Intro To Fashion Studies
Firas Zedan
LP Post #4
Fashion And The Future
Pierre Cardin Exhibition
During my visit to the Pierre Cardin exhibit exploring his work inspired by a utopian future, I was personally most interested in a men’s jacket from 1967, as shown below.
I thought this was particularly interesting in the social context of the 1960s when men were more likely to dress up in full suits and athleisure hadn’t been as popular. This jacket, titled Cosmosuit, features similar colors used in the traditional suiting of the era, beiges and greys were the most popular. Mohair, wool and sharkskin suits were the common materialities of these suits but Pierre was picturing a less traditional future for menswear, the jacket is made of jersey, layered on top of a wool turtle as opposed to using a traditional shirt. The softness of the jersey and wool turtleneck imagines a more sensitive future, where comfort and class acted together. The jacket and pants had a certain density uncommon for suiting, there is a visible tenderness and puffiness that suggests comfort. Other interesting features were the zipper closed pockets with a small silver hoop, focusing on small details such as incorporating the hardware also gives us the idea that there is a certain ease to this garment, showing us a developed idea of functionality less traditional that the usual open pockets. I thought that this was one of his more modern pieces but I was surprised to see that this was conceptualized in the 60s. There is an underlying suggestion that the future is not only chic and professional but comfortable and functional, the design also seems to exceed gender in its simplicity. I could easily picture modern day women wearing this jacket. Definitely a nod to his more feminine aesthetic of the future.
The hem was also interesting due to its construction, the doubling gave it a new dimension that allows the garment to look light and puffy. Overall I believe that with this suit Pierre had imagined a future were masculinity and femininity were more fluid, comfort had to come first and the development of hardware would reimagine the functionality of suits.
