Fashion is an industry inspired by culture, a channel of communication through the medium of clothing and the semiotics associated are a constant source of controversy. The rules of fashion for many may be 'there are no rules', the creativity and opportunity for expression meaning that there a very little, if not any, guidelines to be adhered to however there a still some lines of what is acceptable and what is not that are increasingly becoming extremely blurred and vague. Due to social conditioning of what society has deemed previously and sees now as acceptable - the opinions of what can be used/shown/portrayed to society are even more muddled.
Fur in fashion
Fur in fashion has been a constant source of debate for centuries. For what was thought to be the end of fur in the mainstream fashion industry in the last decade after relentlessly campaigning by animal rights charities such as PETA, with million pound campaigns featuring supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford baring all with little other on in the poster except the strap line 'I'd rather go naked than wear fur', in the last few seasons there seems to have been a fur renaissance. The autumn/winter 2014 catwalks featured real fur in the shows of high end designers such as Christopher Kane and Roksanda Ilincic, consequently then followed the media being bombarded by influential celebrities unashamedly flaunting their fur affair. Despite the recent resurgence of fur in fashion,with in march the biggest auction of furs ever seen in the industry in Helskini with prices reaching record highs and demand being so high there is a desperate skills shortage, a poll 3 years ago by RSPC revealed that 95% of people in the UK would refuse to wear fur at all. But in recent times, with technological advances, the industry is able to make faux fur that looks as realistic as the real thing, so consumers can achieve old hollywood glamour minus the guilt of animals having to be cruelly (and unnecessarily) slaughtered for a garishly dyed (a la Prada) pelt. As the younger generation has discovered fur, the industry has been able to do more with real fur in terms of mixing it with other fabrics, thinning and dying the product - however designers such as Charlotte Simone have created realistic alternative but offer a fully plastic pelt. The designer Charlotte Simone commented on her collection as " a collection that was as luxurious and soft as the real thing, yet purely faux", the faux alternative also meant the designer and more freedom stating: " I could experiment more with colours, designs and my collection using faux fur which was interesting to me as a designer."
The faux fur debate is a choice that is hard to justify in this day and age, after years of relentless campaign by organisations some may see it as the industry taking a step backwards, however ultimately the decision is up to the wearer.
semiotics
Semiotics in the simplest sense is the study of images and how they can be read as communication. Looking at what the image can denote and its associated connotations, the consumer can decipher the intended meanings to understand what the brands message was.
Semiotics can be included in advertising as well as clothing it self, for instance Vivienne Westwood's designs within the 1980's were controversial and implied messages that were symbolic to the punk culture at the time. In recent times, most semiotics within fashion are less controversial - for example just brand logos and it's associated use with a social class. However, this kind association can be damaging for brands.
An example of how associated may damage a brand is Burberry. In the late 1990's and early noughties, the signature Burberry check was a pattern associated with the working class and 'chav' culture as they adopted the Burberry brand as their subcultures ideal of 'desirable'. This meant the high end consumer that was Burberry's target mar get no longer wanted this type of association and the brands image was one of negativity rather than matching the brand identity of heritage, tradition and english values.The brand has managed to disassociate itself with the relations of the past through a brand revival, with the introduction of Christopher Bailey as creative director and the Burberry nurturing young talent to gain a perception of the brand being young, up to date and 'cool'.
lack of subculture
In post war britain, after the restrictions of war life where children were pulled into adult hood as quick as their physical development would allow there was a youth quake, a youth revolution. The 1950's brought the birth of the teenager, a new rebellion with rock and roll. Britain was the epicentre of youth culture birthing the Teddy boys and Mods in the late fifties to the skinheads and hippies of the sixties, punks and goths of the seventies and new romantics and disco of the eighties. For decades teenage subculture was booming, the expression of the clothing defining generations as you style was sculpted by your background, fashion, ethnicity and status. Youth cultures created divisions, not only between each other but generations too - the extreme presentation on an individual in a subculture encapsulated the pure,creative freedom that one has in the rebellion of youth.
But as the male make up wore of and the ravers came into the nineties and nineties norm core and grunge was born it seemed that subcultures had had their moment- everything had merged into one, as fashion took it back to basics of high necks, low rise jeans and simplistic branding that was norm core. Everything had become just that - normal.
It seems at the moment in 2014 fashion is having a nostalgic moment and the nineties norm core is back running on a high. The sleek silhouettes, muted tones and basic shapes bring a uniform to fashion, it appears the motto has become 'if you want to look fashionable, all look the same'.
With this lack of subculture, fashion has lost the variety and controversy that it had before. There is no longer key styles to define a generation. It could be said that the internet has played a contribution to this, it has speeded up the process of sharing a lot faster, so trends are being spread and fizzling out before they have had a chance to develop.
Fashion has become a cyclical process, trends revolve around until they are back in the for front, repeating was we have seen before with a slight rejuvenation.
For a new subculture to be born, fashion will have to do the same as trend forecasting - get inspired by other cultures, innovate and regenerate so we are no longer stuck within the norm.
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