The underwater world in the fashion trend Seascape

Some designers in the "system" during the recent fashion weeks intercepted a common feeling: the desire to escape from reality. Is this perhaps a reaction to the excessive formality of quiet luxury? Can fashion help us escape from the boredom of everyday life? The trend Seascape literally means "escape to the sea" and, in a sense, more than a passing trend, it expresses society's need to imagine itself in other dimensions like that of water and the seabed. From the micro-droplets applied on transparencies in the latest collection of Givenchy to the scaled bags of Ferragamo, Seascape encompasses the contemporary desire to inhabit and "wear" places that allow us to transcend the boundaries of the city.

Seascape today

Bottega Veneta FW24

Bottega Veneta FW24

Bottega Veneta FW24

Ferragamo FW24

David Koma Resors 2024

David Koma Resors 2024

David Koma FW24

David Koma FW24

Bottega Veneta FW24

Ferragamo FW24

Ferragamo FW24

Ferragamo FW24

Givenchy FW24

Guvenchy FW24

Stella McCartney FW24

Maximilian Davis, during his latest collection for Ferragamo, presented some garments and bags made of scaly and shiny fabric, almost reminiscent of the skin of Japanese Koi carp or seahorses. Davis reproduced, through refined craftsmanship, the preciousness of the abysses: from the deepest coral red to the colors of the sandy seabed illuminated by the reflections of the sun. Matthieu Blazy of Bottega Veneta, in his stylistic reflections on "new" formal clothing and the search for uniqueness in everyday life, has often shown his love for silhouettes and materials that refer to the marine imaginary. For this latest collection, the French designer has re-proposed the "sardine," the brand's it-bag, with a gold handle that exactly replicates the fish's body and some dresses with wide skirts reminiscent of seaweed and marine anemones, not to mention the woven "fish clutch," which has become one of the most desired accessories of this season. The Seascape trend materializes not only in "subaqueous" textures but also in the movement generated by the woven wool scarves like in the latest collection by Stella McCartney, up to the shark fin and translucent materials in David Koma's accessories. Even the "dewy make-up," a makeup that reproduces a wet and luminous effect at the same time, evokes the image of saltwater shining on the skin.

Vintage Seascape

Versace SS92

Versace SS92

Versace SS92

Versace SS92

Versace SS21

Versace SS21

Lady Gaga x Bad Romance

Alexander McQueen SS10

Alexander McQueen SS10

Alexander McQueen SS10

Alexander McQueen SS10

Shapes and symbols of sea culture have been the subject of the imaginative spirit of some of the designers from the past. Gianni Versace, in the spring of 1992, presented a collection called 'Tresor de la mer': a declaration of love for the Mediterranean, which stemmed from his Calabrian origins and his passion for classical Greek culture, bringing to the catwalk the treasures hidden in the sand and deep waters of his land.  Think of the iconic print with starfish, coral and shells brought back on jackets and waistcoats that season, or the metallic knit dresses and bodices embellished with gems and embroidery: a parade of 'Venuses' like Linda Evangelista and Yasmeen Ghauri. These archive garments were then re-proposed by Donatella Versace for "Atlantis", the spring 2021 collection presented during the pandemic: a way of bringing to light the marvellous ruins of the continent that sank into the ocean, at a moment in history when we all plunged into the unknown to emerge into a new everyday life.

Also, Alexander McQueen, a poet and author of imaginative and theatrical fashion, in his latest collection entitled "Plato's Atlantis" created, as he had always done, a post-apocalyptic parallel universe in which humanity, having destroyed the earth, returns to inhabit the waters. A world populated by multifaceted creatures resembling snakes, jellyfish, and sea monsters wearing sculptural garments with kaleidoscopic digital prints and claw-heels, the mythical "Armadillo" made famous by Lady Gaga in the Bad Romance music video which, among other things, served as the soundtrack to McQueen's show. Suzy Menkes, a well-known fashion critic, in an article by Emma Hope Allwood for Dazed, defined the collection as the "dramatic revolution of the twenty-first century," a stylistic testament to a way of making fashion and reflecting on the changes in society by looking to the future, imagining a fascinating and grotesque dimension almost prophetic in the relationship between man, nature, and technology that confirms how McQueen was one of the greatest visionaries that fashion has ever had. Some study the nature and form of sea creatures biologically, others imagine and animate them by creating stories or films that reveal the secrets of these unknown species like Andersen's Little Mermaid or like the case of the human monster devised by Guillermo del Toro in "The Shape of Water" and instead, some designers like to be inspired by their appearance to create objects of desire. The reason for this escape must therefore be sought in the contemporary idea, common to many, of ​​escaping the greyness of cities, that industrial area that dresses us in monotony and seriousness, to seek in fashion something extraordinary that feeds our imagination beyond the boundaries of the world.