From The Silence of the Lambs to Jurassic Park, fashion is having a moment with all your VHS favourites
As everyone knows, the new golden age of culture is the 90s. Its influence has inevitably seeped into fashion and in the spirit of the defining emotion of the decade: irony (thanks Alanis) there has been a visual nod to the defining blockbusters of the era on the catwalk.
Palace which loves a good visual in-joke new summer collection features a striking image from Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Edward Furlong looking mournfully at a skateboard).
It follows the lead of Vetements Titanic hoodie, which crested on a sustained wave of Leonardo DiCaprio Oscar hype and Kate and Leo reunion mania.
More obliquely, there were Gareth Pughs Hannibal Lecter-inspired face huggers and Ashley Williams referencing Jurassic Park in her London fashion week show, which was prefaced by the John Williams theme song. So why the love of these 90s blockbusters?
In part, its a nostalgic longing for the pre-internet age. I think it holds relevance for millennials who have grown up saturated with online images, says fashion historian Amber Butchart. These same millennials who grew up to become designers and weave this imagery into their work.
As well as fashion designers coming of age during this era, this familiar yet nostalgic cinematic imagery is a quick way to convey an emotional state, appropriate for the click-and-consider age of Instagram and Tumblr that we live in. The speeded up pace of fashion also ensures that trend cycles are faster, says Butchart, drawing the link between the use of imagery and the pace of the fashion industry. Its proof, if needed, that fashion has hit peak 90s.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/apr/12/why-fashion-fell-in-love-with-the-90s-blockbuster
