Dystopian Fashion By, Jackeline Hernandez

    Dystopian fashion is usually infamous for its angsty and distressed looks. It can range from futuristic street wear typically associated with an imagined state of society, one that is post apocalyptic or a grungy outfit that reflects the current mood of the world. Aside from its fashionable and quirky look, Dystopian Fashion usually conveys important messages and ideas often overlooked within society. Its increase of popularity throughout the years relate back to the constant deterioration and dilemma we face in our everyday lives.  As today's generation becomes progressively rebellious and non conformist, dystopian fashion is on the rise due to its expressive nature that comes with it.

 Do you believe that as fashion designers, these people should put use into  their platforms as a way of sending important messages? Well in that case, Fashion designers Demna Gsalvina, Xander Zhou, and Alaxander Mcqueen are known for widely exploring themes of dystopia and within their clothing and Fashion shows.  The ongoing fear of ecological disaster and current contemporary issues within society have inspired these certain individuals to reflect these certain situations into their work. Certain pieces of these individuals provide critical views through defamiliarization 

   Another great example of Dystopian Fashion is Demna Gsalvina‘s 2020 fashion show.  Gsalvina intended to show the “consequences of our lifestyle” and the hypocrisy within the catholic church. He welcomed the guests of the show with a darkened room and created a grand opening with the explicit  scenery of falling skies. He predominantly incorporated the color black for it’s links to “minimalism” and “classism“ and had models dress long black robes with red contact lenses. Gsalvina‘s purpose was to show that clothes pertains to no gender and that skirts and long dresses are for everyone to wear and not just a thing of the clergy. Gsalvina made a good point by exclaiming, "How come it is acceptable for clerics to wear that but if I put on a long jacket and skirt I will be looked at? I can't even in 2020!" In addition, the red and black contact lenses were a callout for the hypocrisy within the catholic church. Gsalvina remarked how the church's dress code involves dressing modestly and pure for the eye of god but, "some of these people are the nastiest perverts", referring to the history of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Overall, Gsalvina does a great job of incorporating the dystopian narrative within his clothing. 

     In his fall and spring 2020 fashion collections, Zhou shocked the fashion industry by including masks, gloves, and hospital gear within his looks. What made this addition to the clothes shocking was the fact that the world was amidst the Covid-19 lockdown during his release of the clothing. He incorporated his imagination of a world struggling with viruses and biochemical threats . This is a good example of dystopian fashion because the aesthetic of medical clothing reflected the issues with the Covid 19 pandemic. It represents a future in which masks, gloves, and protective gear might become a permanent asset to everyday fashion and life. Zhou wishes for people to acknowledge his fashion designs in a positive light rather than a negative. He explains that hopefully people take initiative and are readily prepared for what the world has to offer us next. 

A great example of Dystopian Fashion include Alexander McQueen's  fashion show Plato Atlantis. The clothing seen within the show centers around topics such as global warming, climate change, and nature. Model's decked out in head to toe in blue extravaganza represent a potential future heavily impacted by the damages of global warming, He brings light to the rapid melting glaciers and rising temperatures of the arctic through his usage of bright blue color and funky costumes of the hybridization of human and animal forms. The human and animal hybrid costumes creates a moment of foreshadowing to what our world can come to be after eco disasters, 

   As we know, Dystopian Fashion's role in Science Fiction is usually to express the anxieties and fears of the potential future impacted by natural disaster, economic downfall, or to show the current state of the world. Aside form helping those who are dissatisfied with life express themselves, Dystopian Fashion in a way, serves society as enlightenment. Meaning that those who take fascination in this type of clothing take initiative into preventing some of the futures clothing like this usually represents.