The concept of fashion itself is extremely volatile, but one concrete definition of fashion is “…is the area of activity that involves styles of clothing and appearance.” If fashion involves styles of clothing and appearance, what is anti- fashion? Anti – fashion is used to discuss subcultures that are explicitly contrary to popular trends or do not fit into an established category; anti – fashion can be linked to the Avant – Garde, using design to express political opinions, or even translating an attitude of indifference through radical creativity and not paying attention to what Vogue says is trendy right now. The duality of fashion and anti – fashion is a love hate relationship, as they both criticize each other but cannot exist without the other half. Anti – fashion does not have a certain look or color palette, instead the point of the movement is that there are no rules or guidelines to be considered a anti – fashion designer: all they need is to think in a radical outside – the - box way. The ambiguousness of anti – fashion can cause difficulty to understand what can be considered anti - fashion and what cannot; although anti – fashion goes against current trends, in a way, many anti – fashion labels are extremely popular and trendy. Anti - fashion can be simply interpreted as the purest form of creative expression.
1900s – 1920s: Un - traditional fashion becoming traditional
Although anti – fashion can be traced back to nobles in the early 1400s, the anti – fashion movement gained public popularity around the beginning of the 20th century with the rise of Gabrielle Chanel, whose career began by going against the current womenswear designs consisting of restraining corsets and layered dresses. Chanel introduced a way for women to wear more masculine and loose clothing to be more comfortable but still maintaining femininity and elegance. Although at the beginning of her career, her designs were rejected for going against what was expected for a woman to dress, with time they gained popularity and established the trends for the 20s. In a way, Chanel began as anti – fashion and became traditional fashion.
1940s – 1950s: Exaggeration and rebellion
In the 40s, the Zoot suit, an oversized menswear suit with high waisted wide legged pants and long cut, wide padded shoulders gained popularity in America for being a satirical design poking fun at the higher classes’ way of dress. Beginning as a type of costume for jazz entertainers, the Zoot suit was worn within areas with minorities with a bright music scene, such as Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans, and Chicago. The Zoot suit formed a historical role in American subcultures, and in 1943 the suits were allowed in the Zoot Suit Riots, as the clothing was deemed un – American for the amount of fabric used during rationing for WWII, but had racist undertones towards the minorities that felt empowered using these suits. In the 50s, anti – fashion could be observed through the rise of rock and roll and the destruction of gender roles of the time. Women, instead of wearing the traditional poodle skirts and dresses, opted for jeans and simple T shirts as a way of rebellion against the gender roles and societal norms of the time. Anti – fashion became synonymous with dressing androgynously and a way of going against the system.
1960s: Grunge & glam rock
This era was targeted to a younger crowd and gave origin to punk fashion, which leaked into the 1960s, where the term “grunge” was coined. Grunge was heavily inspired by the clothing worn by rock bands such as The Rolling Stones, who are considered the pioneers of the Rockstar look. In an interview, Mick Jagger explains how the point of their extravagant way of dressing was to be eye – catching and different to what other popular bands of the time, like The Beatles who wore matching jackets. The Rolling Stones inspired a mismatched way of dressing - mixing loose statement vintage pieces with rough leather, a psychedelic and glam rock look on the verge of camp. Menswear became experimentative and had an almost feminine feel.
1970s: Punk movement and the rise of Japanese designers
Anti - fashion in the 1970s was characterized by the punk movement, also linked closely to bands like the Sex Pistols. In this era anti – fashionistas wore cut – up and destroyed clothing, embellished with accessories like piercings, chains and safety pins. The dark, edgy style mixed with bright, extravagant hairstyles like Mohawks were a complete contrast to the soft disco style that was popular during the 70s. Designers like Vivienne Westwood pioneered the punk movement; Sex Pistols manager Malcom McLaren dated Westwood and together opened the shop ‘Sex’, that sold traditional punk clothing with a fetish focus. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Westwood experimented with mixing traditional punk with British motifs, like using plaid or Romantic style blouses. Westwood gained fame for mix and matching fabrics and her irregular, exaggerated structures used in her designs.
