Beyond Wearability

In the world of art, some of the most recognizable names are those who pushed the boundaries of what it means to call something art. From Picasso to Warhol, from Warhol to Pollack, from Pollock to Rothko, these people made a name for themselves by taking established norms and throwing them out the window. For their efforts, they are recognized as trailblazers and geniuses. When a person on the street sees a Picasso, they can appreciate the talent behind the man. Why then, does this not extend to the world of fashion? While prestigious, fashion shows have long been lauded by those on the outside as needlessly gaudy, impractical, and a waste of money and resources. I believe that the negative connotation surrounding these events stems from a lack of understanding, and I am hoping to illuminate the brilliance behind them.

Similarly to how the art world has galleries and exhibitions, the fashion world has shows. The most important part of understanding a fashion show is to understand that the emphasis is less on “fashion” and more on “show”. You should not go into a fashion show and expect to see your next “Get Ready With Me” outfit. Much like a curated exhibition, fashion shows are more designed around themes and ideas. These themes and ideas could range from the vision of a certain artist to new and exciting technologies in the space. The point is about exaggerating what we wear more than it is displaying how to wear it. This may seem confusing at first, but think of it this way: a model on the runway is wearing a patchwork dress made from fabric falling off her body, and your first thought is, “She looks like she’s falling apart, who would wear that?” But then fall rolls around and you’re wearing oversized hoodies with quilted patchwork bags. The look we saw on the runway was never meant to be worn in public, it was more of an exaggerated manifestation of the trends to come.

In order to understand the concept better, we will turn to a specific example from one of the fashion world's most important calendar events of the year: New York Fashion Week in 2024. Fashion Week is not simply one show and one designer, but rather a plethora of designers and brands creating a cultural moment that spans days. These designers all carefully craft a narrative and theme focusing on their brand and its values. Take for example the Tommy Hilfiger collection from that year. Tommy Hilfiger wanted to play with a nautical theme based on their brand identity of classic American styles. When you imagine their clothes, they want you to imagine that classic, Ivy League look. Think someone who takes their father’s boat out for the summer. Someone who is fun but also sophisticated and aristocratic. To fully encompass this, they held their show on a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry. This fully embodies the nautical theme they were aiming for, as well as connecting them to a local culture and history. The main colors in Tommy Hilfiger's sartorial palette are red, white, and blue, acting as a symbol of American style, and New York is the spiritual capital of the country. The boat acted as a fantasyland for the show, stealing the audience away from everyday city life and placing them in a world of their own design. By whisking them away and separating them from the “real” world, Tommy Hilfiger is able to fully immerse the viewers in the experience. Every aspect of the show works together to make this dream world feel authentic. 

More important than the location, and the impetus for most people’s confusion, are the models and the outfits themselves. Jackets and pants that seem too large, shirts and skirts that seem too tight, outfits that at first glance appear to be random thrift finds thrown onto a body. However, the more you stare, the more the harmony comes into focus. Despite variations in texture, material, size, and accessories, the models all seem to fit in perfectly with their surroundings and each other. Each model walks stone faced, taking purposeful strides with their hands meticulously positioned either at their side or in their pocket. It’s not how normal people look when they walk, but rather, it is the idea of what an idealized person walking should be. Their walk shows off how the outfits move in the wind, how they fit on the body. When the average person walks it's messy, careless. Their shirt bunches up, their pants might slip, their backpack causes wrinkles on their jacket. The point of these models is to appear as moving mannequins: Roman statues come to life to show off new styles. And the clothing choices are equally as deliberate. Some of the clothing is oversized to show more of the patterns, the stripes are bolder, the jeans boxier, but against the bodies of the models they look natural. No one is meant to walk down the street in 7 layers of open jackets, but it's through these looks the designers are able to show off the cohesion of the outfits. How each of their shirts, button-ups and jackets match to create a solid brand image. It is through all of these means that a brand is able to create a solidified message that leaves a lasting impression. 

The other type of fashion show, and the one that picks up more headlines, are when the designers truly break away from all tradition and create seemingly outrageous outfits. People inside balloons, sleeves that drag on the floor, spray on dresses and more. These outfits don't seem to be pushing a new collection so much as they’re attacking the very idea of what fashion is. This can be seen in Viktor&Rolf’s Spring 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week. The dresses were not meant to be worn, they were meant to be seen. An upside down dress, a dress rotated 90 degrees, a dress that was worn 3 feet to the left. All of these look, to put it frankly, funny. No one would wear a dress like that, no one CAN wear a dress like that, and it just looks silly. But, it’s important to ask yourself why a dress cannot look like that, what is the designer trying to say? In this case, I feel as if Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren were trying to highlight one of the most important concepts in fashion: the silhouette. All of these dresses create a unique silhouette, an impossible silhouette, a silhouette that brings our attention to what these dresses look like. Throughout history, women's silhouettes have gone from wide bottoms and corset tops, to poofy shoulders, boxy dresses, curvy dresses, and everything in between. The silhouettes of the 20’s look nothing like the silhouettes of the 60’s, and those look nothing like the ones of today. Viktor and Rolf are pointing out something we all intrinsically know: all of these silhouettes show an ideal body type, but that body type is rarely what an actual woman looks like. Their dresses emphasize the absurdity of silhouettes, an impossibility of beauty standards, and beg the question of what fashion could be. In the ever evolving world of fashion, Viktor and Rolf are asking us to reconsider the very boundaries of beauty, of what we consider perfect, challenging us to envision a world beyond our limits. They are reminding us the most powerful silhouettes aren’t what we expect, but rather the ones that dare to redefine beauty itself.