As the fashion industry modernizes, the once Svengali-like figure of the fashion designer is more fluid and fragmented than ever.
The mood is more important than the line …. It’s more a spirit and an atmosphere.”
What does it mean to be a designer in 2019? As the fashion industry becomes bigger by the minute — this year it is estimated to be worth £33 billion to the UK economy alone — the all-important role of the designer is dramatically evolving. The ivory towers they once ruled down from are now fragile glass bungalows. Today, designers don’t just design clothes — they must be politicians, environmental activists, cultural anthropologists, and curators of endless collaborations and archives. They can even be a DJ or a pop-star, too.
It’s no longer a question of inventing a silhouette or tracking hemlines to the economy. Then again, it hasn’t been for a while. As far back as 1979, the late Karl Lagerfeld understood the tectonic shifts that would modernize the rag trade: “It’s not very modern any more to talk about the new silhouette. The mood is more important than the line in a way because we are not in the 50s any more…. It’s more a spirit and an atmosphere.”
There’s something else that even the Kaiser couldn’t have predicted. It’s the P-word. Not purses, play suits or (smart)phones. It’s politics. Yep, fashion has reached political fever-pitch and designers are faced with a tougher challenge than just creating grand sets and securing celebrity endorsements to remain relevant. It’s becoming increasingly important for them to make clothes that speak to a new generation of shoppers and spectators who largely are politically active, hyper-connected, environmentally conscious, body-positive and diversity-demanding.
Is it a necessity? Not particularly. Is it a bonus? Absolutely. Is it exciting? You bet.
We are living through an age of political nightmares after all, where all hope is thin and hate is big. It’s only natural that creative people feel the need to respond to the current climate. What’s more, this newfound sense of political awareness might just stem from fashion’s murky past (and in many cases, present). It certainly hasn’t been the most environmentally-friendly industry over the years and is still one of the world's biggest polluters.
Then there’s the darker terrain of global exploitative labor, unpaid internships, sexual harassment and accusations of bullying across the board. Not to mention the unhealthy beauty ideals and lack of diversity that has defined the lacquer-sleek glossiness of fashion for so — too — long. It’s time for fashion to wake up.
Fashion has a history of co-opting political and counter cultural movements, marginalized groups and non-western cultures, which can render it a slightly peculiar landscape to meaningfully articulate political ideas and convey real social change. ‘Democratic’ is a word often bandied around in luxury fashion, but with little resonance with a system that is predicated on big egos and bottom lines.
But consumers and fashion spectators have a far greater influence on the direction of fashion than ever before, and the question remains as to what a designer’s job truly is.
Is it to dictate political statements through buttons and boleros? Not technically. Is it to authoritatively convey how they think we should dress in six months and create a universe that is desirable, aspirational and accessible enough that it translates into sales?
Perhaps.
Credits: I-D Magazine / written by Osman Ahmed