We are now entering the season of all seasons, the sacred winter months.
In the fashion system this period is devoted to the presentation of the Haute Couture collections followed by those of Ready To Wear.
The cyclical rhythm alternating between one season and the next defines fashion. The semiotics of the system have been egregiously analyzed by Roland Barthes in a now classic study showing that fashion changes are regular over the long duration, masking the apparent irregularity of the short run.
Fashion changes operate on two different levels. One is historical, as might be documented by a fashion scholar. The other is memorable, relating to the fashion public’s memory of variation. Continuity in change infuses seasonal variation with excitement.
It is like a symphonic composition where the seasons are equivalent to harmonic contrasts for themes developed over a sustained temporal span. Each fashion designer establishes a language with constant features which evolve in a way that preserves memory of what has come before.
This rhythmic quality also creates excitement about what may follow. Seasonal alternation modulates the compositional key, tempo and mood. Each season calls to mind a long sequence of creations, with variants embedded in an expressive pattern of sequential creativity.
Fashion shows emerged in New York in the early 1900s, and by 1945 the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture of Paris required seasonal collections of its members. Since then fashion weeks emerged, dominated by the Big Four, then evolving into a complex multipolar system.
The seasonal structure of the fashion system began to change in the 1990s, under pressure from then-emerging fast fashion, focusing on low cost, design flexibility and speed to the market. Predictably, this fashion segment is known as throwaway fashion, characterized by the rejection of the two-season model. It has no concern for the temporal rhythms of natural seasonal cycles; some mass low-cost fashion producers put out a new collection every two weeks. They focus on clients unburdened by sophistication who demand gaudy variety and instant gratification.
This is a stark contrast with mainstream producers who ponder their choices in collections that evolve gradually over time, preserving hallmark features which drive appeal among an established clientele.
Throwaway fashion is instead just that: infinite variety with no effort to create a meaningful temporal sequence that can stimulate memory and fuel anticipation. As with great wines, authentic fashion products vary slightly every year, and the sophisticated public awaits with joy the revelation of every new season.
A fashion product thus conceived holds value over time, and each season is celebrated and preserved. The instant gratification afforded by fast fashion offers no joy of anticipation, and leaves no historical trace. Not by chance one of the leading causes of pollution in the world is linked to low cost fashion products produced in an environmentally, economically and socially unsound manner.
Some 85% of all textiles produced in any given year end up as waste, a sure measure of weak consumer commitment.
The sophisticated fashion buyer instead cultivates knowledge of the product, and appreciates the seasonal rhythm which accompanies its creation. This is the fashion system we encourage. Not a market of trivial commodities whose passing value is the outcome of uninformed perception, baseless and easily contrived. The value of authentic fashion arises from knowledge concerning the circumstances which engender the object. This is what true fashion is all about.
Gregory Overton Smith, D.Phil. (Oxford)
Temple University Rome
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