THE FASHION REPORT
November 4, 2020
If some are still grasping on to summer for dear life, unfortunately, it has ended this past weekend as Halloween drew upon us. Now that it is officially fall, it’s safe to analyze the trends of 2020’s September Fashion Week and call them fitting for the season.
High fashion, created more for the likes of art appreciation than majority customer consumption, nonetheless has an enormous impact on fashion trends, everywhere from streetwear to couture to generational preferences.
We’re seeing it largely in Generation Z’s new fashion preferences; an uproar of vintage/repurposed clothing has taken social media platforms by storm, relevant to the generation’s activism-oriented streak, and we’ve started to see distance between the generation and their past likeness towards “hype” and brand-name clothing. What we saw at Fashion Week has quite blatantly infiltrated casual wear.
And what we saw is as follows: patchwork (both with denim and other materials), extravagant patterns, and more specifically, plaid and gingham. One might recall how big of a moment sweater vests are having right now; often, layered over top a crew neck or polo collar and paired with a tennis skirt. While it’s not everyone’s style, it’s undeniable that this trend came straight from the runways to American suburbs.
Patchwork has also picked up speed, which is why I mention the rise of re-purposing and thrifting. On the runways we saw luxuriously crafted denim pieces sewn over top other denim pieces, as well as a range of other materials. Down on Earth (as opposed to the higher world that is high fashion), we’re seeing patchwork reinvent itself as re-purposing. Brands like the Frank Collective specialize in finding popular clothing only to tear it apart and put it back together again, creating something brand new and ultimately appealing to a younger audience.
It’s curious that the connotation of fashion vocabulary such as “gingham” or “patchwork” often feels mature. Perhaps certain fashion houses have picked up on this connotation and created collections that should please both older and younger generations; offering classic, traditional fabrics and styles to the audience that wants it and a rebellious, almost disheveled style to the younger audience. And – it’s possible – Generation Z is growing up.