What is your clothing saying about you?
Where thousand of young people from all over Europe (and other parts of the globe) arrive, a living catalogue of fashion statements is created.
Clothing is a means of self-expression. And this crowd is surely here to be heard.
Walking through the mass of people at every concert or demonstration, one can’t avoid feeling mesmerized by all the non-verbal levels of communication being emitted. Everything that the different groups state without ever opening their mouths.
Fashion is also about new social solutions, and about new social and political messages. Let us be reminded about the mini-skirt phenomenon in the 60’s or the evolution of the bikini, and all we can draw from that in what concerns the feminist emancipation history.
Choosing black or neon pink does make a big different, and it doesn’t concern just taste. A person's social identity can be established through that choice. You can be saying, “I belong with group X” or “I support the political ideas X” or even “My religious beliefs are X”. And all this just by looking at someone.
Fashion and the way one chooses to dress represent a paradox of conformity and individuality. One can blend in with the crowd and simultaneously break away by their usage of clothing.
But who define what is fashionable?
Back to Rostock, the referred catalogue is extensive. Keep a close eye on dropping knowledge’s ongoing feature about fashion solutions catwalked in the streets of Rostock.
Some images one would expect: the all-blacks, the dreadlocks, the hippies, punks. Some essential accessories seen everywhere are helmets, or backpacks of all sorts. The favorite message carriers are still pins and t-shirts. But any inch of skin or fabric or you could be writing your message is being taken exactly for that.
Sometimes, the medium seems to contradict the message. Somehow intriguing, one can find stalls all around, selling "Anti-Globalization" T-shirts and all sorts of merchandising. It is inevitable to wonder if it makes sense: queues of young people eager to offer their euros for a “Anti Capitalist” message on their chests, and supporting the no-brand brand with their consumption choices.
Does a new world require new fashion statements?
