seduction of extremist fashion styles. People who are not afraid to stand out in a crowd as after all futuristic clothing is an art form; a clash of architecture, technology and textiles all entwined together.

The trend with its racy and spacey silver cut out dresses, shoulder pads and shiny fabrics that look almost wet on skin all add up to a way of power dressing for women. The world of outer space and all its scientific associations are related to men. Yet, it is the wonders of the universe that communicates with women. The masculine silhouettes and often overtly sexual nature of futuristic fashion implies that women who work this look are powerful, authoritative and sexy. After all, many of man’s ultimate fantasies are with women in futuristic films like Quorra (Olivia Wilde) from Tron Legacy and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) from Matrix.

Almost every female celebrity has tried out the trend including Kate Moss, Rihanna, Amber Rose and even sophisticated Anna Wintour. The Black Eyed Peas are known for their fascination with all things futuristic with their electronic sounds but it is Fergie that dominates the futuristic look with her explosive and daring stage costumes. The reason why they can all pull off such a wild look is because they are powerful, successful and in control.

Possibility is the fundamental backbone to the futuristic trend which is probably why it is so admired. The fashion paves the way for advances in textiles and despite all its technical aspects the futuristic trend is unrivalled visually as the ultimate in originality and imagination. Its inventiveness allows for sculptural and 3-D elements which wow critics and fashionistas alike. So, before you shy away from the trend remember that futuristic fashion is the fashion of the future.

The Future & Its Influence on FashionBy HOLLIE FURNISS

The 1960’s: The Space Age

Up until the 1960’s the fashion world had looked to the past for inspiration. When the 60’s approached it was apparent that for fashion designers alike, the future would be their muse. This was especially the case for French designer André Courrèges. Courrèges studied civil engineering but was always interested in architecture and textile design. In 1964 he launched a ground-breaking collection called ‘Space Age’ that was made up of chic and innovative futuristic designs. The look included boots, goggles, and hems three inches above the knees. Shapes were geometric, the colours were metallic, white, red and yellow and the materials included plastic and metal. It was a million miles away from the previous 1950’s housewife look of ladylike dresses with cinched in waists and full, billowing skirts. Courrèges was known for saying that ‘today’s women are archaic in appearance. I want to help them coincide with their time’ and indeed he did just that. Shortly after he showed his ‘Space Age’ collection to the world the market was flooded with crash helmets, white boots, plastic skirts, plastic jackets and angular seaming for a boxy silhouette. The look could not have come at a better defining moment as it was earlier in 1961 that the Soviet Union won the race with the United States to get a human into space. The importance of the revolutionary fashion would continue with Neil Armstrong being the first man to land on the moon in 1969 and famously declaring ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’

The Future of Futurism

As technology continued to advance the complexity and opportunities of fashion excelled. Today, there are many modern designers at the forefront of futuristic fashion. One extraordinary designer is UK based Ara Jo who graduated from Central Saint Martins. His 2010 collection was a rapture of lycra, sparkles and sensual silhouettes with a splash of Avant Garde. With all that maximalism, Lady Gaga is bound to call and sure enough she became Jo’s first celebrity to wear his designs which helped futuristic fashion hit the magazine pages of the masses. The future of futuristic clothing is all based on new materials and methods of construction. Designers like Sandra Backland and Iris Van Herpen have become renowned for the dedication they have to their craft. Backland has turned knitwear from pensioner’s past-time into a high-end fashion art. Her sculptural but traditionally hand-made designs unite futuristic concepts with custom techniques. The outcome is surreal, feminine and beautiful showing futurism can have a softer side. A fellow like-minded designer is the incredible Iris Van Herpen who ‘stands for a reciprocity between craftsmanship and innovation in technique and materials.’ She creates a new direction of couture that combines handwork practices with futuristic digital technology. Van Herpen delineates her work with the quote, ‘For me fashion is an expression of art that is very close related to me and to my body. I see it as my expression of identity combined with desire, moods and cultural setting.’

What Happens Next…

Technology development is increasing quickly and shows no sign of slowing down in the foreseeable future, so fashion designers will have a lot of fun over the coming years playing around with new technology. The next decades will see the gradual convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive technologies. All very scientific for fashion but the typical results will be materials with different tensile, thermal and optical properties.

One advance in the fashion world which is particularly exciting is the laser sintering technology that produces fabrics of interlocking links of plastic. The Freedom of Creation (FOC) is behind such a revelation claiming that ‘instead of producing textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them into final products, this concept has the ability to make needle and thread obsolete.’ This surely has to be one of the most interesting and astonishing movements in fashion which could affect not just futuristic fashion but fashion on a global scale.

Aside from all the amazing progress in textiles and technology there is possibly a far bigger factor that will affect fashion tremendously; The Digital Age. Tweeting, blogging, social media and video streaming are all fairly new and radical ways of promoting and discussing fashion. The majority are free and available to everyone with internet access which means more people than ever can get involved with fashion. Sounds great right? Wrong, this could lead to dramatic changes to the fashion world as we know it, from commentary to fashion design, communication to distribution.

With people choosing bloggers over journalists will digital media mean the end of printed magazines? It is a serious question and although many fashion professionals are embracing the changes I for one would miss my Vogue issue every month. I’d miss it’s luxurious, shiny pages, perfume samples, fashion guidance from some of the best journalists to date and its tangible quality. Not being able to sit down in a coffee shop flicking through a magazine of the latest fashion would be a loss to us all.

One prediction is that Smart aggregators will be the future instead of magazines or newspapers. The system would quickly learn about what kind of news articles we like and will gather information from any relevant posts online. This means that everyone will be publishers and intelligent software will be the editors. The flipside is that, like most things, blogging will eventually die out. Tastemaker sisters Franca and Carla Sozzani agree with just that, claiming that bloggers ‘don’t do great damage because most live the life of a moth. A single night. And those that last longer are not necessarily the most talented or have a blog more interesting. It is certainly a fad and like all trends, especially in the world of fashion, they’re followed and enhanced.’ All I know is that I love blogging and magazines so, can’t both things continue to coexist?

The futuristic fashion trend seems to be arising some troublesome questions about what the future of fashion holds however, as the trend hits the 2011 runway shows of designers like Alexander Wang and Rag & Bone it seems that, if the trend is anything to go by, the future of fashion will be bright regardless of how we get to know about it.