We Love Fashion Week

When the weather starts to warm up in the Southern Hemisphere and cool down in the north, models, fashionistas and designers everywhere start to get excited; it's time for Spring/Summer Fashion Week, where designers give the world a sneak peek at what they'll be wearing next year.

While different areas of the world have their own fashion festivals (for example, the Byron Bay International Fashion Festival, which we participated in earlier this year), the whole world looks to the big four: New York, Paris, Milan and London.

New York Fashion Week, the first of the fashion weeks, was pioneered during World War II when American fashion workers were unable to get to Paris due to Nazi occupation of the city. With the fashion capital of the world out of reach, publicist Eleanor Lambert (press director for the New York Dress Institute) organised a "press week" to show off the very best of American fashion design; celebrating designers who had previously been shunned or ignored by writers blinded by the bright light of Parisian fashion. The event was a huge success; Vogue began to feature more and more American designers in the magazine from that point, and it's grown bigger and bigger ever since. The spring/summer 2016 shows will take place from September 10–17, 2015 at two new locations, Skylight at Moynihan Station in Midtown and Skylight Clarkson Square in SoHo.

This short vlog captures one of the best parts of New York Fashion Week: getting to see all of your favorite designers, models and fashionistas out and about, and seeing what trends they're tapping into as they step off the runway. 

 

Milan Fashion Week, a celebration of the very best of Italian fashion, hit the scene in 1958. Women's fashion is at the forefront (the main showcases of Milan Fashion Week are Milano Moda Donna and shows featuring ready-to-wear women's fashion), but menswear gets to share the spotlight (Milano Moda Uomo).

To get a glimpse into the magic that is Milan Fashion Week, here's Vogue Magazine's recap from 2014; you'll spot some very, very familiar faces and get an insight into just how crazy and colourful this event is.

Paris Fashion Week started in 1973, and brings hundreds of people to the city every year. It's divided into three categories: Men's Fashion, Haute Couture, and Prêt-à-Porter (ready to wear). The term haute couture is taken very, very seriously in Paris; only members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture can use the term (membership is very exclusive, and members must adhere to the society's rules). 

For a quick glimpse into Paris Fashion Week, supermodel Karlie Kloss has put together a sixty second video ("Paris Fashion Week in 60 Seconds") encompassing some of the madness and magnificence:

 

 London Fashion Week first took place in 1984; it's the youngest of the pack, but still very much a major player. London was the first to live stream its fashion week around the world, pioneering this trend in Spring 2010. It introduced mens' fashion into the mix in 2012, and since then more and more mens' shows have been included in the official roster (numbers are up 67%). Alongside "official" London fashion week, there's a strong tradition of off-schedule shows from private groups and up and coming designers. 

To see how people get the London look, here's a recap of London Fashion Week highlights from a few years back, featuring British favorites like Alexa Chung and Cara Delevingne. 

As the fashion capitals of the world get ready to showcase their latest designs in September, so do we; we're preparing for a soft launch for our brand new plus-size line Fairyluscious, and getting very excited about bringing back some summer favorites like the Cosmic Lotus Vest. To give you an insight into how FairyFloss does warmer weather fashion and fun, here's a peek behind the scenes of our Nature Punk photoshoot.

Wear It Your Way: Fashion and Identity

Choosing what to wear isn't just about finding something you like (though that's always important!); it's about choosing the identity you want to project for the day, the life you want to live. Whether it's something as practical as knowing you need stretchy clothing because you want to hoop later, or as abstract as wearing clothing intended for the other gender to play into stereotypes and popular images of queerness, it's all about what we want to do, and how we want to be seen.

--------------------

Punk rock emerged in the 1970s, and was a protest against the materialism and excess of mainstream music, and the fashion definitely reflected that; simple pieces, with dirt, rips and spikes added (in contrast to the flashy colours of disco). For women, mixing soft, feminine pieces with heavy, tough pieces (eg leather boots) was incredibly popular.

Circus fashion has always been a mixture of the practical and the spectacular; pieces that would allow performers to move, while drawing the eye. Sequins, glitter, feathers, ruffles anything that could move or sparkle without restricting the performer's movement was ideal. Female circus wear also tends toward the sensual, simply by virtue of how close-fitting costumes needed to be to avoid getting tangled or tripped.

Fashion is a cultural melting pot, and it's important to recognise the difference between inspiration and appropriation. Being inspired by particular styles and ideas and turning them into something simultaneously new and storied is great; stealing from another culture and removing all context is not (eg, it is NOT okay to wear a Native American war bonnet unless belong to that culture and you've earned it according to that culture's rules, end of story). Tribal fusion at its best celebrates the raw, earthy, warrior vibe that runs through the clothing of all indigenous cultures, celebrating without stealing.

To learn more about steampunk, check out our blog post on it; in short, it's the future as it was imagined during the Victorian Era (Steam Age). Female steampunk fashion is just glorious, infusing the style of an era known for its modesty and propriety with pure steel and spunk.