Throughout the 70s and 80s, Japanese designers started ruling the anti – fashion scene, with similar styles and ideologies. Issey Miyake released his first collection in 1971 and from then on was established as one of the first Asian designers to make such an impact on the Western fashion scene. Miyake’s experimentation and distortion of pleats and the mixture of traditional Japanese design with popular Western designs has made him into one of the most influential designers to this day. Miyake also designed and supplied Steve Jobs’ iconic black turtlenecks.
The female Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo also created a reputation for herself during this era. Kawakubo founded Comme des Garçons in 1969, and began designing womenswear in a deconstructed, asymmetrical way. CDG started out with clothing in black, dark grey or white, which made Kawakubo and her followers as “The Crows”. Kawakubo’s destruction of the feminine silhouette and extremely shapeless, loose clothing and androgynous look quickly gained attention. Kawakubo mixes feminine and masculine but still manages to create designs that are distinct and considerably anti - fashion.
Another Japanese designer that surged in the 70s alongside Miyake and Kawakubo is Yohji Yamamoto, famous for his avante – garde tailoring mixed with Japanese motifs. Yamamoto famously stated, “I think that my men's clothes look as good on women as my women's clothing […] When I started designing, I wanted to make men's clothes for women.” Yamamoto’s designs prevail in black, using contrasting textures and oversized silhouettes. His precise tailoring skills give his designs a messy yet a unique couture look.
1980s – 1990s: Antwerp Six and anti – idealism
Throughout the 1980s, a group of six avante – garde designers from Belgium were introduced to the international fashion scene and gave anti – fashion a new look. Deemed the Antwerp Six, they were six young designers that graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp, all studying under the supervision of Linda Loppa. The designers had such an unusual and radical ideas for creating a new meaning to fashion and gave Antwerp a well-deserved reputation. The members, consisting of Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkemberg and Marina Yee, first made their mark in 1986 when they rented a truck and presented individual collections for London Fashion Week. Although the designer’s styles each differ greatly from each other, they are united by history, experience, and similar ideologies. These designers inspired a new generation to view fashion as an art form with no rules or limits.
During the 90s, the Antwerp Six followed their unique paths and gained great success, especially Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester. Other designers that conquered this decade and are still extremely relevant are Martin Margiela, Raf Simons and Helmut Lang. Margiela, also Belgian, made groundbreaking designs, seemingly making fun of how pretentious fashion tends to be seen. Margiela’s innovative designs push boundaries by reusing strange materials, creating broken silhouettes, and leaving raw finishes in an intriguing and surreal style. The Margiela mentality rejects mass media culture and the idea that trendy equals fashionable. Margiela himself refuses to do interviews or be photographed; only few photographs exist but have not been confirmed to be him. Raf Simons also gained popularity in the 90s, after studying under one of the original Antwerp Six, Walter Van Beriendock. Simons was inspired by youth culture and his own memories, but his work morphed into designs focused on shape and form. Currently, Simons works alongside Miuccia Prada designing for Prada. Helmut Lang started out in the 80s and is known for the duality of a minimalist aesthetic and strange fabrics, mixed with a certain offness – some of the simplest designs in the most creative, refreshing way.
As you can see, anti – fashion doesn’t have a certain look or style to it. Sure, all these designers and movements all have similar ideas towards fashion and how to view it differently, but the execution of this all come out quite differently. No two designers are the same, although they may have similar styles, a good designer will be able to give a unique twist on a piece, making it distinctly theirs. The beauty of ani – fashion is that it can be everything and nothing at once. Anti – fashion is extravagant, opulent, minimalist, simple, shocking, weird, ugly or the most interesting piece you have ever seen. Art is subjective, and fashion is one of the most subjective arts there is. Anti – fashion raises lots of questions: Who decides what is trendy? Why? What happens when we go against these trends? What if something that is anti – fashion for one may be totally traditional fashion for another? Where is the line drawn between fashion and anti – fashion?