Air travel has earned itself a bad name – and not without good reason. Between countless flight cancellations, overbooked planes and its embarrassing contribution to the climate crisis, the aviation industry has a lot to answer for.
But consider this: if you’re cutting back on flying, why not indulge in Mile High-inspired looks instead? If the ongoing shows in New York are anything to go by, that certainly seems to be the consensus for SS23. Whether it’s nods to the parachute-panted R&B queens of the late 90s and early 00s, or more utilitarian iterations of aviation suits, paratrooper harnesses and combat zips — fashion is taking to the runway. Literally.
Fashion’s love affair with the gilded age of jet-set air travel, this is not. Instead, designers are toying with a more urgent sense of action-genre aviation. Perhaps it’s the recent release of Top Gun: Maverick, or a more heightened sense of military uniforms in the news cycle — something is in the air that has captured the imagination of the world’s designers.
LA-based label No Sesso sent models down the catwalk in pieces fitted with elasticated cords and toggles that attenuated and cinched the body, and on a more buoyant note at Fendi SS23, Bella Hadid was billowing in a Tiffany-blue flight suit, complete with miniature Baguette pockets and bungee cords, with with trailing parachute skirts and satin paratrooper rucksacks following in her wake.
Granted, fashion’s AV nerd nods are hardly new – the modelled plane cabin that hosted Chanel’s SS12 couture collection or the baggage carousel set for Fendi AW18 menswear are cases in point. However, after a menswear season that was resolutely grounded – both in earthy inspirations and a natural, languid silhouette – the arrival of something a little more utilitarian offers a dramatic swing of the pendulum.
In New York, Dion Lee peppered his collection with pulleys, aerodynamic contouring and harsh cutouts, resulting in looks that wouldn’t feel out of place if they crash-landed on the dancefloor at Unter – one of his adopted hometown’s steamiest techno parties.
Saucy interpretations aside, we’ve also seen designers lean into parachutist paraphernalia in a more literal sense. At Copenhagen Fashion Week, Christopher Raeburn, who has always been one for upcycling old parachute silks – both those used to slow down planes or those that eject from a backpack – showed a techy, rope-fastened slew of techwear, skirts and dresses.
Meanwhile, Oslo’s Holzweiler took a softer approach, rendering otherwise military codes pacifist and bohemian with puffball bomber jackets, slip dresses constructed from paratrooper hardware and Noel Stewart’s aviator hats. Delivered in muted hues as if seen from above with a backdrop of floating balloons, it confirmed that fashion is going sky-high for spring.
