Is modern speed ruining the creativity of fashion?

London Men's Fashion Week has just come to an end. Our Instagram feeds are flooded with pictures of fashion shows, exclusive parties and quirky outfits from the streets. A lot of events, news and upcoming trends arise one after another frantically. There are also cool “publicity stunts” for launching the collections, like J.W. Anderson's show streamed live on Grindr. So, Fashion Week is among us.

That's all very good, as usual. However, it may be interesting to look beyond the surface of clothes and think about what is actually happening in the Fashion business. In these cases Internet is miraculous. So, while I was jumping from one website to another I found a Dazed & Confused article that stimulated my thoughts. This article questions about the pace of fashion, faster than ever, and its impact on fashion designers' creativity.

@Dazed

It's not new that fashion is a constantly changing phenomenon. The crux of the matter is to understand if this speed could be positive or harmful for fashion designers. Before giving us an answer, Dazed & Confused directly asked designers what they think about, offering us a good set of opinions for reviewing the situation. 

There are many, sometimes contrasting, positions. All those interviewed (including  J.W. Anderson, Christopher Raeburn, Stuart Vevers and Craig Green) agree: yes, fashion is to quick. But their thoughts about the subject are different. 

Many of them think the fast pace of fashion is not good and actually dangerous for the success of their work, in particular when the collections to design are more than two per year. The risk is to slide into repeatability, boredom and, above all, offering poor quality, flat items. 

Another interesting point is the one of Matthew Miller, who points the finger at the fast pace of technology, rather than the fashion one. 

In contrast, there are those who accept the frenzy of their job with all the consequences that entails, like stress, pressing deadlines, etc... But if somebody considers these aspects negative, someone else thinks they are incentives for rolling up their sleeves and facing the work with passion and determination.

@Dazed

Others recognise that is the way fashion works, or better the way the world works today: times have changed, communication is faster than ever, collections are designed, launched, consumed in a very short time. 

A solution could be to take the control of the situation and of the work, clearing your head and focusing on what you want to realize. What emerges is a varied cross-section of how fashion designers live their job. What is certain is that the pace of fashion is faster than ever and it can influence designers's creativity and, above all, their work negatively. But we must not understimate the role of new technologies which have contributed to make all this more “instantly consumable”. 

However, this pace could be the incentive to get involved and make something new and inspiring. Finally, we have to face the reality and admit that not only the pace of fashion has changed, but our lives, too: so, if you want to work in the world today, you have to work at its time.