Article Summary: Gas masks hit the runway in one of fashion's most provocative trend moments as designers explore the intersection of protection, aesthetics, and style.
Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
The world has had its fair share of odd fashion trends. From the shoes constructed of hair at this year’s Gucci show to less weird but unexpected incorporation of food into designs, fashion is no stranger to working the unusual into the industry. Now, gas masks at Beijing’s Graduate Fashion Week have taken center stage in the world of interesting artist choices.
Chinese fashion appears to be having a major moment in the industry. This year’s Met Gala theme was “China: Through the Looking Glass,” and many of the gorgeous celebs who attended wore Chinese designers. Perhaps no one made as much of a splash as Rihanna though. The singer’s stunning Guo Pei cape stole the show at the famously star studded event leading to a surge in interest for budding Chinese designers, much like the talented students showcasing at Graduate Fashion Week.
The designers in Beijing come from China Academy of Art, Dalian Polytechnic University, and Southwest University, and many of the students seem to be working toward a mask trend in their fashion. The masks do seem to operate at a significant intersection between functionality and political statement. China’s air is notoriously polluted, and by incorporating the masks into the collections, grads are adding an element of practicality to the fashion. However, the question needs to be raised if the masks are, in fact, a way to make a statement about the pollution levels.
Regardless of the message behind the masks, their intricately designed and stunning, and if this is what the up and coming fashion from China looks like, we’re anticipating a lot more of their designs at future Met Galas.
Via Google News: SHEA SIMMONS
Images: Getty (3)
When Protective Equipment Became Runway Language
RUNWAY’s 2015 report on gas masks at Beijing graduate fashion presentations captured a striking collision between utility, anxiety and design. Students from institutions including the China Academy of Art, Dalian Polytechnic University and Southwest University incorporated mask forms into fashion at a time when global attention on Chinese design was accelerating.
The visual impact was immediate because a gas mask already carries meaning before a designer changes its material, proportion or decoration. It suggests protection, hazard and an altered environment. Once placed on a runway, that functional object becomes part of a silhouette and can operate as both accessory and commentary.
Fashion as a Response to Its Environment
The original article raised an important question: were the masks simply an aesthetic choice, or were designers responding to concerns about air pollution? Fashion often becomes most interesting when it leaves that question partially open. A garment can be beautiful and unsettling at the same time, and an object designed for protection can become a critique simply through context.
The Beijing collections appeared during a year of unusually strong Western attention on Chinese fashion. The 2015 Met Gala centered on “China: Through the Looking Glass,” while Rihanna’s widely discussed Guo Pei cape introduced a huge global audience to a Chinese couturier whose work had not previously been familiar to many mainstream American fashion consumers. Against that backdrop, student runway experimentation carried additional visibility.
Why the 2015 Images Still Matter
The gas-mask looks are useful archive material because they show how young designers can use fashion to process larger social conditions without producing a literal political slogan. Shape, material and styling can communicate tension by themselves. The result sits somewhere between avant-garde accessory, protective object and visual provocation.
That is also why unusual graduate collections deserve preservation. They often reveal ideas before those ideas are refined for commercial fashion. For more runway experimentation, designer reporting and current collections, visit RUNWAY’s Fashion coverage.
