Ah, September.
Fashion Week.
The Vogue Issue. (Thee Vogue Issue).
A change of seasons.
Fall Fashion Week is the industry’s biggest time of year. (More like Fall Fashion Month, seeing as it goes on for 4 weeks in 4 different cities; New York, London, Paris and Milan).
September is the 9th month, but in fashion, it may as well be the first month. It marks the beginning of a change of seasons, setting the mood and trends for the following year.
“Even after one outgrows Seventeen and its ilk, a September issue signals ‘back to school.’ Autumn is the time of important cultural happenings, of re-engaging with the outside world and the intellect, after the sanctioned mindlessness and insularity of summer. So I always welcome its commanding thwap in my mailbox. [And] I think September issues have grown more powerful, partly because of the PR boost they got from R.J. Cutler's 2009 documentary, and partly because the Internet is so desperate for new fodder, even the dubious suspense of a cover-subject selection.”
Even if you aren’t going back to school, or the weather hasn’t grown cold yet, you know the change is coming. And the documentary she’s talking about? The September Issue. An alluring film diving into the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the entire concept of fashion in September.
(Available to watch for free on YouTube and included in Amazon Prime).
But this year as I was coming across a few Instagram posts about 2023’s Fall Fashion Week…I couldn’t help but feel…….disinterested.
How is this possible…..I work in fashion and love what I do! I’m very fulfilled by my work. And this is….thee big season in my industry. So why am I feeling this way?
The short answer?
I think ultimately, these fashion shows don’t push the industry in the direction it needs to go and perhaps even perpetuate the issues [of the industry].
Whoa! That was a sweeping statement! Let me explain.
I first wanted to explore and test the waters by asking others how they felt about fashion shows. But instead of asking:
“Do you care about fashion shows?” Or
“How much influence do fashion shows have on you?” Or
“Do you think fashion shows perpetuate the issues of the fashion industry?”
I thought it best to get to the deeper question, the question that every brand, ad agency, stakeholder, and designer wants to know. A question that those involved hope to see a high turnout for, if you will. Something they hope happens as a result of fashion shows. I asked:
“How much do fashion trends influence your buying decisions?”
With the following options:
1. I don’t even notice fashion trends.
2. I notice fashion trends but they don’t influence what clothing I buy.
3. Fashion trends somewhat or sometimes influence what clothing I buy.
4. Fashion trends influence what clothing I buy, generally.
5. Fashion trends influence every single piece of clothing I buy.
That was my nitty-gritty, boiled-down list. Here are the options I really wanted to offer:
1. I don’t even notice fashion trends.
2. I notice fashion trends but they don’t influence the clothes I purchase. I buy what I like regardless of whether it’s popular or not.
3. I observe or notice fashion trends but they have little impact on the clothes I buy.
4. I don’t actively seek out fashion trends, but if I come across a trend, I decide for myself if I personally like it. (And end up buying because I personally like it).
5. I don’t actively seek out fashion trends, but if I come across something, I get on board and decide to buy whether or not I personally like the trend.
6. I don’t actively seek out fashion trends, but if I come across something I like, I’ll make a mental note for the next shopping trip but don’t put too much weight on it and am in no rush.
7. I actively seek out fashion trends but don’t buy clothing based on them. (I look because of my job, for entertainment, nostalgia, or other reasons).
8. I actively seek out fashion trends and will buy clothing based on that but only when I am in need of clothing.
9. I actively seek out fashion trends and will buy any clothing based on that, regardless of whether or not I need new clothes.
10. I’m on top of the trends and buy clothing based on this, as soon as I can get my hands on it!
In my opinion, it’s a much better questionnaire, as it's not only about the question at hand but also touches on the frequency of buying. But alas, I’m fighting the reality of people’s attention spans. It’s a pretty exhaustive list for a social media post and would be better suited for a much more in-depth survey, (wink wink, something I’ll do in the future ;)
Anyway, here are the stats, pulled from my personal and professional profiles on Instagram and Facebook.
Out of 50 people surveyed, options #2 and #3 were almost a tie! While no one chose options four or five! And #1 was chosen the least.
Even though this is an ity-bity tiny survey, (compared to the massive ones that huge companies can conduct), it’s still a survey nonetheless. And the results actually don’t surprise me!
Most people surveyed said that trends only sometimes influence their buying decisions, while almost just as many people said that trends don’t influence what they buy.
Again, I understand that it is an extremely small number surveyed, however, these answers tell me that people aren’t jumping out to buy what they saw after a fashion show. (It’s also not as streamlined as that; the trends start out more avant-garde then trickle down to more commercialized pieces, and then trickle down to even more commercialized items for the mass market. Remember Meryl Streep and Ann Hathaway in the blue sweater scene from The Devil Wears Prada?)
