{"id":14368,"date":"2019-11-01T17:01:54","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T21:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=14368"},"modified":"2023-09-01T12:14:19","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T16:14:19","slug":"wheel-of-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2019\/11\/wheel-of-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheel of Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Cameron Walker | GSOFW photos by Jon Eric Johnson<\/a> | Cover Image: Looks from Alexandra Plunkett’s GSOFW collection<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe word \u2018change\u2019 would be a good definition for the word fashion. If you think about it, if there isn’t any change, there isn\u2019t any fashion,\u201d said <\/span>Andre West<\/span><\/a>, Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management (<\/span>TATM<\/span><\/a>) associate professor and director of the Zeis Textiles Extension (<\/span>ZTE<\/span><\/a>) at the <\/span>Wilson College of Textiles<\/span><\/a> at <\/span>NC State<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s this idea of change, of constant flux, that is at the heart of Fashion Week.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditionally, Fashion Week refers to the biannual womenswear shows that take place in the \u201cBig Four\u201d cities of <\/span>New York<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>London<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Milan<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Paris<\/span><\/a>. Twice a year, designers present their collections for the following season; the Fall\/Winter collections are shown in February and the Spring\/Summer collections are shown in September. However, as other cities rise as fashion capitals in their own right and the power of social media democratizes fashion, the number of Fashion Weeks has grown to more than a hundred — from <\/span>Seoul<\/span><\/a>, Korea and <\/span>New Delhi<\/span><\/a>, India to <\/span>Charleston<\/span><\/a>, South Carolina and more recently, Greensboro, North Carolina, where several of our students and alumni just showed their collections.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Read on for our conversation with West about the cyclical nature of some aspects of fashion and how fashion trends evolve and spread. Then keep reading for firsthand perspectives from students <\/span>Celine Borthayre<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Emma Rigby<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Alexandra Plunkett<\/span><\/a>, and alumna <\/span>Carly Palmer<\/span><\/a> on their experience showing at <\/span>Greensboro Fashion Week<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to West, there are three ways a fashion trend develops: trickle down, trickle up and trickle across.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe simplest one, which has been done throughout history, is the trickle down effect,\u201d said West. \u201cWe used to imitate the kings and queens of the past. But no one is following Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s trends now. Who are the \u2018kings\u2019 and \u2018queens\u2019 of today? Instagram and social media [stars] have millions of followers; if they wear something, and usually they are paid to wear it, it gets out there and that\u2019s the trend…We went from royalty to movie stars and pop stars to now,\u201d where social media influencers set the trickle down trends.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The trickle up effect is when fashion trends are influenced by regular people. Consider the popularity of denim and t-shi<\/span>rts, once solely for laborers, or pea coats and khakis, once found only in military surplus stores. Punk fashion, which emerged as part of a larger subculture from the London streets in the mid-1970s, has cycled through both mainstream fashion and haute couture ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The trickle-across effect, in which fashion moves between groups almost simultaneously, is increasingly common today. Many designers or fashion retailers will release similar looks at varying price points, so consumers are able to purchase the same silhouettes, prints and colors at the same time. For example, a designer may show an haute couture look and a less-expensive, more wearable pr\u00eat-\u00e0-porter look at the same time; retailers at different price points will quickly copy the look and make their versions available the same season.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPrints on the whole are small and moody,\u201dsaid West. The runways were full of dark and dreamy florals. \u201cI have also seen a lot of animal print, but it\u2019s done a bit differently. It\u2019s more involved with the accessories than it has been before, like the black dress with a leopard skin pumps or leopard skin purse or snakeskin belt, this idea that you can still wear your solids\u2026I can\u2019t tell you why, but usually leopard, snake and zebra are the ones [you see most frequently].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStill purple, but purple across the range,\u201d said West. \u201cAnd yellow is always around. Yellow is one of these colors that can change very slightly, but it\u2019s very noticeable. [We\u2019re seeing a range from] a sophisticated mustard yellow to a hypercolor yellow\u2026The weirdest thing I\u2019m seeing\u2026is pink and red together. When you see combinations like that, two colors of the same kind but different shades, it\u2019s interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mondrian-inspired color blocking trended both on the runway and in the streets at the Spring\/Summer 2020 shows \u2014 a wheel of color combinations including chartreuse\/turquoise, pumpkin\/aubergine, crimson\/navy and emerald green\/royal blue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Power suits (with strong shoulders, many with vests), belted trench or \u201cspy\u201d coats, faux leather, flared jeans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFashion is built around decades,\u201d said West. \u201cThe way I look at it, it\u2019s like baking a cake: same ingredients, but different amounts and different toppings. It’s just remixing the ingredients in some sort of way so they become their own thing. Even if we try to copy a look from a previous decade, it doesn’t work because the textiles have changed, what people do for a living has changed…It’s like starting with the same bunch of ingredients, making the recipe so many times, but the dish always comes out slightly differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Take the strong-shouldered power suits from the Spring\/Summer 2020 runways; they stand as possible commentary on women\u2019s power in the Me Too era, but we\u2019ve seen the silhouette before — as many women achieved corner-office status in the 1980s, the shoulders were boxy and padded, just as they were forty years earlier when women went to work during World War II. In the last decade of the 19th century, blouses puffed up at the shoulders in the \u201cleg o\u2019mutton\u201d style as women joined the workforce en masse for the first time and furthered their fight for suffrage. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hemlines rise and fall, volume increases and deflates, the wheel of fashion turns on and trends come and go. But for a trend to be a trend, several designers must have similar ideas at the same time. So how does this happen?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe designers all know each other; Paris or Milan, they gravitate toward the same area, same neighborhood,\u201d said West. \u201cThey hang out in the same bars, the same clubs, and they\u2019re talking. There\u2019s a conversational piece that\u2019s happening there. But they\u2019re also seeing the same influences; there may be a show at the Louvre<\/a> in Paris or the Uffizi<\/a> in Florence, or a particular movie came out. Those things are what I call subliminal messages, so they’re inputting this [cultural information], but they have a blinkered view because they cannot see what else is out there, right? So they’re all taking in this impression, then they’re [individually] reacting to that impression.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about the mod aesthetic popular in the 1960s; during this time, young designers were influenced by the space race, and fashion reflected this futuristic optimism, from bold color and geometric prints to sleeveless dresses and miniskirts. Or picture the minimalism embraced by designers in the grunge era of the 1990s; perhaps the excess of the previous decade required a palate cleanser, leading to simple slip dresses, faded flannels and muted colors. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n In early October this year, several Wilson College of Textiles students and an alumna showed collections at Greensboro Fashion Week, a growing showcase for the region\u2019s top design talent.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n We spoke with them about what it was like preparing for a fashion show and watching their designs walk down the runway.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\nBirth of a Trend<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Spring\/Summer 2020 Runway Trends<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Prints<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Color Wheel<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Honorable Mentions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Fashion on Repeat<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Greensboro Fashion Week<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n