FUTURISTIC CHIC IN FASHION

What is true elegance without the challenge of the future and without the inspiration of space and cyberspace, new technologies and science fiction? Does the "futuristic chic" trend end only with the influence of aviation and astronautics, only with the entry of high-tech design into the clothing style of the modern man? Isn't every elegance based on motives of experiment and avant-garde, i.e., futuristic? for diversity, freshness, challenge and courage?...

It is true that the futuristic fashion is most easily recognized by the clothes that evoke associations with the appearance of cosmonauts and astronauts, with the colors and materials that are characteristic of space flights and more specifically - of spaceships, space shuttles, orbital stations, the satellites moving around the earth and even the visual utopias associated with extraterrestrial civilizations. The cosmic influence, however, does not completely exhaust the content of this so attractive and at the same time respectable futuristic chic.

The pioneers of the fashion of the future - Pierre Cardin, André Courrèges, Paco Rabanne and a number of others bet on the strange, the eccentric and the whimsical in fashion - both as a glamorous and hitherto unknown form, and as a material and hitherto unknown raw materials for making clothes like metal, plastic, rhodoid, lycra, vinyl, PVC, etc.. After all, Pierre Cardin, the father of the "Cosmos" style in fashion, was the first designer to visit NASA and was the first non-astronaut citizen, but he wore the space suit of Buzz Aldrin (the second man to walk on the moon).

No one denies that avant-garde futuristic fashion was influenced by such iconic films as - "Star Trek" (1966), "Barbarella" (1968), "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), "Star Wars" (the first part - 1977), Hackers (1995), Gattaca (1997), The Matrix (1999), etc. But it is elementary and even unacceptable to associate the futuristic style in fashion only with aviation and its inherent accessories, only with space and space images, only with science fiction and science fiction films, only with the so-called "memories from the future". The philosophy and spirit of futuristic chic is imbued with social, cultural and aesthetic optimism. They are loaded with hopes and premonitions for a better and more beautiful future. They are imbued with excitement and foreboding of joyful experiences, of the pleasant surprises of what lies ahead for humanity.
Youth subcultures and rebel movements, including millennials and members of the Y and Z generations, as well as Internet-addicted "geeks" in general, identify with such colorful varieties of futurism in fashion as cyber fashion, cyberpop, cybergoth, neo-military, geek chic, and also through holographic, post-apocalyptic and Sci-Fi clothing. Each genre of future fashion betrays the primal desires of its followers to be unusual, provocative, spectacular and neo-postmodern.

It is an impossible task to name all the famous fashion designers who created and create collections sustained in futurism or retrofuturism, but among them you cannot miss alongside Pierre Cardin, André Courrèges and Paco Rabanne, and the names, for example, of Thierry Mugler, Alexander McQueen, Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Nicolas Ghesquière, Demna Gvasalia, Alessandro Michele. Contributing to the latest interpretations of the style of the future are Balenciaga, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Elie Saab and at least one more galaxy of fashion designers and brands that increasingly convincingly present themselves in the metaverse, this new trajectory of futuristic chic.

Futuristic chic isn't just about aerodynamic shapes and shiny metallic textiles. The application of hi-tech design, high-tech methods of construction and manufacturing, as well as fashion design in general, which is inspired by the world of computers, the Internet and cyberspace, is also of great importance. Some experts also interpret minimalism in fashion as one of the manifestations of futuristic clothing. Experimentation and fashion innovation are also an inevitable part of the profile of futuristic clothing. A very strong new direction in futuristic design is also the creation of sustainable and ethical fashion in the spirit of the circular economy and maximum preservation of the natural environment.

Futuristic chic - this alluring and progressive style, is the chance for people to be bold dreamers and dreamy daredevils. The elegance of the future is also the future of elegant fashion – high-tech, daring, fresh and promising.

Read: 823 times                                                  © Fashion Lifestyle Magazine, issue 120, September 2022

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