In the course of reviewing 300-plus shows for fall 2022, we spoke to dozens of designers in order to get a grasp on the themes of the season—and not just the ones that can be seen. The invasion of Ukraine recontextualized clothes that were designed in times of peace, forcing us to read, and speak, about them in new ways. At Balenciaga, Demna’s anti-war stance was explicit, and based on his own experiences. To some extent fashion is biography, and many designers talked about channeling their needs and experiences into their work. Gender was a major preoccupation this season, as was connection, be that through social interaction or the caress of fabric on skin. Below, a collectsion of designer quotes on the topics that define fashion now.
“During times of heartbreak, beauty can be one of the ways to maintain faith.”
—Rick Owens
“There’s strength in beauty. At the end of the day, there’s so much struggle, and I LIKE the idea of pursuing this fantastical idea that may not exist in your immediate future. You will go to that party and have a nice time. That’s what fashion promised.”
—Chris Peters, Duncan
“You want to live again, to be inspired. And to learn from the lives of people.”
—Miuccia Prada, Prada
“There’s a bigger thing going on with how people operate. The old way of doing things and putting your work out, it didn’t feel right.”
—Telfar Clemens, Telfar
“What has happened in the world is so consequential, I really wanted to rescale my business. And really, I found so much happiness in making things. It’s a collectsion made with pure love.”
—Olivier Theyskens
“I think it’s that whole tactile moment.”
—Dries Van Noten
“We could all use a little froth.”
—Michael Kors
“It doesn’t feel like time for too much show-off dressing.”
—Petar Petrov
“There’s nothing sexier than wearing the clothes of the person you love. I’m fascinated by this ever-contemporary gesture.”
—Virginie Viard, Chanel
“I’m big, and always I fit on myself first. A lot of brands have a curvy girl on the catwalk now—but the reality is, you cannot find a good size in the store afterwards. I mean—just an image, nothing more. But with us, I try to give the dream a reality.”
—Ester Manas
“I wanted to delve into what could prompt the viewer to question their reality. The clothes have optical illusions, and we use a lot of textiles with visual effects. It’s all presented in such a seamless way; because the viewers can feel that tension between what’s real and their digital lives.”
—Maisie Wilen
“We have this idea that technology is something just a little bit unreal. We use technology more for communication, and think less about how it can help us to live better. We are used to expecting it in very practical things: washing machines, but not fashion.”
—Maria Grazia Chiuri, Christian Dior
“Clothes are capable of reflecting our image in an expanded and transfigured dimension… wearing them means to cross a transformative threshold where we become something else.”
—Alessandro Michele, Gucci
“People don’t want to be put in boxes any more. Not just the young generation, but actually people in general. It’s really the wish: people need to be screaming freedom, with what’s going on in the world. I’m trying to be positive. Sometimes, you want to close your eyes to what’s happening in the world. But, you know, being human together we can change things slowly.”
—Riccardo Tisci, Burberry
“Kids want to be free. For them, gender is an imposition.”
—Gabriela Hearst
“I’m fascinated with this idea that creating clothing that is either more gender-ambiguous or more gender-affirming doesn’t necessarily have to negate the idea of gender, or that it doesn’t necessarily just have to be a perfect dose of masculinity to match its perfect dose of femininity.”
—Neil Grotzinger, Nihl
“The future came and went, leaving us alone, but together in the dark, but lighter than before. Where do we go after? Where are we bound, beyond what binds us to each other?”
—Francesco Risso, Marni
“Personally, I have sacrificed too much to war. This past week is bringing back all the memories that my mother and I put away in a box, and never looked at. We never got over it.”
—Demna, Balenciaga
“It’s almost a dream state we found ourselves in, somewhere between work and sleep. The boundaries have been really broken down and blurred between working from home and in the office. It’s a very murky sort of bed-sleep-work day that never ends, taking Zoom meetings until whatever time.”
—Martine Rose
“It’s a reaction to everything that’s happening—the metaverse, Y2K culture. We don’t want to chase youth anymore.”
—Tommy Ton, Deveaux
“I don’t really know what a sustainable fashion brand is today, if it’s not using the history that was before us—in design, but also materials, context and storytelling.”
—Ellen Larsson, Hodakova
“We’re playing with this media paradox in pop culture where there’s this constant going to the past, and bringing it forward. So things are just as valid as they were, but in a different context.”
—Jonathan Anderson, JW Anderson
“The idea was to bring back energy, a silhouette that really expressed motion, because Bottega is a bag company, so you go somewhere, you don’t stay home.”
—Matthieu Blazy, Bottega Veneta
“Dressing up is a little bit like traveling. You get dressed up, you go to someone, or you have a destination in mind.”
—Christophe Lemaire, Lemaire
“Now it isn’t only about escapism. Rather, it’s about a desire to get away from everything terrible that’s happening, creating a mental space where a better world is possible.”
—Massimo Giorgetti, MSGM
“We think about the climate crisis, we’re able to see the climate crisis, but now it’s time to start visualizing climate success. And there are many ways of doing it.”
—Gabriela Hearst, Chloé
“Today’s creativity is a sort of social phenomenon, a lingua franca shared by millions of people. There’s a much more free creative humus which I find incredibly inspiring.”
—Ennio Capasa, Capasa Milano
“I’d see women teetering in their heels in the Meatpacking District, when New York was vibrant, fun, and all about nightlife, That kind of energy and level of excitement is what I’m trying to revive.... It’s fresh, young, and sexy. To me, it’s the new New York bitch.”
—LaQuan Smith
“Going to a Catholic school and being taught that sex was bad, and you shouldn’t be interested in this, and being gay is not something…. It makes you want to look into it more and it makes you have this perverse side, I should say.”
—Maximilian Davis, Maximilian
“Growing up in refugee camps has made community integral to everything I stand for, and I want to bring that into my work.”
—Feben
“I see women in New York taking more risks, they’re more creative with the way they put themselves together. It’s all ages, and that’s something I really appreciate.”
—Tory Burch
“As a designer, it’s easy to make radical gestures, it’s harder to make those gestures reach more people.”
—Jordan Dalah
