Introduction
The term fashion refers to a popular style in clothing, footwear, frills and furniture among others. The clothes worn in the streets, interior design for houses and architectural works, are all done in line with prevailing fashion trends. Most of the modern styles in fashion have their roots in ancient events and practices. The fashion industry has evolved in a great way because before the mid 19th century, most clothing was customized to meet the specific needs of individual customers; this was because they were hand made by either home producers or professional tailors. This practice however changed with the advent of new technology that saw the birth of sewing machines and later, through growth of capitalism, the development of factory production system (English, 2007, p 36).
The factory system in the clothing industry led to clothing retail outlets where mass produced standardized clothing could be sold at fixed prices. This development made fashion around the world quite identical since one design could be produced in mass and sold to the larger population making stress dress code quite similar. Unlike the early 20th century, the contemporary world has further expanded fashion trends with the emergence of faster communication channels that enable consumers of fashion products to get information on prevailing trends quite fast, with the help of television sets and the internet. These efficient ways of communication have made street designs quite similar in the various parts of the world since the trending styles among celebrities and renowned figures can be easily replicated in the different parts of this planet. This paper will look at fashion trends and analyze ideas that shape global culture in the area of fashion (English, 2007, p 28).
Fashion Tends
A trend is any form of behavior that takes effect over a larger population over time. Fashion trends are inspired and initiated by happenings around popular culture as well as past events. In the modern world for example, hip hop and pop music serve as the genesis of fashion and such trends are adopted by the larger world population. The kind of fashion worn in the streets is usually an original or past design inspired by particular happenings but brought to the larger population by world celebrities. Since musicians and other world figures are hugely admired by the larger world population, makers of fashion use them to market new designs and in a matter of weeks, their clothing and designs find acceptance among the world populace.
Ideas shaping global culture with regards to fashion
Some of the ideas that shape fashion in the contemporary world are:
Migration
This is an inspired theme that has emphasis on the significance of local values as one takes note and appreciates the moment. Migration as an idea in fashion, evolved from wild craft and ashen but revolves around the protection of knowledge in artisan as a core component in its workmanship. As migrants moved from Europe to America in the 16th and 17th century, they carried with them suitcases and other accessories that they could salvage. These accessories were very valuable to the immigrants and most Italians who moved to America in the 1800s treasured their salvage very much. Al Capone, a renowned Chicago mafia boss of the early 1900s was believed to have been given a suitcase from Italy by his immigrant parents on his relocation to Chicago from New York and this was believed to be the source of his success in crime in the American mid-west.
It is such mystiques that inspired James plumb to create ‘Suitcase Stacks’ which are well crafted chests-of-drawers that are composed of old suitcase, each suitcase has a story behind it that creates an emotional attachment around the product. The design of ‘Suitcase Stacks’ has inspired contemporary fashion products by renown fashion houses like Louis Vuitton that have drawn from these ancient craftsmanship, to produce trendy modern products that trend setters in the suitcase market segment.
As migrants moved from one location to the next, they needed accessories like pocket knives, compass directions and notebooks. These inspired designs from smaller bags that were used to keep such accessories. In America and Europe for example, as the rural folk moved to major cities, they brought with them designs that reflected feminine humility in their rural set ups. The contemporary world of fashion has found inspiration from such and in Ashen for S/S 13; the monastic evolution is exhibited in designs that incorporate nature in unrefined materials that bring to life feminine sensibility.
Migration in essence transported diverse ideas that shaped the world of fashion then and now. Thanks to interaction between Europe and the Far East in the ancient times, elements of Chinese designs and colour themes were incorporated in European fashion and to this date, major design houses still incorporate the natural flower designs when working with silk as was in the case with ancient Chinese clothing designs (Niessen, 2003 p 72). In the contemporary world, there is no need for physical migration to borrow ideas from one part of the world to another, through print and other media, designers around the world can incorporate diverse themes and come up with products that have elements of all the major world cultures. Just like immigration led to creation of new fashion trends, interaction through contemporary ways is inspiring the creation of totally new street dress codes that are taking over villages and cities the world over, this is facilitated by mass production factory systems that have that ability to produce in mass, specific designs for the world market.
Mother Nature
Since the ancient times, fashion has found inspiration from nature and many designers have often incorporated vegetal prints and dying techniques in their work. This is slowly creeping back in the contemporary world with camouflage patterns forming a major part of present day fabrics. Most patterns that are the center of modern day fashion culture are drawn from nature. Georg Baselitz uses thick daubs of paint and outstanding natural colors to inspire the aesthetic aspect of his art. Some of the leading designers in the modern world like Christian Dior have incorporated Mother Nature elements in red carpet dress designs by using fabrics that have the element of camouflage effect.
Wild Craft trend from F/W 12 exhibited the elemental nature when it came up with trees and foliage as part of its inspiration. Among the latest materials from this inspiration by nature are weathered and thick but possess irregular pattern of colour and surfaces that show textured effects. With this level of inspiration, the global culture is slowly but surely taking shape from Mother Nature. Blanket textures that are infused to show natural coziness during winter are another inspiration from nature (Easey, 2009 p 147). This design has coats and vests well engraved and patched liked wool. Denim uses this in its work.
