Is fashion soft launching a recession?

If we are to understand the significance of grey, we need to go back in time to another period of uncertainty. The 1940s were all about austerity. During World War 2, the clothing of the time was focused on the conservative palate of navy, black, beige and grey. Plaids and Ginghams were also very common because of the utilitarian production of clothing. Functional clothing in these colour stories could be purchased with ration coupons and, with men having to go to battle, women had to take responsibilities traditionally held by men.

That gave room for Dior to reintroduce femininity, but subsequently, if you look throughout history, in times of difficulty colour fades. It was the same in 2009 and it could be the warning we need to pay attention to.

While a colour being featured more prominently in a season is not uncommon (remember how Valentino Pink was everywhere), why does this one matter? During the pandemic, Vogue Runway released an article titled “The Lost Season”. Accompanying it were several collections from the autumn/winter menswear season which happens to be the first show after the great crash of 2008. Dries Van Noten, Comme Des Garçons, Thom Browne and Dior Homme all featured a lot of grey. If you are uncertain, Adam Tscorn of the LA Times at the time wrote, “If anyone was still unsure about the effect of the global economic meltdown on the designers showing here, the Prada show hammered the point home”.

To say Prada AW09 Menswear had a lot of grey is an understatement. Moody as ever, Miuccia Prada states the message of this collection was “survival”.

With a clear absence of colour and studs on coats, shoes, pants, shirts and bags, she made sure we heard the message loud and clear. With leathers, nylons and hardware, all in this industrial cage-like show space, it was all about being tough. We find ourselves here in an eerily similar situation. With fashion changing its focus to survival and austerity, large trench coats, muted and heavy The need to buckle down and fight is all on our minds and being a South African makes this resonate more as we live in this arena called life.

I cannot attest to whether we are in a recession. I can only tell you what I see. What cannot be denied is that fashion is often a clear reflection and representation of the cultural landscape we are living in. It takes a snapshot of the societal temperature creating potential ways for us to communicate our psyche or how we want to be perceived individually and as a collective. Right now, there is a lot on everyone’s mind and a lot of that uncertainty is bubbling to the surface. 

Ratsibe is a creative based in Johannesburg working as a stylist and fashion journalist. 

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