The Changing Perception of Fashion

The viewpoint on fashion really varies from person to person. With the exponential growth of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, people are now exposed to a wide variety of what is considered “fashion.” This is largely because social media has become one of, if not the biggest, driving forces behind marketing and advertising. As the way people consume content has changed, the overall approach to viewing fashion has also fundamentally shifted in both good and bad ways, while still carrying over parts of society’s traditional understanding of it.

When I say fashion here, I do not mean Forever 21, H&M, or the Nike Outlet. Those are clothes. Those are necessities that people need in their everyday lives. Fashion, to me, is an art form expressed through clothing, fabrics, and materials that someone wears to communicate their craft and viewpoint. It is an art piece, but the canvas is clothing. It is basically another way of expressing your thoughts, views, and ideas to other people.

In the past, no one understood probably 90% of the clothing shown in runway shows that sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. People would say things like, “Why is this ‘rag’ $500? Who would even wear that?” A lot of people still have that reaction now. With abstract and absurdist fashion houses like Vetements and Balenciaga, it remains a common response from the public.

However, society as a whole has always clumped the art of fashion together with clothing that is simply a necessity. Of course, I do not think the vast majority of people would wear the Balenciaga caution tape outfit to a grocery store. That is true. But the approach to viewing and understanding the pieces you see on a runway should be more like: “What is the designer telling us here?” “What is the message?” “What viewpoint or perspective is the designer trying to convey, and why is it important to them?”

Fashion is art, and it has always been an art form. From the dresses of the Victorian era to iconic suits like Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking in the 1960s, or the Birkin bag from Hermès, fashion has always stemmed from artists expressing their ideas through different fabrics, designs, and forms of expression. Designers have continuously pushed these boundaries, as we can see in collections from KidSuper, A-COLD-WALL*, and Comme des Garçons.

With the rise of social media, the distinction between what we call fashion and what is simply clothing has become drastically more black and white, and this is quite evident online. By scrolling through just a couple of Instagram Reels or TikToks, you will see advertisements from clothing brands promoting a 50% off sale on a screen-printed hoodie. This fast-fashion trend has inherently changed the way the general public views what it means to be a fashion designer. In some ways, it has weakened the artistic craft of fashion and distorted what being a fashion designer truly means.

Simply screen-printing graphics onto a T-shirt does not necessarily involve much craft or artistic development. Still, I understand where many of these people are coming from. Social media is filled with videos titled things like, “I make $20,000 a month as a brand owner at the age of 22. Here is how you can make at least 10k a month as a entrepreneur,” along with posts of people flaunting their wealth and showing off the fact that they own a “brand.” Because of this, a lot of people have been led toward fast fashion for the sole purpose of making money, rather than expressing their ideas, lives, experiences, and viewpoints, which are all things that true fashion designers incorporate into their work.

Honestly, this shift is sad to witness. As a fashion enthusiast myself who dreams of developing this project into a brand one day, I find it frustrating that society has become so materialistic and capitalistically driven that art itself is often ignored or treated as though it has little value. Art is ultimately considered useless unless people choose to give it meaning. Yet what keeps this world from becoming boring is, in many ways, art itself.

Artists, fashion designers, architects, and musicians all make the world such an exciting and interesting place to live. Unfortunately, these people often do not get their flowers and are sometimes even frowned upon by society when they choose to pursue the arts.

One of my favorite designers and idols, Yohji Yamamoto, once said, “I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion.” He could not be more right about how fashion should be viewed.

Fashion should be viewed by placing yourself in the designer’s shoes and trying to understand their perspective, thoughts, and views. The goal should be to understand what the artist is expressing through their work. Once you begin to understand that, you also begin to appreciate the art, just like how we love music that resonates with us or an art piece that we connect with on an emotional level, or simply think looks cool.

Ultimately, fashion is a form of art used to express ideas through clothing, fabrics, and materials.