The fashion world is strongly connected to the concept of trends. In many ways, this is a natural thing; as fashion is a reflection of what is going on in the world in the present and of how people in society think, hence the forward-looking aspect of the fashion world. However, there is a very important category of fashion movers out there, and those are the trendbreakers.
“Trendbreaker” is not a term that is used or talked about under other names, so a definition might come in handy. By “trendbreaker”, we mean a designer, brand, blog or any other type of influencer that goes against the current and manages to influence the fashion world. Of course, there are always niches and divergent perspectives in fashion, as in any other field, but the difference between niches and trendbreakers is that a trendbreaker manages to bring something new to the mainstream. Thus, a trendbreaker makes something that is connected to a niche or that is considered unconventional – conventional.
The reason why these people and brands are important is because they have the capacity to shape visions and change the current mindset. In many ways, it can be said that these disruptors are essential to the evolution of fashion. Otherwise, it will all become nothing but an echo chamber. And this is when things get boring. Unfortunately, this seems to be the natural way of things. After something unconventional and new becomes mainstream, it becomes regular and, in the end, overused and redundant. Take for example the concept of feminine or feminized clothes in men’s collections. Of course, in a world that saw nothing but suits and ties, dressing up a man in a feminized garment or downright a dress is provocative. It challenges the way we think of clothes, of gender and of sex and allows those who don’t feel that they have a voice to make their case and be seen by the larger society. However, once almost every other collection has at least one drag look, the provocative aspect gets lost. And insisting it’s provocative and mind-challenging becomes just background noise and old news.
Today in fashion, we see a lot of dystopian, oversized, “deconstructed” garments. Making clothes from scraps and finding beauty in reimagined items was novel a decade ago, but now it seems that there is nothing new or fresh. So, when someone comes along with a polished, clean and elegant collection, it just seems that that they invented the wheel in front of your eyes.
Trends are also odd in that they are quite divisive. This applies to very big trends, not to smaller ones o secondary trends, such as colors, patterns, etc. Big trends are described by shapes and concepts. For example, if oversized sportswear is “in”, then everyone who doesn’t like sweatpants, not even “athluxury” sweatpants is going to be an outsider. Fortunately, the fashion world today is diverse enough to find alternatives – the only problem is that sometimes finding the “alternative” can be harder. This may sound like an outdated idea, but it is not outdated yet. For most people in the Western world, fashion is accessible and finding what you want is not hard: there is fast shipping, free shipping and a variety of clothes to choose from. But for those not living in countries like France or the USA, things can get trickier. In parts of Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East – which is most of the world – fashion is not so accessible. Most people who live in these areas really depend on what stores import and most of the times, stores import only clothes they will know for sure will sell and those are generally neutral basics. Surely, young men with an interest in cool pieces can order things online, but sometimes the cost of shipping can turn out to be more than the actual garment. Say you want a really cool hat you saw online – you can order it through Amazon to your home in Armenia, but the shipping costs will be in the hundreds of euros, not to mention customs taxes which you will have to pay when your package arrives. Better said, if the package arrives or if there even is a shipping option to your country. Thus, to circle back to the point, finding something that represents you can be tough in most parts of the world. Just to be clear, the solution is not to stop having trends, but to make fashion more accessible and more diverse in various parts of the world. This, however, is not going to happen without a mentality change. People need to assume their wants and to have enough economic power to influence the market, which is quite a complicated thing to do. This is how entire parts of the world don’t have much access nor to the trends of the moment, or to the alternatives.
Back to trendbreakers, the question that seems to be the obvious one is whether trends should change more often or more rare. This, however, is not of such a big importance. The issue is not when trends change – this is obvious, trends change when society changes, but the thing we should all look at is how trends change. Over the last decades or so, it seems that fashion has had a very linear way of evolving, there have not been many disruptions, which means that the same concept has evolved. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? We don’t know, but it certainly means that only one major perspective is represented and the struggle to connect the fashion world to the everyday market, especially in menswear, goes to show that there is a disconnect between the ideals (to not say ideology) proposed or imposed by many labels and the needs and wants of the average (and not so average consumer). Brands that offer classic menswear, such as Armani or Hugo Boss still have a strong following, because they meet with their customers. These brands understand that trends should not mean just the way you as a brand see the world or want to see the world, but that trends also mean the way consumers perceive this world – their attitude over what happens and over the direction in which the world is going. That’s the secret and key to success in fashion.
Most likely, there will always be a culture and a counter-culture, which influence each other and theoretically bring new ideas to the table – the issue is that what we’re seeing now is a suppression at a cultural and economic level of counter-culture. Surely, this has always been the case – those who were not the sweethearts of the mainstream have always had a tougher time, but now, with the advent of social media and instant communication, this process seems to have deepened. It’s unclear what will happen in the near future: will there be a clash of visions and people, will there be a complete symbolic annihilation of an entire segment of the population or will people simply diverge into opposing groups that don’t really talk much to each other? The last scenario is the most optimistic, even though it’s not a positive one at all. It remains to be seen how things will evolve and what the next trends in trends will be.
Fraquoh and Franchomme
Further reading:
The state of fashion: A need for change
Attire Club Mood Board: Racinet’s Costume History book
The problem with art, beauty & fashion
Fashion show changes: A comparison between the 1990s and the 2010s
A critique to fashion and fetishism
Is there a crisis in fashion blogging?
P.S. We want to hear from you! What is your opinion on trendbreakers? Who is your favorite trend? What do you think about the exchange between mainstream culture and counter-culture? 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!