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With the new millennium only eight months away, you would think that fashions designed for Winter 2000 would have a futuristic edge. You would think. Yet, last month during fashion week, the opportunity to do something really different for the new millennium seemed to have escaped most of the industry. Though I didn't expect houses like Saint Laurent or Valentino to stray too far from their tried-and-true signature, I did think that young designers would have leaped for the chance to distance themselves with new ideas and a few of the high-tech fabrics frequently shown at Prémière Vision textile fair. The truth is, I was hard-pressed to find forward-thinking young people on the right bandwidth. Most designers ran for cover, desperately clutching to remnants of the past. Masaki Matsushima dressed his women in choir girl uniforms, nuns habits and 1918 granny dresses. Jerome Dreyfus, the new "heartthrob" of the fashion world, opted for Charlie's Angels girls in '70s cocktail lounge outfits. Sharon Wauchob's show, though beautifully executed, was a throwback to the Japanese avant-gardism of the mid-1980s. Marc Le Bihan also presented a well choreographed show featuring unisex clothing that smacked of former grunge king Martin Margiela's early '90s deconstructivism using antique clothes. "I'm disappointed no one dared to design for the year 2000," I said to another journalist. "Oh, everyone's already done that," she retorted. I think you'll agree with me, it's not of a question of "doing" the year 2000. In a few months we will be "living" it. What's wrong with a new suit of clothes for the occasion? I did find a few young people (foreigners, for the most part) who, though reflecting on cultures past and present, dared take that first tiny step into the new century. "Remember the Tribal World," wrote Ralph Kemp on his invitations. He is one of this season's rising young stars invited to show at the Carrousel du Louvre. Inspired by Eskimos, American and Amazonian Indians, he broke away from his usual "discreet" chic and let his imagination roam wild by the culture which most inspires him. As a result he presented an urban tribal look for the "la femme caméléon." Kemp's winter collection featured a funky mix of animal prints, and mock monkey fur, jackets with scales worn over form-fitting pants with bull's-eyes on the hips and knees, black and white graphics lavished over easy-to-wear tunics, ponchos, slacks, jackets and coats. "All of the ancient peoples are disappearing," notes Kemp. "I wanted to speak of ecology in fashion but without doing the anti-pollution story. Instead, I wanted to speak of man who lives in the great outdoors in a streetwear chic sort of way." Pia Myrvold has always been one to embrace the world of high technology. Themes of past collections have included: "Internet software," clothes with lines resembling micro chips, "Interface collection" clothes with printed sound waves of Raphael Elig's voice, and "Urbanity," where the computer was used to transfer the prints of Jean Nouvel's architecture onto cloth. Like Kemp, she reflects on the past but moves clearly towards the future with her latest "Dream Sequence" collection appropriately presented at the Web Bar. It is her first "interactive" collection developed to be sold through her newest Internet site: www.cybercouture.com. "I took 12 silhouettes and 12 quotes from history's biggest dreamers," she explains. "I wanted history's biggest dreamers to serve as inspiration to encourage us to continue dreaming for the next millennium." Silhouettes are simply cut from white canvas with black block letters and bright red accents. Quotes are taken from famous people over the last 2000 years like Jesus Christ, Francis Bacon, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King who have made a profound mark on humanity. "A customer can look through the quotes and chose one message to be printed on the garment of their choice." Among the scores of young designers present at the March trade fairs, here again, it was apparent that very few thought about implications of the year 2000. There were a scant few exceptions. Textile turned fashion designer Hideco Sugai works only with fabrics she designs herself. Wool fleece parkas are sprinkled with a white rubbery substance that looks like snowflakes. "Wool is porous and lets the wind in," she explains. "By coating the fabric, it makes it warmer and waterproof." Mixing past tradition with futuristic thinking, Sugai cuts great big round-shouldered jackets out of the same Japanese brocade used for kimonos and obi belts. There are pants and tops cut from silver-coated canvas and a dress where she presses in squares of Japanese paper over cotton velvet. "Although clothes were originally created to protect the body, I think that by wearing them, humans have found peace of mind and a feeling of being with nature," she says. "As we move towards the 21st century, technology is rapidly evolving and enriches our living. I like to create that which 'wraps the heart and keeps the body cozy,' based on the original concept of the kimono while exploiting the wonderful contemporary technology of today." Not far away from Sugai's, was another stand that caught my eye. The color of sparkly volcanic lava, a jacket with built-in backpack was paired with a long, wrap skirt, and as Reynaud of Herbert & Reynaud pointed out, "Everything comes apart. The hood snaps off, the jacket folds into the backpack and even part of the trousers snap off to make shorts." Again, modern concepts for the woman of the next century who won't bother to return home to change clothes for some other occasion. Not only are the clothes modular and interchangeable, but the design team uses interesting new materials like plastic-coated silk chiffon, a stretch fabric called "pneu," and a slate gray wool coated with matt plastic which is cracked to let the slivers of its original fleecy nature show through. "For me, jeans are very centennial," says German-born Sigrid Schumacher. They've been around since the last century and they're taking us into the next," she notes. "I didn't want to copy them, only use their essence in my collection." Her small line of clothes are modular thus allowing the wearer to transform her outfit to suit different times of day, situations or moods by adding or subtracting an element. There are belts composed of the belt, yoke and pockets of jeans that impart a whimsical look to the garment underneath. A silky pant leg straps over another pair of pants made of Teflon-coated fabric. T-shirts are cut asymmetrically or from a new plastic material that allows the skin to breathe. "I wanted to make something new which is not a disguise. My clothes are simple yet have a small sense of humor. I want my women to live in the 21st century." |
