Fashion after the corona lockdown: "New Normal" or Golden Twenties?
When fashion went into lockdown with the rest of the world last spring, some were even relieved. Because now the madness of the previous years was temporarily over. It put an end to the countless collections, weekly changing offers and the constant need for more.
The Corona collections became a real shelf warmer and the pandemic has shaken the foundations of the whole fashion system, which already has not been in good condition for years anyway. Companies not only have to face the long-known problems of overproduction and the still lack of sensibility for sustainability, but also the digitalization of our time. In the midst of this madness, the virus came across and forced break. Our complex fast pace was stopped abruptly, at least for a moment.
When a pandemic breaks out, fashion is not particularly high on the priority list and yet our fashion trends continued to develop, but what does the lockdown bting after sweatpants?
Especially at the beginning, the coronavirus caused fear - and absolutely no desire to buy new home attire. Little by little, in addition to every opportunity to dress up, our general motivation to do so also dropped and the tracksuit became the universal corona uniform.
In a global crisis, clothing that soothe, cheer us ap and wait with us for the lockdown to end, are highly in demand without losing their seasonal value: neutral basics, leggings and wraparound sweaters - preferably the same every day. The demand for comfortable loungewear increased rapidly. If you still find an excuse to get ready for the ubiquitous video conferences in the home office, you just rely on tops and jewelry.
After almost a year of pandemic experience, however, the priorities of customers have changed, no different than expected, but simply much faster: quality and sustainability. But buyers no longer want to dress without the comfort they experienced at home to go outside - the loungewear becomes socially acceptable.
With the pandemic, reason could now find its way to contemporary fashion and many people are relying on long-lasting and sustainably produced fashion, also in view of the corona effects on the labor market. But why is this rethinking right now?
As is well known, the will for sustainability already existed before the pandemic - but the crisis accelerates tendencies, especially in their extremes. For many, the lockdown is a time of reorientation. During Corona, costumers noticed that their fashion lifestyle could also go quite well even without large fashion chains and constant consumption. A phenomenon that fits perfectly with the sustainability concept of our time and is therefore likely to continue to prevail in the future. If this thesis is true, Corona would have actually done something good, at least in the sustainable consumption of our fashion.
So it really is true that every social upheaval produces its own fashion: After the French Revolution, women no longer wanted to wear elaborate robes, but rather flowy, loosely empire-dresses. After the First World War, women's skirts were either shorter or completely exchanged for trousers. And the hippie movement with its colorful mix of patterns was born out of protest against the Vietnam War.
However, it is still controversial among fashion historians how Corona will influence our sense of style: Some believe that fashion is now making a giant leap - towards more extravagant outfits, opulent accessories, playful drapery and generally more courage to dress up. In any case, that would only be logical if we look at history in the past century. Others argue with a close connection to their functional clothing, which brought them through the crisis and thus convey a feeling of security. Corona, according to the proponents of minimalism, would mean the end of dressing up.
Raf Simons, who designs Prada together with chief designer Miuccia Prada, says in an interview: "If history repeats itself - and it often does - then we are now in the Roaring Twenties of the 21st century. And we all know what the twenties looked like back then: an explosion of fashion, going out and freedom of movement. "
Similar to a hundred years ago, our decade of the 2020s begins with a global pandemic. At the beginning of the Golden Twenties in the last century during the Weimar Republic, millions of people fell victim to the Spanish flu.
It was a time of extremes, a time of deep uncertainty - and at the same time of rapid progress. Just as the time we now experience.
But the first years of the oh-so-glamorous 1920s weren't that golden either. Political conflict, attempts by the right-wing military to overthrow, and problems related to the war economy were everyday life in their early years. It wasn't until the golden twenties that fashion really exploded after the dreary years of the First World War. In the late 1940s, after the traumatic war years, Paris finally became intoxicated with Dior's opulent “New Look”. After the experiences of the war, in which fashion had to be above all functional, fashion should again offer cause for dreaming.
And the autumn-winter 2021 collections already show more colors and patterns - as a deliberate antidote to the long time at home on the sofa.
The designers have already designed our clothes for tomorrow - nightlife fashion for a time after the lockdown. Because when we crawl out of our apartments and home offices after the pandemic, we will hardly want to wear the pyjamas in which we spent the lockdown to the first party.
What could come back instead: Dressing up! High heels! Fluffy robes! Sequins! Tuxedos! "It could be dangerously explosive," says Raf Simons. Let's see how loud it bangs. So whether loungewear is here to stay or whether the days of sweatpants are numbered remains to be seen.
