There is no fashion without nostalgia. The renaissance of Y2K arrived on schedule, according to trend cycles and perhaps a shift in cultural values. Much like in the New Millennium, pop culture (and politics) is dominated by artifice, excess and cruelty. However, the 2000s also represented a period of wonder. The world didn’t end at the hands of computers as prophesied. Technology was playful and rudimentary in both aesthetic and function.
Now our phones vie for (and win) our attention more than anything or anybody else. Our governments continue to capitulate to a tech industry run by greedy freaks.
So what do we miss in particular? Is it physical media? Or is it irreverence over quote-unquote political correctness? Are we looking to the past to move forward, or are we regressing? There have always been arguments for and against coddling your inner child. Nostalgia giveth and taketh away.
Producing clothing in New Zealand feels like an exercise in nostalgia. In one breath, I am mourning what once was: garment factories, fabric mills, national self-sufficiency. Then in another, I am grateful for the opportunity to create clothes with intention, slowly and thoughtfully. Despite the deluge of Shein packages reaching our shores, the country retains a charming level of seclusion from the rest of the world.
Both this collection and the quasi-collection before it (HOMECOMING) were heavily inspired by two exhibitions I attended in Tokyo: “Fashion in Japan 1945-2020” in 2021 and“The Future is in the Past- Nigo’s Archive” in 2022. There are elements of J-Fashion in my designs, ranging from Amekaji (American Casual) to Urahara. 80s-90s Italian menswear by the likes of Giorgio Armani and Massimo Osti also influenced the collection. Its references are pre/early internet, but are re and decontextualised in a decidedly post-internet fashion. It’s a collection informed by magazine clippings and excessive screen time, bolstered by algorithms and childhood memories. It’s So Yesterday and so today.
These are all ramblings. Thank you for reading this diary entry. I hope you enjoy the collection. Another is incubating.
“I use technology in order to hate it more properly” - Nam June Paik