A bright future
Headlines and conversation might lead one to believe the future is bleak. Daily tragedy outweigh human triumph in the news and often cast shadow over how we perceive ourselves.
The contrast between those that have and those that have naught is abundantly clear. At no time in the fashion calendar is that more apparent than during the couture shows. The mentality of 'us' versus 'them' runs rife. Separation is apparent in society as well as in fashion.
But there's reason to think these boundaries are beginning to break down. Digital media is morphing our understanding of everything from political imagery to art and daily occurrences are now being digested and remembered in a new way. For the first time attendees are able to stream couture shows from their front row seat via Snapchat (doodling on the clothes and giving dog faces to the models) thereby giving anybody with a smartphone immediate access to a world that was once kept apart from most of society.
The repercussions of this democratisation of fashion are up for debate.
At the Christian Dior show the models wore, what essentially looked like, a pretty bog-standard flip flop. Does me (or you) knowing this information impact society in any great way? Probably not. It was, however, the reason I reached for my Havaianas this morning when I haven't worn them in years. My excitement for the couture shows is lost on most people. Undoubtedly there wasn't a single person I came across today that saw my shoes and drew any connection to Dior.
I did though.
When I wore those shoes today I knew every time I looked down at my feet that I was channeling a little bit of something special. Sure, they are old dirty flip flops but when I look at them now I imagine them adorned with jewels and a ribbon that wraps around my ankle and ties in a perfect little bow at the front. I see their potential. I see myself as part of something bigger and more beautiful than my everyday life. I see a connection to couture - a fantastical dream world that transcends reality and the simple (or sometimes not so simple) struggles we face everyday.