All in all, no one [surveyed] allows trends to influence every single piece of clothing they buy.
After conducting the survey, I revisited my own personal feelings. And they remained the same; disinterested and disillusioned.
Now, this is not meant to come across as disrespectful to the art and talent that truly is fashion design. Hello…..I’m a fashion designer and I can say firsthand that it is so much harder than people think! I, of course, have a deep respect for it!
But some people do see fashion designers or fashionistas as fleeting, flighty, and frivolous, and I am a bit embarrassed to admit that at times, felt I’ve proven this persona with my “ignorance is bliss” and naive nature. We aren’t erecting buildings or bridges, feeding the hungry, or saving lives, but we are designing clothing, and clothing is a necessity. Designing smart, well-fitting, beautiful clothing takes so much talent and hard work. It may not seem “important,” but it is. Those who put every effort into it should be respected and I've come to feel that my work in this industry does mean something and that it can, in fact, help change people’s lives for the better, (with the path I’ve decided to go down).
Going back to those specific emotions, (disinterested and disillusioned), the longer I sat with them the more I tried to really dig through why I might be having them. And Jim Carrey came to mind.
"There's no meaning to any of this. I wanted to find the most meaningless thing that I could come to and join, and here I am. I mean, you've got to admit, it's completely meaningless."
"There is no me. There is just things happening," he later added. "Here's the thing: It's not our world. That's the key. We don't matter. We don't matter. There's the good news."
A few days later he explained his comments to The Wrap:
"As an actor you play characters, and then if you go deep enough into those characters, you realize that your own character is pretty thin to begin with," he said. "You suddenly have this separation and go: 'Who's Jim Carrey? Oh, he doesn't exist actually.' There's just a relative manifestation of consciousness appearing, and then somebody gave him a bunch of ideas — they gave him a name, and a religion, and a nationality, and he clustered those together into something that's supposed to be a personality, and it doesn't actually exist. None of that stuff, if you drill down, is real."
Back in 2017 when I first saw this, I remember initially feeling defensive, upset, and berated like a child; while at the time, I personally was in a rough place and felt like fashion didn’t matter, that I wasted my time at fashion school and that I shouldn’t waste my time on it as a career. But a few weeks later, swinging to a different place in the spectrum of emotions to: unaffected. As I said before, I’ve come to a place in time now, where I believe my work in the fashion industry means something.
We could debate Jim Carrey’s words all day; every person asked would have an opinion on his erratic, bizarre, and spontaneous speech but I’ll continue writing what I assume many of you are wondering; do I agree with him? How do I respond today to what he said; as this is directly related to how I feel about 2023’s Fall Fashion events.
While I respect every late night, every moment of inspiration, every headache of blood, sweat, and tears that goes into designing and creating a fashion collection, I don’t necessarily feel that it is needed on a global scale. For those who choose to do this on a personal level or small scale, such as myself, I think that it is indeed needed! (If executed better than the industry standards). Allowing yourself to expand creatively, process emotions, learn something new, fulfill a long-awaited dream, or just have fun is fantastic and people should do it! In fact, more people should test out their creative side! The world needs more happy people and if this type of work gratifies you, then do it! But do it better than those who’ve done it before you.
Does this mean the world needs more fashion collections on a global scale? In my opinion, not really, no. If a fashion collection is created, produced, and or sold globally by participating in any of the following, I just can’t get behind it.
Exploitative labor conditions
Harmful, unsafe, or deadly labor conditions
Lack of living wages
Overproduction
Overconsumption
Textile waste
Toxic chemical use
Indefinite dependence on fossil fuels
Water pollution
Air pollution
Animal cruelty
Indefinite reliance on plastic fabrics
Lack of traceability
Lack of size inclusion
Lack of transparency
Greenwashing
Colonialism
Now, if a fashion collection is created, produced and or sold on the wide scales that I’ve described that does the opposite of those things listed above….? I do think they are needed. I would buy a ticket to that fashion show. I would give them my dollar. I would engage with them. I would work with them. I do work with them. I believe in:
Circularity
Innovation
Fair wages
No animal products
Safe AND enjoyable working conditions
Transparency
Size inclusion
Sourcing existing materials
Slow to market
Waste reduction
Natural dyes & materials
Promised and proven implementations [to get to better systems and practices]
Slower consumption
Industry education
So, September 2023.
Fall Fashion Week 2023.
Are there any designers in these shows that participate in conscious fashion?
If so, I’ll be looking and it’s time to reinvent the traditional Fall Fashion Week to a show that acknowledges the issues and admittance is based on conscious fashion criteria.
If not, I care very little. In fact, I think it’s time to get divorced.
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