If there were ever to be a ranking of industries where bounds of
creativity are stretched beyond what is considered normal, the fashion industry
would be top of the pack. To any causal observer of a major runway show, be it the
New York Fashion week, London, Milan or even the Paris fashion week, there is
always a fascination at the lively imaginations that grace those catwalks.
A lot of people smile, wonder, quip and chat away at what designers
had in mind coming up with some of the avant-garde concepts all in the name of
fashion creativity. Over the years, there have been designs from the runaways
which average Joe’s and plain Jane’s have described as being out of this world
and not wearable in any shape or form.
Beyond the runaways and back to the real world, a shift to
simplicity has slowly but steadily been emerging and taking shape. A gravitation
towards simpler looks seem to have had in it’s grip a whole lot more people
across different class divides than was the case a few years ago. I spend most
of my time at a special occasions boutique styling people for varied occasions.
Just recently, a client walked into the Boutique and said to me that she was so
busy with work, kids, and running her house that she wished she could have a work
uniform for each one of her unique roles in life! One for the kids, one for the
menial work, one for her corporate engagements and another one just for those
special evenings and weekends!
It seems to me that there have been few notable personalities
who appear to have actualised this dear lady’s desire in life. Think of the
late Nelson Mandela, and almost immediately you will bring to recollection his
love for the “Madiba shirt”. Mandela was presidential in his colorful shirts
regardless of the occasion. He dined at the White House, the Buckingham Palace
and graced the global stage for numerous events in his signature “Madiba Shirt”
style. We all envied his effortless, smart and definitive style that remained
synonymous with the man who was larger than life itself. You’d be mistaken to
think he wore the exact same shirt each time if you didn’t notice the change in
prints each time he stepped out.
Move across to the techie world, and we have fond memories of
the iconic Steve Jobs and his love relationship with black turtle necks and
blue jeans. The late Jobs remained endeared to his signature style so much that
whether he was unveiling a new iPhone or he was delivering a speech to a bunch
of undergraduates, he kept true to his style. His taste for comfortable
simplistic wear found it’s way down to the corporate culture so much so that,
the entire Apple stores’ global crew have adopted this combination as their
formal work wear and only changed black for blue.
This trend has been expanding further as observed with; Mark Zuckerberg
in his recognisable signature grey shirt and blue jeans; Former president Obama’s
love for only grey and blue formal suits and on rare occasions black suits; and
the power trouser suits that have been associated with both Angela Merkel and
Hillary Clinton.
As I have been thinking about the direction that fashion design seems
to find itself moving to, I can’t help but wonder if the move towards uniform
attire is slowly taking shape. Suppose that a majority of us would have one
style of wear that was comfortable, practical for our jobs and required the
least effort. A type of dress designed to perfectly fit our body shapes, hiding
what’s to be hidden and accentuating what we are proud of all the time.
If you finally got that perfect dress for all round wear, would
you buy it in the same colour for daily wear? What if the dress also came in
different colours and shades, would you get it?
That sounds to me like an ideal.
You see, every woman thinks of what to wear each morning. Some
make the effort to plan a few days in advance the British weather permitting. Each
morning she has to think of the style to wear that day, colour of the apparel,
shoes to complement the outfit and what bag to match. And all this is before
taking account of choices required on make-up, hair, and breakfast. Suppose we
reduced significantly the time we spend on those decisions and we saved
ourselves some 20 – 60 minutes in our morning routines.
One might argue to the contrary that such a life would be in a very
boring place devoid of any diversity and peculiarities that human life offers. That
would be true! However life will always naturally churn out glitteratis! A
people that are avid, on-trend, style-conscious shoppers who see more value in
their appearance than the time it takes to attain those appearances.
A number of creative geniuses in the fashion industry can take what
is typified as a simple dress and transform it into a magical showstopper. It
could be that they simply added on some ruffles, some glittering diamantes or carefully
stitched on embellishments. Whatever they do, the end result is always a lust-have
piece, thanks to their magical touch. These are people who don't conform to the
norm, who will wear something different from the rest of us. However they bring
colour to life around us and arouse a fashion consciousness in the rest of us that
we didn’t have. Sooner or later they whet our appetites and desire for wearing something
new.
As we look at making life simpler, and embracing minimalist
designs all around us, probably the concept of having an A-Line style dress designed at varied lengths, in
different colours and with different fabrics will make our
styles flexible both for work and after-work social engagements.
What do you think?
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