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2012年 04月 25日 07:48
Plastic Is Fantastic
'I love Hollywood,' Andy Warhol once declared. 'Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.'
Apparently Warhol isn't the only one with synthetic exuberance syndrome. The spring collections are having a decidedly celluloid moment, and designers have decreed that no part of the body shall go unadorned by plastic. From dresses to tunics to short shorts, this season's garments and accessories are gleaming with acrylic, vinyl and cellophane. Warhol would have been positively giddy.
In Paris, Karl Lagerfeld went plasticus extremis at Chanel, sending several gleaming head-to-toe looks down the runway. One entirely plastic ensemble─a peach-hued pantsuit and green booties─had a distinctly shuffleboard-in-Boca-Raton flair. There was also a shorts and clear vinyl jacket look intended for the beach.
Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquiere has conjured up glamorous dresses and skirts that, at first glance, appear to be fringed in feathers. 'They feature a unique celluloid material which was created specifically for Balenciaga─each sheet of celluloid has been finely cut to create the delicate fringe,' said Mr. Ghesquiere, who found inspiration in a single fringed dress he discovered in the house's archives from Cristobal Balenciaga's winter 1966 collection.
At the Maison Martin Margiela show, models trotted down the runway encased in large dry-cleaner-esque plastic covers. Marc Jacobs opted for polyurethane skirts and plastic cowboy boots and flapper dresses for his spring collection. Mr. Jacobs told reporters after the show that he 'didn't want it to feel real.'
This provocative idea may translate beautifully in the pages of fashion magazines, but is tricky to convert into sales. Plastic ready-to-wear can be 'challenging,' said Tomoko Ogura, fashion director at Barneys Co-op. If retailers go to the shows and see 'an allover plastic piece and we're really drawn to the shape, they can develop it in another fabric,' Ms. Ogura said. The result: 'a more commercial, salable piece.'
Yet some plastic designs do make the direct leap from catwalk to store rack. For example, shoppers at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman can snap up the embroidered plastic mint-green dress and polyethylene coat from Mr. Jacobs's spring runway show.
'Marc Jacobs told reporters after his plastic-filled show that he 'didn't want it to feel real.''
Designer Phillip Lim is selling nylon tops and jackets, while New York label Rag & Bone juxtaposes vinyl accents with flowing bohemian silhouettes for spring. 'If you go down a gypsy route, you need something as a foil,' said co-designer Marcus Wainwright. 'You need to have the hard and the soft. It felt like a sporty season, and futuristic.'
And, as everyone knows, the future is plastics. This has been the unwavering assumption of fashion designers for decades as they've anticipated the Jetsons-y existence we have yet to reach. In the 1930s, Surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli was infusing her revolutionary clothes with plastic. Daniel James Cole, a professor of fashion history at the Fashion Institute of Technology, points out that the 1939 World's Fair─whose slogan was 'World of Tomorrow'─showcased television, fluorescent lighting and a curious new substance known as nylon. 'There was an exhibition of hypothetical clothes of the future, which included materials like cellophane and rhodophane,' said Mr. Cole.
By the 1960s, with the onset of the Space Age, the fashion industry went into plastic overdrive. In Paris, Paco Rabanne crafted wild dresses from chain mail and plastic; in '66 he showed a collection of '12 Experimental and Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials.' While it's hard to imagine that era's housewives warming up to these outré new looks, the aesthetic did manage to go mainstream. 'There was an American company that advertised in Ladies' Home Journal a kit from which you could make a plastic disc dress,' Mr. Cole said. 'You could literally sit in your living room and make your own 'Paco Rabanne' tunic.'
In 2012, it's unlikely that anyone will market make-it-yourself vinyl bustier dresses like those shown by Dolce & Gabbana, but what's clear is that the market is feeling future-ish. Perhaps designers are interpreting the digital revolution that has been reworking our society for the last decade, or maybe it's commentary on the unreal nature of reality television. We can only imagine what Warhol would have made of the plastic enhancements in 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.'
Plastic Fashion for Real People
Four pretty ways to pull off the look
The Shimmery Pant
Plastic-coated silk is the evening fabric of the future! These Aquascutum trousers stay subtle when matched with a similarly toned top and pearly pink accessories.
The Conversation Tee
Forget sequins─Christopher Kane's laminated flower cut-outs are the new party favor, especially when matched with bold colors.
The Slick Slicker
Play up the transparency and accentuate the sea pattern of this Chanel jacket with a Pop Art-y tangerine shift (and look fabulous in a rainstorm).
The Sharp Skirt
Rag & Bone's wind-breaking pencil skirt is less about the office and more about horsing around with other sporty pieces.
LESLEY M. M. BLUME
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