Death has also been present in fashion and in a very strong
way in the past 5 years. I remember back
when developing the denim line for Sears Canada Fall 2008 when the buyer’s
direction was “Skulls and Fangs”!! For
Sears?!! As much as it was a trendy theme none of the designers thought it
would fly with the traditional Sears customers, it was way too trendy for the
target profile, therefore we went for it!
A collection of studded crosses with embroidered roses and skulls was
born and it was a hit. From the McQueen
runway to the mass market, death seems to be fascinating everybody, but what
does it mean in fashion? Why is it still relevant from fashionistas to the regular
Joe?
Playing with the forbidden or the unknown has always been
tempting, but why is it coming back nowadays?
Today’s class made me think of a documentary that I watched long time
ago, and please forgive me for not remembering where and when I saw it, but it
was about movies in the end 60’s and beginning of the 70’s.
Before the first man
walked on the moon, at the second part of the 60’s, the fascination of the
unknown was about the outer space, was there any live out of the earth? This attraction influenced the arts
portraying great imagery of attacks from Mars and other outer-space creatures
that spanned from serious thrillers to the Flintstones! Everybody was exposed
to the outer-space and all the possibilities it could hide. But what happened
after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon?
The outer-space was no longer something unfamiliar for humanity; the
conquest of the unknown was not so much...unknown.
As a reaction to this
“The Exorcist” came to the big screen and so many other films touching this
topic. Since outer-space was not able anymore
to provide that taboo element (as it was proved to be conquered on 1969) the society
needed to find a new frontier: therefore the outer-space became the outer-world.
After today’s session, my thinking goes to today’s society; aren’t
we facing a similar situation? We have it all, don’t we? Information is there
available for all of us... only a click away.
From scenes under deep see, passing through the microscopic world, to the
view of the earth from the outer-space and even our internal body and organs!!;
any possible angle of our surroundings is available to us thanks to the all
mighty Google and its relatives. Technology
has gone so far that no matter what we are looking for, we know some studies
have already been conducted and we can find trustworthy information through museums
and laboratories. What is the unknown then? Of course, Death! Death comes back
as it did in the early 70’s.
The ultimate mysterious frontier is appealing again; again, society
wants to flirt with the old maid that hasn’t been conquered through ages. How long will this trend last? I am guessing
until society finds, like a little kid, a new appealing toy to play with or
until society gives up again on trying to solve the mystery; but no matter what,
the death trend will come back sooner or later, because human kind has not yet been
able to conquer it. So keep your skull
earrings even when the trend is over... it will come back in fashion if not for
you, for your daughter in a couple of decades from now.
_______
Roger Artiga
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