LIFE ON MARS
Fashion Forecasting & Narrative AD5605 2000 word report of Summer research and trend forecast Freya Davidson
For this module, we have been asked to respond to the brief to create a visual research book, of which is based around the idea of ‘LIFE ON MARS’ and how we could potentially transform the red planet into a more permanent residence for the future. Life has changed, it’s different, we have all changed. The question is, is it a good change or a bad change. Covid-19 has been a whirlwind of a journey with highs and lows, but now that we are slowly coming out of the misery we have all had to endure, we are starting to see the changes that will impact our future. Again, is it a brighter future or an uncertain future filled with doubts and worries.
All Clothing / AWAYTOMARS
WHAT’S NEXT… Now that we are returning to some form of normality, we now have to establish what happens next. Life doesn’t stop, everything has to move on with time. The pandemic has presented a new chapter in which we become the creators of an unknown universe. The idea of moving to Mars seems very much out of our reach and unrealistic. If not our lifetime, the potential for it to happen for future generations may not seem so far out of reach, considering this planet that inhabits 7 billion people may not survive if something of great danger were to strike, such as an environmental disaster or most likely global warming. Scientists have conducted research on this out of the ordinary idea for generations. Most likely, before we were even born, deciding where our future will take us, and if we were to live on Mars, how would it work, what would we need to survive? With this idea in mind, we have to be dangerous with our thinking and remember not to play it too safe or be too careful, as moving to another planet is a big step, it is most certainly not as simple as stepping on a plane and flying to another country, because we would essentially be packing up our whole life.
Conducting my research from the point of view of 10, 20 years on from now, everything has adapted since COVID-19, younger generations dominate the fashion industry as consumers, they have demands and strong concerns for what is going on in the world, they are consumed by technology in every day life and artificial intelligence has taken over the role of manual labour, humans are not lazy anymore because this is just simply a new way of life, it has become the reality where technology puts in all of the work due to the intelligence that it has obtained. From looking into younger generations and how much technology consumes their life, I began to look at the future of social media and technology and how the past may have an input into how it has surfaced today. For example, the sci-fi tv series, Black Mirror stands as an example as to how the future of technology could turn out if misused, it could potentially accomplish one of the following things. Either, commence a civil war as previously stated in the documentary, The Social Dilemma. Trigger mental health issues amongst younger generations which has already been achieved. Or it may just eventually expose the darkest side of humanity.
Earth is a reminder of our past mistakes. Mars is how we move forward. It is the ANSWER.
As fashion communicators and marketers, it is our job to determine how fashion would operate on another planet. This raises many questions including… would we still be able to rely on technology, would we be able to design clothes by hand etc. For this part, I conducted my research on various aspects of fashion and how it has influenced this new idea. For example, there is the space age trend from the 60’s which revolved around the idea of pushing boundaries, this is where we see designers of the likes of Paco Rabanne and Pierre Cardin design dresses from metal and plastic, experimenting with shapes and silhouettes. And then there was the iconic 60’s film Barbarella which opened up a new world for femininity and politics, the film potentially influenced women to be strong and speak up even though women had little power and were restricted of their freedom. In light of recent events, Barbarella could somewhat be seen as an influence for the future portrayal of femininity. The murder of Sarah Everard has made it clear that we still remain present in the days where women are treated differently. Nevertheless, Barbarella is seen as an influence because of how she flaunts her femininity and dresses how she wishes as if she has the upper hand. In the film, Fonda’s character portrays a feminist icon who isn’t afraid of men and who has no shame in revealing her body to the world.
HOW I CHOOSE TO DRESS IS NOT THE PROBLEM.
On account of my research into the 1968 film Barbarella, I decided to further my research on the topic of politics and whether or not fashion is becoming too political. To backup this idea, I began to look into this years Met Gala event which held the theme of American history, with some attendees at the event boasting costumes of which had political references. For example, one outfit in particular really struck a chord with the political statement reading ‘TAX THE RICH’ in bold red writing, this bold statement refers to the wealthy citizens of American society who pay less tax than those who earn less than them. With regard to this topic, I see politics and fashion under a more positive light due to the fact that when put together, awareness can be brought to audiences on a wider scale. With reference to the idea of moving to Mars, I see politics as a beneficial tool for informing people of our current global warming crisis and how political statements could create a healthier life for us on Mars. Politics may be the one thing that prevents humanity from making the same mistakes. The mistakes we have created on planet earth will stand as a lesson to make better choices in this new chapter.
Following on from my research and findings of which provided me with an insight as to what future life could be like on Mars, I have formed an idea from the research that has led me into a considerable development, which leaves us a step closer to solving the issue of how we can make this irrational idea work. During the course of my research, I stumbled upon an article published by iD Magazine which reads ‘investigating the fashionable masks of the future,’ the idea to amend the current face mask was something that we all could’ve predicted due to the lack of wearability. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been advised to wear face masks in indoor public spaces as they are supposed to protect us and minimise the spread of the virus. However, ultimately, a piece of fabric on a string is not going to protect us from future epidemics or, even on mars. If Covid-19 marks the beginning of future epidemics, looking into how we can make a product more wearable and that fits into our technology infused world is exactly what we need to be doing, if we think that we can make this move work in the long term. I’m sure by now, everyone has experienced the discomfort, that is removing the face mask for the first time. My aim for this new and exciting product is to make it more wearable. Why? Because the motive for mass adoption of this product is wearability, as stated in the article.
