Burberry men's Fall 2019 – London Fashion Week.

(Images from Vogue.com and wwd.com. The public domain. All rights. Used in promotion of the designer.)

I am cautiously skeptical when high end designers implement a sort of social consciousness to what they feel, is reflective in their collections.  On the whole, with political discordance and the overblown digitalized culture wars, which most certainty will begin to wind down.  Are beginning to run out of breath in all of its pettiness of trying to call out the left and right via online tediums – yet all the while they both ended up sounding the same.  Specifically, even if the world is divided from a Western perspective, it is the age old problem of the gap between rich and poor, which is getting wider by the day.  Not some armchair theoriest spouting internet catchphrases. In the meantime we remain interconnected and globally set within the confines of Silicon valley 'sensibilities'. Until the cold war part two becomes colder and networks and trade routes begin to shut down, then you may feel a real divide forming.  And no, I do not watch Doomsday Preppers. 

The creative director for the stalwart English multinational brand Burberry is an Italian by the name of Riccardo Tisci, who has set for the Fall 2019 collection the trends that have filtered through from 2018 – which is the early and mid 90s looks.  The mix and matching, cut and reshaped opshop/thrift street wear styles. That the young people, early 20s, are actually wearing on the streets.  Whether it creates the impression of good or bad trends forming, the bottom line is; it's been done before.  If you have lived through it, despite the age difference, it's not that inspiring to see today. Which is a shame and indicative that the streets, where trends can and usually form, have stepped back into past shadows with the major brands trying to sell into these stagnant markets. Particularly a high end and expensively priced brand like Burberry. 

Tisci has reconfigured some of these early looks in a nostalgic trip of 1990s 'freedom' where he feels London and the world is currently “Less free...” (actually there was no Internet, smartphones and the EU was in its infancy.) - when he was studying at Central Saint Martins in the 90s.  Selling the past only works for a brief moment, but it is unfortunate that society is trying to move back into where it might find some comfort and that at times, that is understandable.  However, the problem with that is, you'll only find ghosts.  And they are hungry. 

It's best to put the past to rest.