Existentialism and Fashion in Pakistan
Lately I have been too obsessed with existentialism. I am learning that all I have learnt, and all my beliefs have a single word to explain it all, and that word is Existentialism. Well, I'm not gonna delve into the feelings I'm evoking in myself when I learn more and more about it, but since I tend to think a lot about fashion, i was left wondering where do we get existentialism in Pakistani fashion? Does one even need to think about fashion from this point of view, specially in a country where fashion came to the news front only a few years ago?
Yes, we do need to think about existentialism in fashion. A brand or a designer or a label is known for their aesthetics, their beliefs; their signature in short, conforms to their existentialist beliefs, whether they see it or not. There is something in the soul of the collection that translates into being something more than clothes, more than stitches, and more than fashion. It's how fashion becomes art, and it's how this form of art retains a strong root to it's founding ideas. It takes some designers years to come to terms with what they have been feeling all along and perfect the stroke of the fashion illustration, whereas some designers are quick to catch up to their true selves. While some just keep evolving where experimentation pays off.
The veterans of our fashion industry seem to have nailed the whole signature thing. They have learnt to embrace that some things and design senses will remain their own and to each his/her own. And it's an important part of existentialism. To know your individuality, and embracing the differences of others from you and learning to love the diverse environment. Ego only gets in the way of it. Which we have seen getting in the way, but you see, things are slowly changing.
You see, existentialism deals with being. With exuding your insides towards the outside. Being true to yourself. And in the process, it is necessary to know who you really are. If you know who you are, you will know what you want. If you will know what you want and where you wanna go, it will translate into your work. But it is similarly important to know what you don't want and where you don't wanna go. And it translates very well into the collections a designer produces. It is only natural to be inspired and evolve into something better. But it is also very necessary to know who YOU ARE, and not take the directions others took. It is very very easy to be confused and deceived along the way. And it shows in the clothes you create. It shows how confused you are, and how lost your direction is. It shows how desperately you are in need of yoga/meditation/therapy.
I have talked about the veterans, but I believe the new crop of designers, courtesy of fashion weeks, displays a strong sense of self esteem. The young crop of designers have this sense of self awareness that one craves for, like something much more than the surface and something deep and pure. They know where they stand, in terms of their art and skill, and know how to hone themselves accordingly. And the most amazing thing is the support they have for each other. It's a great aspect of creating a community where individualism and creative expression is promoted and being one's self is appreciated.
Existentialism is in fact, a huge part of fashion, if one sees it that way. While some might not even bother to notice, it can in fact make or break a designer. It is very important to know who you are, where you stand, and what you want with yourself, not with your clothes/collection. It is really necessary to know all of this, else you'll end up making clothes one will be bound to say are unstructured garments just out of politeness.