UNCOVER ME
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After affirming my idea for my trend prediction, based around the idea of future life on Mars. I set upon researching trend forecasting agencies of the likes of WGSN and Fashion Snoops NYC to gain a deeper understanding of what goes into predicting a trend, in order to predict a trend or a product etc. We have to have an awareness of what is going on in the world right now, and of course, this involves a lot of research. To broaden my research of this idea, I began looking into how the face mask could become a fashion staple in everyday life. From this extended research, I discovered that the face mask is becoming a fashionable accessory that one would wear to complete an outfit. As a result of Covid-19, designers have been looking into how they can embrace the face mask as a fashionable accessory and as something that provides protection. For inspiration, I looked into Rick Owens SS21 collection and Maison Margiela AW18 collection.
Furthering the development of my trend, I began looking into colour. I wanted my colour palette and materials to represent my trend and possess a strong compatibility. This led me into further developments of my trend as I appointed “THE REFLECTION” as the focal point, “THE REFLECTION” serves as the new identity, revealing that our identities will no longer be concealed by the piece of material that covers half of our face. The images below communicate this idea of the damage to the coat being irreversible, but the reflection is mirroring a brighter future in another universe, and this also acts as a reference to the damage of planet earth.
Pictured here are visuals to support my idea for the colour palette existing as reflective colours and materials that all act as a mirror for brighter days ahead.
Once I appointed “THE REFLECTION” as the focal point of this idea, I began experimenting/ collaging with images from Pinterest that represent the colour palette I was reasoning with, so I began to look at colours that could be best associated with life on Mars. Starting with metallic colours, for instance, silver. Metallic colours came to mind due to the metallic shine that usually accompanies each colour, again this is significant as it returns the idea of the reflection and the light bouncing off of the surface/material to mirror something greater ahead of us. Furthering developments into the chosen colour palette and materials, I began experimenting with the idea of moving colour as an indication that everything has to keep moving with the times, this moving colour idea was created as a GIF in Photoshop.
To conclude, I intend to build upon my idea further in order to reach a successful outcome. This means, combining research and supported visuals, determining the ideal consumer, and as stated before, in order to captivate the attention of the consumer, we need this product to have one feature, of which is wearability. At present, our current consumer is targeted towards the youngest generation. Generation Alpha. Unlike Gen Z, generation Alpha are more likely to have an eager and open mind with regard to the idea of a futuristic, high-tech, wearable face mask, characterized as the re-creation of the virtual reality world. This is because generation Alpha kids have yet to experience the discomfort, that is wearing a surgical mask due to the fact that it has not been introduced as compulsory for children to wear face masks. For the consumer, it will be a new and exciting immersive experience. In order to turn this idea into a marketable product, it is paramount to have an understanding of the origins of the product. For example, why it came into existence. From there, we can acquire a more contemporary narrative, one that portrays a modern day version of the 1898 surgical mask. To finalize the reflection part of my research and development so far, I wanted to reiterate this whole idea of revealing our identities on account of the discomfort and annoyance of which the face mask has generated. Since the introduction of face masks became compulsory, our identity has been concealed to the point where even technology can’t recognize us. We have become strangers to our own objects, particularly our mobile phones of which refuse our desire to carry out transactions through Apple Pay.
References
Laura Pitcher. (2020, May 19). Investigating the fashionable masks of the future. FASHION. i-D Vice. Retrieved from https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/wxq8d4/investigating-the-masks-of-the-future
Image References FIGURE 1. MARS. (Nicolas Ritter). https://www.nicolasritter.com/MARS FIGURE 2. away to mars. (Schon Magazine). https://schonmagazine.com/away-to-mars/ FIGURE 2: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/669206825887229562/ FIGURE 3: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/26529085294643502/ FIGURE 4: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/49821139615840046/ FIGURE 5: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/185351340902722614/ FIGURE 6: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/15270086229823185/ FIGURE 7: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/6403624460122779/ FIGURE 8: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/22447698130136039/ FIGURE 9: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/631418810261807701/ FIGURE 10: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/665477282444425577/ FIGURE 11: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/65302263338549333/ FIGURE 12: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/338403359499588583/ FIGURE 13: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/338403359499588583/ FIGURE 14: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/222646775318827699/ FIGURE 15: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/328551735322270704/ FIGURE 16: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/164240717639515562/
FIGURE 17: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/342695852895385686/ FIGURE 18: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/635711303629058446/ FIGURE 19: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/197384396158419193/ FIGURE 20: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/701787554441787546/ FIGURE 21: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/190066046763176861/ FIGURE 22: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/249527635594731082/ FIGURE 23: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/356206651754561837/
LIFE ON MARS