History of metal clothing

Movies that include scenes of soldiers in armour, with the sound of clashing metals and slow, heavy movements, represent a sort of ASMR not only for fans of fantasy and ancient stories. Perhaps this is why war films continue to be very successful, despite the already warlike times we are facing. First, Dune, which, with outfits that retain water to stay hydrated even in the desert, offers a cutting-edge alternative to what used to be just a leather suit in films like Gladiator: then Furiosa, the prequel to Mad Max, where the protagonist builds herself a bionic arm. There's no need to beat around the bush or try to find a philosophical meaning in the passion that mankind has preserved for armour over the centuries: wearing heavy metal costumes capable of protecting against enemy attacks remains an incredibly attractive look, even though the Middle Ages ended long ago: heartthrobs like Heath Ledger in A Knight’s Tale and Timothée Chalamet in King know this well, as do the powerful Matt Smith in House of the Dragon and Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man. The lines of the silver suit, almost anatomical, recall the silhouette of muscles, while its shiny silver brings to mind the cold, clear surface of a mirror. In this intoxicating dichotomy between power (the muscles) and vanity (the mirror), armour remains a winning look, both on the big screen and on the runway. And the eternal icon Joan of Arc knows something about this.

Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring Summer 1998

Undercover FW06

Michiyo Inaba SS99

Jean Paul Gaultier by Di Felice Couture 2024

Comme des Garçons FW17

A Knight's Tale

King

House of The Dragon

The latest example of "metallic fashion" we've seen on the runway comes from Couture Week, specifically from the show by Nicolas Di Felice as a guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier. Drawing inspiration from one of the most famous stylistic codes of the French designer, the chain mail, the stylist paid homage to it with a minimal look that was nonetheless close to the Gaultier imagination: a long dress with a slit, completely transparent and paired with a septum piercing. It was the 90s when the designer enchanted the fashion industry by taking inspiration from cultures and stories far removed from the European luxury of the twentieth century, like SS94, which narrated the colors and eclectic jewels of Mongolia, with cascades of silver all over the body, and Spring 1998 Couture, which combined the costume of the Versailles of the Age of Enlightenment with the typical headdresses of the North African Tuareg. One of the first designers in history to choose armour as a stylistic element to bring back into the spotlight, Gaultier built over the years metal cone bra corsets and true medieval soldier gloves, elements that appear several times in his collections as a common thread of an unfinished story that now continues to be written by the maison's guest designers.

Jean Paul Gaultier SS94

Jean Paul Gaultier SS98

Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier SS07

Jean Paul Gaultier

McQueen SS00

McQueen SS00

McQueen SS00

McQueen for The Face FW98

McQueen for The Face FW98

McQueen SS98

McQueen SS98

The worrying approach of the new millennium has pushed several designers besides Gaultier to seek refuge in history. One of these is Alexander McQueen, who for FW98, titled Joan, offered a grand dedication to the figure of Joan of Arc. Between chain mail dresses and metal headdresses, glasses that colored the eyes fiery red, and equally shimmering matching outfits, the collection married the cursed charm of the figure of Joan of Arc with an equally perverse fashion, halfway between seduction and the unsettling. The collection appeared in The Face the same year in a majestic editorial, in which McQueen himself was photographed in the guise of a soldier. We find the metal mesh on the runway for SS00, when for his first show in New York, McQueen staged one of his most controversial collections. Titled Eye, the collection combined the stylistic codes of Arab tradition and Islamic religion such as the burka, the keffiyeh, and kohl with silhouettes that left much, if not all, of the models' bodies visible. Some of the looks featured real armours made with silver plates connected to each other that recalled the style of hirz (talisman) from the Middle East, even though they were worn by top models like Gisele Bündchen.

Paco Rabanne

Paco Rabanne

Paco Rabanne

Paco Rabanne 1969

Paco Rabanne

Psco Rabanne FW20

Versace Oroton

Versace FW24

Atelier Versace FW97

Balenciaga FW21

Balenciaga FW21

Cecilie Bahnsen FW24

Jil Sander FW24

Coperni FW24

Di Petsa FW24

Dries Van Noten SS25

Ferrari FW24

Chet Lo FW24

Givenchy FW24

Vetements FW25

Simone Rocha FW24

Stella McCartney FW24

Moschino SS25

MSGM FW24

Loewe SS25

Loewe FW24

Before Gaultier and McQueen, or others who made metal a lingerie element (like Thierry Mugler), one of the first designers to see the potential of silver was Paco Rabanne. Along with colleagues André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin, he was one of the founders of the Space Age movement, an aesthetic that combined past and future through the use of materials like, indeed, metal. Instead of needle and thread, Rabanne used to sew clothes on the bodies of models with the help of pliers (Coco Chanel called him a «metallurgist of fashion), which he sometimes gave to clients so they could build the looks to their liking. Rabanne's avant-garde dresses were highly appreciated in the world of cinema and music, with stars like Françoise Hardy and Brigitte Bardot expanding their popularity. In 1966, the same year he launched the brand, he contributed to the costume design for James Bond Casino Royale, a year later he dressed Audrey Hepburn in Two for the Road, and a year later Jane Fonda appeared in a Rabanne two-piece in a promotional spot for Barbarella. The 60s went crazy for novelties, and Rabanne went crazy for womenswear innovation, a whirlwind of enthusiasm that helped to cement silver among the most popular colors for evening dresses, and which twenty years later would inspire Gianni Versace to invent oroton, worn by his muses Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer.

More than fifty years after the first creations of metallurgist Rabanne, armour-dresses continue to make an impact at Fashion Week. The last designer to use actual armour for styling a collection was Demna from Balenciaga, who for FW21 created digital avatars halfway between bloke-core and medieval-core. Metallic silver returned to the spotlight at SS25 thanks to Jonathan Anderson for Loewe, Dries Van Noten, who for his last show as creative director created glittering lamé suits, but also Cecile Bahnsen, Coperni, Givenchy, and Simone Rocha, who created floral appliqués, 3D sheath dresses, and accessories halfway between armour and space age complete with a metal effect similar to aluminum. Among the emerging fashion spaces, the name of YVMIN is making its way, a jewelry brand that, among other things, creates custom silver prosthetics with organic silhouettes encrusted with diamonds. Wearing armour is certainly a dream achievable for few, but if you were wondering if even those clothes so far from our daily lives have retained their charm, just look at the outfit worn by Zendaya at the world premiere of Dune Part Two: Thierry Mugler Couture Fall 1995. To remind us that velvet and stiletto heels are gorgeous, but that sometimes leaving the comfort zone makes a great impression.