Tuning In to Fashion's New Techno Wave
From Prada to Off-White, brands are embracing a retro brand of futurism. What does it all mean?
For several seasons now, the 90s rave aesthetic has been having a comeback. Crystallized in Manchester, Hackney and at parallel points in then-desolate Berlin and Detroit, the vibe has found new life from the runways to the real world.
There were Prada’s Fall 2018 men’s and women’s collections, with their fluorescent colors and after-hours uniform essentials. That CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC FW18 show where models sported goggles and neon firefighter workwear stripes on jackets that mimicked the roadside work vests ravers co-opted during the early 90s. Sita Abellan sporting electric-blue baby buns and an acid-green and orange Ben Sumpter knit crop sweater.
Hunter Schafer in a hot pink baby doll dress or a mini skirt and shrunken pastel tee on Euphoria. The very ethos of Vetements and Balenciaga (which themselves are heavily influenced by Georgian mass and club style). Martine Rose’s ever-present odes to early British garage and warehouse looks (see the latex pants and the military-tinged knit dress in Fall 2020). And, well, just about every Raf Simons collection ever embodies techno’s darker and more brooding side, but most certainly his recent offerings.