The end of fashion

2012 brings us to the climatic point at which we worry whether or not the world is actually going to end. Everything has a cycle and soon that cycle fades away into non-existence. Just like the cycle of life, fashion has its own cycle with trends continually changing.

Fashion is elusive and keeps moving; especially with the growth of technology it has become a multi-functioning industry which changes rapidly. Icon Iris Apfel comments on how fashion “reflects what’s going on in the world, the economy, sociology and the psychology of a certain period.” In centuries past we have seen the ground-breaking fashion moments of the decades, what with the rise of the mini skirt and the removal of the corset. Each of these moments reflects the historical changes of the decades, for instance the emancipation of women and the ‘youthquake’. We have now come to a period of time whereby all these profound moments have already taken place and we are now recycling the times that have gone by. Sunbathing, the craze of the 1930’s still predominately exists, yet the 21^stcentury now offers the smell of Britain which is fake tan.

Fashion use to slowly evolve from decade to decade, allowing people to rebuild their wardrobes slowly. However, now fashion changes so fast that our wardrobes have become a jumble of mixed up decades. Fashion uses to be seen as elite, whereas now, what with the quick reaction of high street stores, designer clothes appear to be a scam and a rip off.

Are we now living in a sinking industry that relies on the past and doesn’t look to the future? What is the 21^stcentury? Moschino’s s/s 13 collection is a revival of the swinging 60’s, again looking back to the past. Has innovation died?