Does it still make sense to design clothes in seasons? Should we be moving towards genderless fashion? Is “see-now, buy-now, wear-now” really the future? How do we protect the creative integrity of our designers, while recognizing the commercial demands of the houses they design for? It’s 2016, and the fashion industry is chock-full of questions, but currently few solutions. Digital and social media have altered the fashion landscape forever, and we are all struggling to keep up. While no one can hold a crystal ball to the future, there’s no denying the mood is ripe for change.
In The Fashion Issue of i-D, we ask the designers, stylists, critics, as well as hair and makeup artists what positive steps they would like to see. From “fix the calendar, so we stop delivering spring clothes in January!” to “go back to two collections a year,” their responses might surprise you. From Clare Waight Keller at Chloé to Yohji Yamamoto, Joe-Casely Hayford to Rag & Bone, everyone is singing the same tune. So what more will it take to make a change?
In a powerful manifesto to the industry, legendary fashion critic and British Fashion Council’s Ambassador for Emerging Talent, Sarah Mower says it’s time to slow down, step back, and think about what’s relevant. We need to find the courage to challenge entrenched beliefs, and disrupt the industry and chart a course for an entirely new direction. As Sarah eloquently explains, “The only way [the industry] can change is by new people, young people, coming in from the outside and stating the obvious: This is nonsense, it is not speaking to us and what we want, and we’re going to do it differently.”
Thankfully, New York, London, Milan, and Paris are full with fresh blood who are itching to change the fashion industry. We celebrate the independent spirits building their own businesses on their own terms. From Central Saint Martins alumni Charles Jeffrey — who launched monthly east London club night LOVERBOY to fund his M.A. course — to Simone Rocha, Vetements, Matthew Dolan, Erdem and hot new Parisian label Koché, here’s proof that calmly walking your own path (or dancing, in Charles’s case), pays off. Iconic fashion photographer Mario Sorrenti teams with i-D’s Fashion Director Alastair McKimm to shoot new faces, including Frederikke Sofie, Dilone, Ruth Bell and Fernanda Ly in a rip-it-up-and-start-again fashion story that celebrates i-D’s punk roots.
We also pay homage to Comme des Garçons, one of the most powerful and influential independent fashion brands in the world, and chat with President Adrian Joffe (a true punk spirit if ever there was one) about his groundbreaking work at Dover Street Market. Behind every great fashion star, there’s a hardworking assistant. We meet the young men and women who are training with fashion’s greatest, and we ask them to share their thoughts on the industry they are about to enter. While we can’t claim to know the future of fashion, we can certainly shape it!
— Holly Shackleton, Editor-In-Chief
10 Things You Need To Know About Frederikke Sofie
10 Things You Need To Know About Dilone
10 Things You Need To Know About Fernanda Ly
10 Things You Need To Know About Ruth Bell
Credits
Text Holly Shackleton
Photographs Mario Sorrenti
Fashion Director Alastair McKimm
Frederikke wears jacket Louis Vuitton. Vintage T-shirt and earrings stylist’s studio.
Dilone wears jacket and vest Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane. T-shirt and earring stylist’s studio.
Fernanda wears jacket and hairband Miu Miu. T-shirt stylist’s studio. Choker model’s own.
Ruth wears jacket and top Gucci. Earrings stylist’s studio.