The unfathomable ocean provides designers with infinite inspiration: shelter, escape from reality, new resources, "reassurance" in the face of a turbulent future... Burberry's Riccardo Tisci and Donatella Versace how to interpret it
The starfish has no brain or blood and has "eyes" in each arm. Although there are more than 2,000 species, starfish are generally solitary. They spend their lives crawling on the seafloor, eating wherever they go: their flexible stomachs can stick out of their bodies to dissolve and digest prey such as clams, mussels and oysters. Some starfish have tiny dots or spikes, while others are masters of color: electric blue, candy pink, bright orange and grape purple. Such a bright and eye-catching shape has the fashion world fascinated.
At Versace's Spring/Summer 2021 show, sea creatures like starfish took center stage - transforming into prints on silk, jewelry on mini dresses and blazers, and sharing the stage with wet-haired models.
This is not Versace's first marine-themed show: the Spring/Summer 2021 collection paid tribute to Gianni Versace's Spring/Summer 1992 "Tresorde la Mer" collection, which featured a similarly gorgeous sea life.
The ocean has always been a designer's endless collection: shells, nets, sharks, waves, reefs, seaweed, corals, deep-sea creatures... Beneath the waves lurks a great deal of aesthetic inspiration and imagery. Some can be directly referenced: the wavy arc of a scallop and the drifting posture of a jellyfish translate seamlessly into patterns and dynamic contours of fabrics; At the same time, the space of imagination is boundless. The sea is so vast, mysterious and changeable; It is both the source of life and the end of life, providing a fascinating background for many myths and legends.
An existential crisis intertwined with romantic vision and moving stories
Before his sudden death in February 2010, Alexander McQueen's last show was a spring/Summer 2010 collection called "Plato's Atlantis". McQueen presents a doomsday scenario caused by global warming: rising sea levels drown much of the land. Humans gradually alienated, growing gills and fish scales suitable for underwater life.
More than a decade later, McQueen's worries were prescient. As the ocean returned to the runway, designers split into two camps of beauty and destruction. One side celebrates the magnificence and depth of the ocean, like Simone Rocha and her signature pearls. Stories about water are also her subject matter, and the Aran Islands Autumn/Winter 2020 series is from the sea of loss and baptism.
For their recent Spring/Summer 2021 collection, Rixo and 16Arlington focused on mermaids. The former creates a lively mermaid print, while the latter's shell-shaped clutch is suitable for trendy sea dwellers.
Whether they're playful and cute or deadly seductive, mermaids are another important inspiration the ocean brings to fashion. At Burberry's Spring/Summer 2021 show, creative director Riccardo Tisci imagined "a love affair between a mermaid and a shark, bringing stories from the sea to the land."
So came the sea-blue baggy shirts, the patchwork trench coats, the high-gloss rubber boots, and even more explicit mesh details. Tisci explains, "Water symbolizes... New and clean." However, the press conference video also revealed the ominous meaning: the model through the forest, always accompanied by a suit and tie sunglasses men, their silent and serious look may represent the shark is approaching.
Pessimism about the ocean is often rooted in fear. Some of the fear is immediate, because you can't see the conditions and potential dangers underwater. Some fears focus on the future of the ocean, and therefore of humanity.
French designer Marine Serre has a lot to say about the latter fear. She is keenly aware of environmental disaster scenarios; The design approach is both practical and visionary.
In her future aesthetic world, clothing functions more like armor. Her creative process focuses on upgrading fabrics, traceable materials and unexpected elements. It also includes a variety of seaside relics - Serre accessories are always embellished with seashells, driftwood, artificial pearls, or pieces of beverage cans that have washed ashore.
Can the Fashion & Ocean Alliance inspire environmental action across the industry?
In addition to Serre, a growing number of designers are using fabrics made from discarded plastic bottles from the ocean. No one knows for sure how badly the sea is polluted. However, a 2015 study estimated that oceans have accumulated more than 150 million tons of plastic - a figure that is expected to triple by 2040 if drastic action is not taken.
Menswear brand Botter has been tackling the plastic problem since it was founded in 2017. The two Dutch designers behind the brand put out a warning in their Autumn/Winter 2021 show: Without the sea, there would be no humans, and there would be no us. The collection features long, loose cuts, fishing tools, wetsuit style turtlenecks and hardshell jackets made of Marine plastic. Botter's environmental activism doesn't stop at fashion. The brand announced the establishment of an underwater coral nursery in the Caribbean island of Curacao.
The world of high fashion is not far behind, led by innovation pioneer Iris van Herpen. Last year's series, titled "Sensory Seas," explored the connections between Marine life and the human nervous system. This year's Spring/Summer 2021 collection takes a new Angle: the Dutch fashion guru has teamed up with the anti-pollution campaign Parley for the Oceans to create inlaid dresses made of recycled plastic.
Today, it seems, the sea offers designers several opposing creative directions. It inspires myths and adventures, and contains treasures and wonders of life. It can be a place of freedom and dreams, which is exactly what many people aspire to now. However, as well as being the focus of creativity, the sea is also subject to human destruction - and there seems to be a growing number of these heavier, more forward-looking subjects, one of which is the Matty Bovan Autumn/Winter 2021 collection. The avant-garde designer captures the "terrifying and spectacular" nature of the sea, imagining the aftermath of a shipwreck that evoks disturbing images of natural disasters.
As unpredictable as the sea itself, fashion's current ocean trends are many things: shelter, escape, potential resources, ecological disaster, and a "peace of mind" for a turbulent future.
