For my summative brief, I was given a trend that I had to research. I had to research into the visual, historical and cultural background of the trend as well as look at origins, connotations, developments, updates, subversions, connections of your trend.
The trend that I was given was The Purist. Initially I was discouraged because I had never heard of it and thought it would be hard to research but after starting a Pinterest board for the trend (previous post), I became a lot more confident in what the trend is and what it promotes.
What is The Purist?
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| A mood board I created using secondary images |
The Purist a trend focusing on providing a futuristic and modern twist on wardrobe essentials, by exploring beautiful asymmetric lines with a slightly relaxed and oversized silhouette. In this trend, garments feature sculpted shapes, which add to the elegant and effortless aesthetic resonating with minimalism. Despite The Purist portraying simplicity, the architectural stature of the garments as well as luxurious materials and the variety of understated print and pattern, enable wearers to convey a sophistication.
The Purist colour palette consists of neutral colours such as khaki, soft ochre and camel, providing a subtle contrast from the monochromatic tones by incorporating warmth, giving body and harmony. Furthermore, metallic tones such as pearl, silver and gold are included which adds to the futuristic aspect.
Minimalism
The Purist is heavily influenced by minimalism, and this is noticeable from the sharp designs. Minimalism influences many aspects of fashion and art & design with its reductivism and use of non-emotive design. Minimalist fashion evolved in the 60’s with designers such as Balenciaga creating garments that focused on structure, rather than embellishment.
However, minimalism truly took off in the 80’s, within the Japanese market. Japanese designers such as Issey Miyake, and Rei Kawakubo were influenced by the kimono: a gender neutral traditional garment in Japanese culture. This garment helped them think about clothing that was oversized rather than contouring the body. This inspired oversized structures and contorted shapes that they use today.
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| Rei Kawakubo 1980 designes for COMME des GARÇONS |
The 90’s marked the introduction of a more accessible minimalism. Iconic designers Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Jil Sander took minimalism and diluted it by creating garments that resembled clothing, rather than the architectural structures the industry was used to. Klein described his collection as “an indulgence in superbly executed cut, quiet plays of colour tones and clean, strong shape.” Minimal colour showed reductivism was still prominent, but the focus shifted back to functional garments that consumers could make part of their everyday wardrobe.
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| Calvin Klein minimalist collection featured in American Vogue 1998 |
Architecture
Coco Chanel said herself “fashion is architecture.”. Architecture plays a huge role within the fashion industry, and especially within Minimalism and The Purist trends. Many designers and architects found in both of these trends such as Balenciaga, Gustavo Lins and Zaha Hadid have dabbled in both industries, which shows that they certainly influence each other.
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| Zaha Hadid Heydar Aliyev Centre |
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| Zaha Hadid interpretation of the iconic Louis Vuitton bucket bag |
A main pioneer for The Purist trend as it stands today is COS. As a brand, they focus on providing modern garments that are sleek and understated to both men and women that stray away from conventional trends that other similar priced labels promote. Recently, COS celebrated this inspiration, by creating a 12 piece capsule collection inspired by the Guggenheim’s latest show by painter Agnes Martin. Karin Gustafson, the creative director at COS said that Martin’s work has “such a profound impact on them.” and they share many values with Martin such as “timelessness and a sense of modernity.” So the combination of inspiring painting and the unique structure and curvature of the Guggenheim allowed them to show the impact art and architecture has on the brand, through this capsule collection.
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| COS Capsule collection inspired by Agnes Martin |
Thanks for reading.
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