Some of the modern art movements like graffiti find inspiration from Mother Nature with artists joining trending societal issues with natural coloring techniques to produce spectacular art work. Architectural designs equally draw a lot of inspiration from nature with contemporary interiors designs replicating the world around us.
Manual Labour
At the end of 1800s and beginning of 1900s, manual labour made most of the global workforce there was the emergence of the factory system of production and the construction industry was booming. Construction of the Rockefeller centre in the middle of the great depression in 1930s inspired a lot of fashion designs around construction wear. Some of the contemporary designs by Denim are inspired by this period and their wear on this line incorporates a variety of hardware tool accessories that are synonymous with manual labour. Getting ideas from tool belts, Denim came up with designs that exhibit padlocks and hooks. The story behind such designs is that it reminds the world of a period of hardship when most work was manual and during the great depression when even manual jobs were hard to come by and the only major project in America for example was the construction of the Rockefeller Centre, coming at a time when not many corporations and individuals were willing to spend money on big projects given the state of the American economy then.
‘New Peasant’ is another style from manual labor which vouches for a quiet style where mediation is key in knowing what is important in a person’s life and getting rid of unnecessary baggage. The fabrics in this style are plain and do not have any patterns or additional accessory additions. Manual labor continues to inspire the fashion industry with jeans given designs that have additional accessory spots to take care of modern day gadgets like the mobile phones and other electronics that are part of every fashion consumer today. These extras on the designs are all drawn from activities and tools that were a necessity at the time when manual labour was all that most people could get in place of a job (Fletcher, 2008, p 135).
Hip Hop
Hip hop as a genre originated in Bronx, New York in the 1970s and has not only changed the entire music industry but also inspired fashion designs. The popular culture today is almost entirely revolving around this genre. Fashion has not been left behind either with designs replicating ideologies of hip hop. The overall that is traditionally a work wear was inspired into mainstream fashion when rappers like N.W.A and Tupac embraced it and so did the world. It showcased rebellion and a new design of sleeveless overall clothes came into being. That latter changed to baggy jeans and oversize T-shirts and presently, hip hop has altered the street dress code to tight fitting jeans trousers and skin tight shirts, a total contrast to what hip hop had in mind for fashion in the 1990s (Romero, 2012, p 43).
This trend moved from entirely casual wear to a hybrid between official and casual clothing with graffiti patterns in shirts and trousers being fully incorporated. The genre has equally inspired the tattoo craze as a form of art that involves the body as a medium of expressing such art. The pop culture today is about tattoos with most young and even older people choosing to use their bodies as a medium of artistic expression, designs and patterns in hip hop and on fabrics not used in hip hop wear have not been left behind either and uses patterns inspired by tattoos for their work (Fletcher, 2008, p 79).
Climate Change/ Green revolution
Global warming is a new area where the fashion industry draws design inspirations. Contemporary fashion and architectural works take note of changes in global climate to come up with designs that incorporate recycled material to produce cutting edge products. Green revolution has caught up with the fashion industry and besides designs, energy and pollution generated from the manufacturing process have affected how clothes look and what they are made from (Fletcher, 2008, p 164).
At the New York fashion week 2011, ‘green’ was a major part of the overall theme of the event as major design houses showcased works that were sensitive to the welfare of the planet. Interior design is equally involved in the green movement with inspiration on this sector drawn from the changes taking effect as a result of global warming. The entire socio political landscape in the modern world is shaped by how we treat the environment and many activities have been initiated both in fashion and other industries to work towards making the planet a better place. Fashion is indeed inspired by the environment and any changes in this surrounding, affect the trends that fashion take in terms of design and material used. Use of organic input and recycling are just superficial elements of fashion that are affected by environmental changes, there are deeper components like energy consumption in the manufacturing and distribution process that are equally taken into account when setting a trend in fashion.
Conclusion
All works of art and fashion products are as a result of multiple inspirational areas. A design may be inspired by the environment, experience, popular culture and Mother Nature. The final product or design is therefore generated by multiple components that together produce a trend setter. Popular culture for example, brings elements of music, art and fashion into harmony to build a style that is acceptable to all and that can be adopted by the world population in the streets of major cities and villages. The designs that will be generated from this set of inspiration will be acceptable as part of individual and societal contribution to trends shaping world pop culture. It is axiomatic to argue that the quest in the trend in various designs is still on. Various cultural aspects as discussed have been on light as technology adoption increase each day. With the various examples as given, I believe a lot of inventions are still on the way that will rock the market. The advent of technology will enhance and fast track the search further. This will ensure that the youth and current world population get the best that they can think of with regards to fashion.
References
Easey, M. 2009, Fashion marketing. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
English, B. 2007, A cultural history of fashion in the twentieth century: from the catwalk to the sidewalk. Oxford, Berg.
Fletcher, K. 2008, Sustainable fashion and textiles: design journeys. London, Earthscan.
Niessen, S. 2003, Re-orienting fashion: the globalization of Asian dress. Oxford [u.a.], Berg.
Romero, E. 2012 Free stylin’: how hip hop changed the fashion industry. Santa Barbara, Calif, Praeger.