--From the "Timeless" issue of UP Magazine--
There are some things that never seem to go away: promo emails from a site you ordered from one time, your parka because it still feels like winter in April, a craving for french fries or a trusty pair of white Converse—because what don’t they go with? When it comes to things that last, fashion is durable—some pieces find their way back into every trend, every season, every year. Converse, as an example, have been around for over 100 years. Though originally designed for basketball players, they’ve become a staple for an everyday, casual look. Change is an important part of life and an important part of fashion, but there are certain timeless elements of style that live on past the current moment.
Jackie Schutjer sees fashion as a way to capture the world around her. A senior at Miami University and four-year member of Miami University Fashion and Design (MUF&D), Schutjer is the co-director of modeling for MUF&D’s 13th Annual Fashion Show this spring. She started in the marketing and PR sectors of the organization as a freshman, but has since modeled and worked as a modeling assistant and director. This year, she added student designer to her list.
“I’m inspired by the world around me,” Schutjer said with a smile. “I like to tell a story with my designs because fashion really is about capturing the world.”
Schutjer’s current project focuses on layers that represent time, contrast and change. She utilizes layers in the fabric to represent how our cumulative past experiences layer together to shape who we are today. The design focuses on hope; dark forms accented by bright white trimmings to emphasize the prevalence of hope throughout the human experience. Fashion is more than what we wear. Just as the layers of our experiences shape our personalities, the layers of a dress can hold much more meaning.
Fashion, like time and history, has an uncountable amount of dimensions to it. When designing, Schutjer first analyzes the world around her. An idea for a design can be sparked by a moment in time, the walls of a building or even a split second of a sunset. This “spark” layer is combined with other elements like texture, shape, color and the meaning behind the design.
But Schutjer emphasized that designing is not about perfection: “Just go with what your inspiration is telling you. You must adapt and change and be flexible just like in real life.”
So with all the change we experience, what makes a design last? Well, some articles of clothing and designs physically stick around. Certain materials—leather and denim, for sure—last forever. Versatility is another important aspect. Because of their simplicity, pieces like black dresses and slacks, blouses, leather jackets and mom jeans fit in almost any era. These physically timeless pieces are remembered because they never really went away. Their timelessness derives from the fact that they remain relevant despite the changes happening around them.
But there’s another kind of timelessness. High fashion design is about catching attention and keeping it—having something to talk about when a design is no longer seen on the runway. When it comes to extravagant designs, it can be more about the memory and impact that last instead of the physical article of clothing.
The Costume Institute is a collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that exhibits over 33,000 designs representing five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories. Similarly, the Gucci Garden is a museum in Florence, Italy, housing clothing, accessories and other artwork from Gucci over the years. Collections like these preserve memories of what designers were thinking and feeling, and give us a visual tour that reflects history.
We are not just wearing clothes: we’re preserving them, remembering them, admiring them. Designing is an art form that transcends time. Fashion allows us to capture and preserve moments in time just like a painting or song does.
Whether it’s the memory of a Christian Dior runway dress or the denim jacket you wear five times a week, clothes are more timeless than we realize. Like the layers of Schutjer’s design, outfits represent fragments in time. Clothes are more than what we wear: they represent us and the surrounding world.
Comments