A bold new movement has hit the runway! Unconventional fashion is the practice of creating experimental designs, using unexpected materials to push the boundaries of fashion. Traditional silhouettes are seen time and time again on the runway, so why not use innovation to attract a larger audience? In many cases, the goal is not everyday wearability, but to spark conversation. Unconventional fashion has transformed fashion shows into performances rather than simple catwalks.
Carolyn Mair, a fashion business consultant and author of The Psychology of Fashion, told whowhatwear.com that unconventional fashion is getting people’s attention.
“After years of minimalism, people are craving excitement and self-expression. Quiet luxury reflected a desire for subtlety and stability and came to the fore during particularly uncertain times resulting from economic pressures or cultural fatigue from overexposure,” Mair said. “But fashion is cyclical, and personality-driven pieces provide a fresh way to stand out and reconnect with our creative identities—identities that may have been muted when aligning with trends like quiet luxury.”
At the spring and summer Paris Fashion Week in 2023, Coperni, a Parisian fashion brand, took over social media after they sprayed a dress onto Bella Hadid in front of a live audience. The Coperni show took place at Paris’ Musée des Arts et Métiers on Sept. 30, and they wanted to close the show with a bang. The room’s lights dimmed and Hadid stepped out onto a lit platform surrounded by Coperni’s team holding spray guns. For 15 minutes, Hadid stood as they sprayed a white liquid fiber, developed by a technology company called Fabrican, onto her body in the outline of a dress. This material can be used to create, customize and repair clothing while having the durability to be re-worn and washed. According to dezeen.com, in the first 48 hours after the show, the social media impact accumulated to $20.9 millions and $26.3 million for the event overall.
Designers have tried many techniques to make their garments stand out. Viktor and Rolf’s Spring-Summer collection in 2023 had models wear the outfits sideways, tandem and upside down. Charlie Le Mindu featured accessories such as sunglasses made from hair in his 2010 Spring-Summer London Fashion Week exhibit.
Callie Crocker (12) is curious on the inspiration behind collections at fashion shows.
“If I were to go to a fashion show, I would question why designers make the decisions they do and what inspired their vision,” Crocker said.
Unconventional fashion has also taken another route in designing unique catwalks. Chanel constructed a merry-go-round adorned with oversized shoes and handbags for their 2008 show. This way the audience could look at their models and their clothing multiple times throughout the show.
Some designers use their platform to promote a cause that is important to them. At Paris Fashion Week 2020, Stella McCartney dressed her models in animal costumes to spread awareness for animal cruelty in the fashion industry. Some animals represented were squirrels, alligators, ponies and cows.
McCartney shared with the Guardian why she made this choice in her show.
“What we try to do here at Stella is to sugarcoat a powerful, meaningful message in a little bit of humor and fun, to make our point in a palatable and digestible way so that people listen. These animals are the ingredients of everyone else’s fashion shows,” McCartney said.
