Louis Vuitton F/W 2011 - Remember the days of wood and wool

Among the many things I have seen over the course of my many travels is the fact that uniforms seem to be extremely nifty anytime a course of action is needed that sways from the norm. Be it a kind of reformation or a revolution, attires have much to play. The Abbassids, when they went on their crusade, had a habit of adorning robes of black and this use of black is also common among the Roman Catholics of southern Spain, especially Seville during their Easter processions. Aside from faith, uniforms have a tendency for being a marker, like in schools and as an identifier, hospitals spring to mind regarding that description.

One group of people that used uniform particularly well were political groups with radical preachings. The Communists and the Fascists of the 20th century are the two groups notorious for this. The Communists were particularly interesting due in part to the fact that they seemed very similar across frontiers except maybe for the change in colour or how thick those Nehru-collar utilitarian shirts were. This kind of uniform-branding is heavily imbued with strong political preachings. The Feminist movement as it grew also had the same changes and this changes eventually dripped down to all women now and the only lone movement that is in contrast are among the Naturists, where the lack of uniform is the entire basis of their beliefs, although it has to be said that nudity displays a wide scope of shapes and styles and I belief that Naturists, by its being, is the antithesis and also, the lone voice among these singular voices in fashion

The Fascists deserve a mention for a number of reasons. Despite the fact that their beliefs might be reprehensible to some or many, their attires were highly unique for its conformity, but yet, for its highly aesthetic nature. They took a lot of effort in their image and all the division from the ranking order has a story to be told. Symbols, motifs and colours had a large part to play and a certain pride can be seen from how much these were at the forefront.

For one, we need look at the armbands the Nazis placed on themselves, with the swastika symbol swashed on a red background. An armband has always been a unique piece of clothing for it’s very visibility is a show of how of allegiance or support. It is also a very powerful identifier. In football matches, the captain is known by this band and if they are memorializing or remembering something, a death or an event, an armband is worn as a show of respect. In fascism, everyday is memory. Memory of defeat to never be forgotten, memory of a proud past. Fashion as uniform is always about memory and nostalgia.

When I saw this collection by Louis Vuitton, these thoughts came to me. It was a wonderful collection, extremely old-fashioned but had a transcendence I would not expect from this label. It spoke a lot of stories and one was this fetishistic vision you just see when looking at it. A made-up world of powerful dominant women, and yet, with an almost conformist tinge to it.

It is amazing that as uniforms are as much a part of our cultural atmosphere, it seems that females take it up much more wholeheartedly than men. The male tends to be afraid of uniforms as they dislike being boxed in a subculture seemingly worse than them and prefer their attires to have an idea that more often than not, make them part of the nouveau-riche as opposed to females who revel in their fantasies, as seen in circus-performers in tuxedos and speedos.

The use of strong bondage-like apparel like leather and patent materials does a lot for this collection to stand out and brings out a modern dominatrix quality with an inherent demeanour of pomp for the masses. The short-skirted jackets and the pencil skirts emphasize the powerful female, possessive of her sexuality in a way that the male attire tends to be devoid of.

The outrageous exaggeration of waists seen in some of skirts, the oversized jackets and puffy sleeves counter the effects just elaborated but this contrast is intriguing for it displays the maternal side much more, a severe side where the sexuality is suppressed but yet, full.

The display of breasts in diaphanous attire is both powerful force of female symbolism, of maternity and emancipation, the complexity of that particular body-part brings a lot of allusions and here we see it in somewhat erotic terms, bringing to light the last bit of frontier for new erogenous zones for women and yet shrouding it like some precious relic, both alluding to maternity and emancipation.

The authoritarian fashion sense likes to enhance qualities and we see it here, where this Volkisch ideal with its anti-liberal interpretation of women brought out its essence and yet, in this day and age, what we see here is feminity at its strongest, predatorial and delicate. The only thing that remains to be answered is what memory is this of?