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Sufferers of Morgellons Disease complain of skin that is "creepy-crawly", intensely so, as well as "fibrous strands" protruding from wounds. Anyone with chronic fatigue will insist their medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are not in their heads but due to the medical establishment's failure to understand matters. Conditions like Lupus and MS mysteriously cause a body's immune system to mistakenly identify its own organs as "invaders" and attack them (autoimmune disorders). To say nothing of the Enterovirus 68, which attacks children, but as to why, well that's yet another mystery.
Suffice it to say our environment has changed dramatically in ways that feel exceedingly hostile. Our attempts to understand and assimilate these changes have given birth to an interesting mega-trend with three main parts:
#1: looking East for healing through practices like meditation and yoga;
#2: living more intuitively and in tune with Mother Nature;
#3: learning by doing and deriving personal satisfaction from these experiential achievements in a way that is quite spiritual.
This three-part trend as been dubbed Systemic Self by the experts at the Phillips Design thinktank. "An intricate bond between body and mind is being established," says Claudia Lieshout, Creative Director of Lifestyle Trends at Philips Design. "We are finally recognizing that our body is a highly personal coded system, physically interconnected with our mind. " She points out that as we enthusiastically embrace new toys that help us better quantify, control and manipulate our lives, the whiz-bang technology isn't the end game but the newest tool in an old quest: achieving inner balance. "Instead of just curing symptoms," she adds, "we need to understand their root causes and rebuild our bodies." (image)
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Which is why I think many artistes tend to mischaracterize how "the future" will look. Depictions are typically quite cool looking, like Steven Meisel's Lost in Cyberspace (top) and Tim Walker's extremely cool distopian-robot shoot (middle) for Vogue Italia. Or even the the mirrored and hard-edged collage above made from a mashup of work by Bjoern Ewers (background) and Riese Farbaute's cellophane-wrapped head.
But the reality is just the opposite: when you're busy rebuilding your body or looking to forge healthier mind-body pathways, the last thing you really want is anything too mirrory or hard-edged.
Rather, what soothes and encourages openness are all things soft, muted and smart - but not in a way that's self-consciously "futuristic" or shouty. Silky, though, definitely, like this ensemble made from silk taffeta. "Irene is a two-piece urban outfit composed of a blouse and trousers developed for SAAB Automobile, Sweden," explain Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz of CuteCircuit, a fashion atelier specializing in wearable tech. "The trousers are embroidered with jewel-like silver environmental sensors while the blouse features a luminous information display and is connected wirelessly to any device or environment in the proximity of the user. The user can verify her schedule and other information while on the move. On the blouse is a cluster of film-thin flexible Solar cells that provides the necessary power to operate the system."
From the silk fabric to the "jewel-like" sensors, it is this type of thinking where the future of fashion will be found. Sure, the clothing will be techy enough to satisfy even the hardest of hardcore super-geeks, but the litmus test will be how lo-fi - retro, even - the clothing will be to suit up in.
- Lesley Scott
NOTE: Actively embracing technology with a desire to make it fashionable and timely is a signature of the Futurenetic Fashion Tribe. For more of my posts and podcasts about this tribe, CLICK HERE. To learn more about each of fashion's four mega-tribes that I track, START HERE.
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