Before Donald Trump became president of the United States, the definition "fake news" was mainly applied to describe intentionally misleading information and hoaxes divulged via traditional means of communication or online, for example via social media.
Fake news became in the last few years a dangerous practice as they can easily start a trend, especially when bots help spreading them via fake social media accounts.
US President Donald Trump introduced a new meaning to this definition, hinting with the term "fake news" to those news outlets that do not agree with him. Trump's rants about "fake news" have actually turned into one of the first and foremost sources of misinformation.
At the weekend while various women's marches were taking place all over the United States - from New York and Washington, D.C. to Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, just to mention a few places - Trump even stated in a tweet: "Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!"
Now, either the stable genius (as he recently defined himself...) didn't realise what the women's march was about or he is creating a parallel reality he likes to inhabit where he spreads his own news and beliefs.
But is it possible to tackle a complex theme such as the "fake news" issue on the runway? Apparently yes, as proved by the trends recently seen during the Paris menswear shows.
Japanese designer Chitose Abe opened her A/W 18 menswear and Pre-Fall 2018 womenswear Sacai collections with the results of her collaboration with Reyn Spooner, a brand more famous for its Hawaiian shirts.
The collaboration seemed unlikely, but Abe and Reyn Spooner represent Japan and Hawaii, countries at the centre of the recent nuclear tensions between North Korea and the USA, so working together for them was maybe a way to react to aggressive threats and pessimism in a positive way.
The unlikely match also worked on the runway: rather than coming up with short sleeved Hawaiian shirts, Abe turned the prints into wintry motifs for padded jacket, sweaters and fringed ponchos matched with leggings and trousers in the same patterns.
The designs came in a palette of red, purple, green, blue and white that actually worked pretty well, giving a dynamic rhythm to the rest of the show.
Then Abe remixed a series of garments and repatched them together: traditional check patterns, Aran knits, plaid motifs, padded or fur panels and sensible tailored jackets were deconstructed and recombined.
Some of the designs were zipped together, others were seamlessly joined together as it happened to a skier's sweater with a traditional Nordic motif mashed with a camouflage parka for that military utility-meets-mountain holiday vibe.
The exercise may have been disastrous as Abe collaged in one design several garments and patterns, yet the outcomes of this monstrous hybridisation (definitely a trend seen also at Prada, as you may remember) were quite pleasing, especially when it came to the dresses in which very different fabrics such as heavy velvet and light chiffon were stitched together or to a pleated half kilt in a tweed fabric matched with sporty denim pants.
Abe avoided falling into cliches, producing harmony via contrasts: the final mood was idyllic and a bit folkish, a vibe strengthened by the other collaborations on the runway with Uggs for footwear and with Japanese jewellery brand Goro (the late Goro Takahashi was close to the Lakota tribe and became the first non-Lakota person to take part in the "Sun Dance") for the silver feather pendants, while the bags were inspired by Sioux and Native American art.
But there was a modern twist added in the designs and some slogans that brought back the collection to our days: Abe included indeed in the collection a T-shirt and a hoodie with The New York Times' "Truth. It's more important now than ever" slogan, part of the newspaper "The Truth is Hard" 2017 ad campaign.
On the back of one hoodie Abe also printed the full New York Times manifesto, a 19-line long declaration that could be read as an active poem for truth.
The New York Times campaign wasn't actually a direct reaction to the attacks of President Donald Trump to media outlets he dislikes, but it was more a way for the newspaper to combat the proliferation of "fake news" and remind to consumers which are the core values of the publication.
There was actually a further connection with the media in Abe's show as Sacai's catwalk took place in the old buildings of the Liberation newspaper.
Sacai wasn't the only one celebrating the freedom of the press on the runway: young French brand Études also displayed an interest in such themes.
Their collection moved from ancient Greece and photojournalists' vests: red and black figure vessels appeared on sweats and on knitted scarves and the classic multipocketed vest was turned into jackets, coats or functional skirts.
Maybe there was a bit of the late photographer Kevin Carter and the Bang Bang Club in the practical clothes: while the climbing hooks pointed at freetime and activities in the open air, the survival ropes decorating the sweaters or the coats hinted at more hostile environments.
But while Kevin Carter freelanced in war zones, the models on this runways inhabited a urban environment, as proved by The New York Times logo knitted on scarves or printed on shirts and sweats.
The designers Jérémie Égry, Aurélien Arbet and José Lamali, stated there was no political message behind such garments, but they included them in the show to support freedom of expression. A further cue was given by the prints of Robert Crumb's "Fritz the Cat" on a shirt: if you thought about Crumb's "Zap Comix" and its focus on open, uncensored self-expression, you realised the reference went pretty well with the journalistic theme the design collective tried to tackle.
So this was the best message out of the men's collections: even a frivolous runway show can become a good opportunity to remind us all about a search for the truth and a fundamental human right such as freedom of expression. Let's just hope these themes will not be just an excuse for trendy clothes, but they will keep on being quintessential parts of who we are.
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