From weather to politics: we live in times of extremes. This is also reflected in fashion, where functional clothing is becoming increasingly important. The gorpcore trend, once popular with outdoor athletes: inside, hikers: inside and camper: inside, continues to develop for HW25.
People want to be protected not only in nature, but also in everyday life. For HW25, there is therefore a growing interest in functional clothing that is integrated into fashion segments such as formalwear and urbanwear.
Clothing for unpredictable weather
What happens in the world is reflected in fashion. Moving weather has a major impact on the brands’ collections, says trend researcher Edwin van den Hoek. Outdoor brands such as Stone Island, Arc’Teryx, CP Company and Rains use in addition to waterproof membranes but also DWR (durable water repellent) coatings in the form of spray or washing treatments that are applied to the outside of the clothing, which makes clothing more resistant to water.
The women’s fashion brand Hyke reacts to the increasingly unpredictable weather by designing collections with removable and removable elements, so that clothing is suitable for different weather conditions.
Clothing stamps and manufacturers are also reacting to the growing need for consumers: inside after protection against UV radiation. Brands such as Lululemon, Decathlon, Uniqlo and the French luxury label Coperni are launching clothing with UV-repellent coatings.
Light fabrics
Coperni is known for his clothing and accessories made of innovative materials. These substances offer, for example, UV protection and have properties such as antibacterial and wrinkle-free equipment.
Light, warming fabrics also gain importance for HW25, says van den Hoek. These include wool, fleece, thermal materials and light nylons. These can be found in the HW25 collection of the Italian brand MSGM.
The British label JL-AL presented a men’s collection on the Paris Fashion Week HW25 that shows the Gorpcore aesthetics in its highest form: a refined mixture of light functional clothing that can be worn in the office and in leisure time.
Fashion in the information society
The influence of digital technology on our society also shapes fashion, emphasizes van den Hoek. In smart cities such as London and Amsterdam, where technology is integrated into everyday life, the trend “clothing for anonymity” grows. Say, clothing for the need for privacy. This phenomenon that van den Hoek has already named in an earlier trend forecast is a direct reaction to the information society [eine Gesellschaft, in der Informationen durch Technologien wie Internet und Computer eine entscheidende Rolle spielen, Anm. d. Red.].
London brands like Volebak react to this development with innovative clothing such as the “Shielding Suit”. This jacket not only offers protection against extreme weather conditions, but also has a technical outer layer with silver particles that block WLAN, Bluetooth and satellite signals. In addition, the outer layer also blocks location and can prevent detection by infrared cameras.
The Ohmni brand also reacts. Your “Data Protection Dump Bag” is a bag that, thanks to a Faraday cage, blocks all WLAN and data connections. This allows users to protect themselves from digital threats such as location and hacking. Furthermore, the Japanese brand Anrealage showed in its HW25 collection in Paris how technology and fashion go hand in hand. The “screen” collection uses LED screens in clothing and thus underlines the possibilities of technology in fashion.
Idiosyncratic forms of self -expression
According to van den Hoek, politics is also becoming more extreme. “In the USA, new, strict gender rules apply: you are either a man or woman – something in between is not accepted,” van den Hoek as an example. Fashion brands such as Balenciaga, Avavav and Duran Lantink react to this social development by offering new, mostly idiosyncratic, forms of expression of individuality.
The bottom line is that the collections for HW25 are reflected in technological developments and the changing social and climatic conditions. Fashion becomes more than just a statement, but also a means of survival in an increasingly extreme world.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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