A Glimpse Into Fashion in The 2020s

The rapid approach of the 2020s has lead us at TPOF to consider the possibilities of fashion for the next decade. Will it be the popularization of smart clothing that can provide feedback about every minute physiological change? Or clothing you can only see on your digital double that lives in some kind of VR world? All of these are possible, however, none are our predictions. For 2020 and beyond, we decided to look at the latest shifts in the industry to the end of the next decade through the idyllic lens of a new decade’s resolution. Here is a top 5 of what we believe is going to be the not-so-distant future of fashion:

Italian house Bottega Veneta has been a consistent champion of logo-less, discreet luxury.

No logos

I can still hear it: the resounding chorus of Lil Pump’s 2017 banger “Gucci Gang.” The song epitomizes the second coming of logomania that found its place in the post-ironic wave of the 2010s, with ‘grammers unabashedly posting branded commodities online so that their personal brand may be associated with Gucci belts and LV monograms. We’re predicting that the logo craze is going to wash up on the shore of 2020 and be replaced with pieces that require more insider knowledge to recognize. Whether this is the rise of small local brands, back to a Bottega-esque ‘discreet luxury,’ or more collections sold in bizarre places like Martine Rose X Nike’s Craigslist stunt fashion is most likely going to be less obvious and more personal. 

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Totally trendless

One of the most difficult tasks going into 2020 is imagining how we can make the world a more sustainable place by the end of it. Unfortunately, as we know, fashion is one of the major culprits in the climate crisis, which begs the question as to how we’re going to modify the production and consumption of it. The first aspect to get a make-over is likely to be how fast fashion companies churn out disposable items with each passing trend. What we’re envisioning is articles of durable and chic clothing designed to pass the tests of time. This is being said, trendless is the new trend. The incentivization of this clothing contradiction is the sustainable ethos it brings to a person’s aesthetic in a time of eco-anxiety. Further, it demands more of fast-fashion companies who have made a dirty habit of mimicking the runway.

PANGAIA’s puffer coats are filled with flower down made from petals, not animal feathers.

Only sustainable materials

In the same vein, we hope to see the implementation of alternative fabrics into mainstream garment production as a way of coping with the rise of global climate change. It’ll be a strategic move for brands looking to cater to the Gen Z market over the next decade, which is comprised of politically engaged consumers who have grown up in the wake of an environmental crisis. The push for purposeful clothing designed to utilize recently developed technologies will be met with enthusiasm, since alternative leather made from materials ranging from tea to corn and mushroom to pineapple is an undeniably interesting take on sustainable materials. Furthermore, with the rise of governments monitoring and passing legislation on matters of clothing production we’ll hopefully see an overall increase of manufacturing standards. The idea of heaps of nylon and acrylic clothes piling up in a landfill will be reduced to a shameful chapter of fashion history.

Rad Hourani, a Canadian designer, has been creating neutral, genderless pieces for some time.

Gender-neutral clothing    

It’s 2020 and I don’t care what your hyper-conservative uncle said over Thanksgiving - gender is a spectrum. At least this is the understanding of gender that has been weaving its way through mainstream discourse. The popularization of gender-neutral clothing is one of the ways this conversation will manifest itself in our everyday lives. The semiotic construct of a women’s figure adorned with a skirt and a man’s as a pant-like silhouette is an outdated concept. Menswear is becoming more experimental as a result of a society that encourages and respects men who want to express themselves in ways that have been historically feminine. Womenswear has been showcased by men in editorial campaigns and the appropriation of menswear within the genre hasn’t been new since the 1960s. The rise of gender-neutrality can be seen at the LVMH awards in 2019, where one-fourth of designers recognized for their collections fell under their gender-neutral category. 

The Tom Sachs x Nike Mars Yard Overshoe looks fit for space.

Robotic silhouettes 

Science fiction and fashion have one thing in common: they’re both excellent at foreshadowing. Sci-fi writers and designers work with the information at the present and build on it to envision a future. For fashion this foresight is typically segregated to the temperament of the upcoming season, but this approach to developing a line may be usurped by designers starting to take an interest in the holistic view of the future versus the seasonal. A resurgence of futurism in fashion seems fitting for the times, as it first surfaced during the second half of the Twentieth Century while the Space Race competition flourished. We’re already starting to see this with foil, chrome, liquid silver and platinum fabrics on the runway, on shoes and accessories with holographic elements as well as increasingly bigger boots. Now we have the development of SpaceX and its goal of “making life multiplanetary” alongside fashion headways, like Nike x Tom Sachs Mars Yard overshoes. Does this mean Prada could be reimagining their padded moon boots soon? Style inspired by C-3P0? We think so. 

What will all these predicted changes do for us on an individual psychological level? To quote Marlo Thomas and co, gender-neutrality will leave us feeling free to be you and me, the lack of logos and trends will free us to curate our identity more creatively, and an all-silver look might be just the thing for your trip to Mars. Let’s see.

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