Did you ever wonder why designers create outrageous outfits in fashion shows? You look at the model - perfect features, perfect gait, but wait! She is wearing a nest - one of real twigs and dried grass on her head. What is that supposed to mean? What lunatic boutique would sell that, and what dude/dudette would buy that? Even if you manage to get an outfit of such articulation, you might just attract a lazy crow landing in to lay her egg while you wait for your coffee. Yes, that is a hyperbolic way of saying that such designs are not practical. Why do designers make and display them on the priciest models and runways around the world? Let's decode.
Fashion Shows are Temporary Art Galleries
The runway is gone when the fashion week is over. However temporary, it is a form of an art gallery. Ever wondered what Picasso was thinking when he made the "Three Musicians" ?
It is necessary for art not to be practical. It should be rebellious, out of accepted laws and notions. If you can create "notnormal" and "normal", choose notnormal. A popular estimate is that a runway show costs, on an average, about $50,000. It is a gateway to show eye opening stuff, to draw attention to a designer's creative madness with her outrageous creations, and then make her name recognizable when she(or he) does sell more wearable creations.
It May Indicate the Future
Fashion is going high-tech big time. 3D printing technology in clothing was crazy when it first appeared in ramps, but there are real chances of practical clothing emerging out of advanced materials and 3D printing. As they say, what starts as crazy today, would be normal tomorrow (remember the flying thing called the aeroplane :)
It is About Peer Recognition
Behind the glitz and the after parties, this is an academic industry. Forms, fabrics, drawing techniques, cut and stitch techniques and many other skills are learnt, experimented upon and discussed. It is the sum-total of such experience that comes out in a fashion show. And the old Gods recognize and mentor the new aspirants. By the way, what kind of aircraft-grade-titanium-stitching-thread is required for a dudette to wear another dude (or dudette) like a backpack on the ramp?
It isn't as Outrageous as it Seems
Many designers derive more practical apparel from their over-the-board designs when they are ready to sell their collections. The effects can be stunning - a mixture of innovation, quirkiness yet not batshit weird. Sometimes, simple hacks and sobering up is enough. I mean, how many pyramids in the below costume would you have to flatten out to make a beautiful, wearable frock? No, I cannot be accused of causing brain damage by asking such questions :) . But seriously, some beautiful cuts and shapes in mainstream clothing have come from insane origins.
And again, not all ramp creations are totally unwearable in our normal, dull existence. Many creations are technically fit to be bought straight out of the ramp. Crazy need not be the norm, and it isn't.
Have a glorious day, and keep doing #notnormal stuff!
Bye for now from the LOKAIT team!