Usually after a Fashion Week ends, many people in the media publish the craziest of designs followed by the title or comment “Would you ever wear this?” Many people are then commenting on the uselessness of the fashion event and how designers are not creating enough clothes that are wearable and accessible. Comments about the wearability of the designs are being thrown back and forth and no real conclusion is reached. The more art-like the designs are, the more controversy they cause. And the whole thing resumes next season, as new fashions are being showcased on the runways of the world.
Fashion design is a sensitive field, where the line between art and utilitarian is often blurred and the definition of what constitutes fashion is very debated. Still. Fashion expert and TV mentor Tim Gunn has a saying that if you cannot wear something going in and out of a car, it’s not clothes or fashion. And we have to agree. Basically, fashion is all about clothes. While many things can be attached to the body, it’s hard to say that anything you can cover someone with is a clothing item or fashion. But then again, on the other side, it is also hard to limit the creativity of designers. Using the body as a canvas on which one builds can often be ground of good art and thus it should not be inhibited. Who knows, maybe it can be rebranded – our suggestion would be to consider those extraordinarily unwearable pieces as performance art – in the end, costumes are part of performance art.
At times, some garments are not completely unwearable, but you can’t really find a time and place to wear them. These middle ground pieces are the ones that are generally discussed in the media, on blogs and in online forums.
Many people ask us whether those things actually sell.
And the answer is that yes, they do sell, but…
In reality, after a fashion label presents its collection, it discusses with buyers and individual clients about the clothes and how they are going to make their way in the closets of the audience and public. When it comes to ready-to-wear items, depending on buyers’ requests, which are based on public demand, and on other factors, the items that are chosen to be sold suffer many modifications, including color, shape and fabric. For example, if a designer presents a really cool winter jacket with no sleeves, a buyer can say that they will buy a certain number of pieces, but only if they add sleeves to it. Also, let’s say the jacket has a fur collar, which can be quite expensive to make. The buyer can then ask for it to be replaced with fabric or with faux fur. Also, if a designer creates great clothes in, for example yellow and blue, but a story only offers clothes in indigo and red, they can adapt the colors.
Of course, sometimes no changes are made, especially if the collection is commercially thought.
Then, there is the second market, which is the haute couture market or the premium goods market. In this case, designs are sometimes created from scratch for a client or they get adapted in a special atelier after the show to meet the client’s needs and wants. In this market, the connection between the buyer and the designer or brand is more intimate and more customized. In a way, it’s a very high end tailoring experience.
In conclusion, it can be said that, while many fashion creations are made to be costumes and will not be adapted in any way, many cookie clothes one sees on the runways of the world make their way in many people’s wardrobes after going through some changes. A fashion show is meant to be the designer’s outlet for creativity, and, more than that, it is supposed to be a show, so seeing clothes that are creative is what the audience wants. A fashion show featuring clothes that look off-any-rack are quite boring if you think about it – you can just watch people walk down the street.
The fashion system is quite complex and the fashion calendar is pretty heavy, it takes time to transform clothes and bring them to the end clients. This is why collections are presented so much time in advance.
To wrap up, we can only say that next time you see a really crazy piece on a runway, imagine how it can be adapted for everyday wear or how you can translate the look with clothes you see in stores or boutiques.
Fraquoh and Franchomme
P.S. We want to hear from you! What do you think of art-like runway pieces? Do you think they should be found on the runways or in galleries? Who is your favorite conceptual designer? Share your feedback, questions or thoughts in the comments below! For more articles on style, fashion tips and cultural insights, you can subscribe to Attire Club via e-mail or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!