Her World Singapore – September 2019

TOWEAR/TOBUY/TODO

F

Uncovering the

Utilitarian Trend

It’sabouttimeweinvestigatedour

enduringloveforoversizedpatch

pockets,camoprintandmilitarygreen.

Thereisperhapsno

greaterpost-purchase

discoverythanfinding

outyourgarmenthas

pockets.Surprising

asthismaysound,

practicalityisactually

exciting.Andwith

utilitarian-inspired

looksstormingthe

F/W’19runways,there

isnobettertimetogo

backtotheiroriginsto

findoutwhy.

Practicalityhas

alwaysbeenattheheart

ofutilitarianfashion.

BackintheeraofWorld

WarIIBritain,ina

bidtoreducewastage,

clothingmanufacturers

wereobligedtoproduce

certainquotasusing

onlyutilitycloth–which

werethenlabelledwith

thedistinctiveCC41

logo–beforetheycould

useothertextilesto

makeclothes.

Thislimitation

wasfertilegroundfor

creativebrilliance.

Thedesignrestrictions

andausterityledtoa

Farrah

Fawcett

ina fitted

jumpsuit

andutility

beltfora

Charlie’s

Angels

action

sequence.

focusonpracticalstyle

• cinchingthewaistfor
  anarrowersilhouette
  oraccentuatingthehips
  withpatchpockets.The
  increasedparticipation
  ofwomeninmilitary
  servicealsopavedthe
  wayfortheseuniform
  elementstoenter
  themodernfashion
  vernacular.
  Utilitarianism
  today,though,is
  headingfornew
  territory.Itismore
  experimentaland
  evocative–think
  Sacai’sabstract
  layeringofdownjackets
  overtrenchcoats,
  Prada’sextremely
  oversizedpatch
  pockets,andMiu
  Miu’smedleyoffabrics
  andgreenhuesonits
  capeandinartistic
  camouflageprint.
  Ofcourse,we’re
  nowseeinglessutility
  andmorefashion.But
  thespiritofmakinga
  statementremainsthe
  same.–VW

ChitoseAbe

ofSacai

remixes

utilitarianism

bycombining

elementsand

forms– like

layeringa

fitteddown

jacketon

topofan

oversized

trenchcoat.

Sacai

Prada

MiuMiu

32 HERWORLDSEPT 2019