A Reflection On Wardrobe

In the last few months, we have been through several chaotic circumstances. Some troublesome, some boring and useless. During quarantine, whilst experiencing boredom and perplexity, I read an article about Michele Lamy’s latest installation at Venice Biennale titled What Are We Fighting For?. This is an interesting question, as it deals with our own identity, both as individuals and as a society, and I was not able to find any answers to it.

After subscribing to MUBI, I watched a short film made by filmmaker and photographer Tyrone Lebon and Bottega Veneta’s current creative director Daniel Lee, titled Men. A multidisciplinary collection of musicians, dancers, and artists was asked to reflect and define their own identity as men, through deepening the significance of dressing– an intimate and personal ritual.

What is the meaning and the importance of dress? Why and how do we get dressed? This slowly reminded me of how clothes explain who we are and who we want to be. Was my wardrobe suitably and effectively explaining something about me? Was it representative of my attitudes, ideas, choices, and way of life?

I began to critically reflect on the role of my wardrobe in my life, with the aim of restoring it. I perceived disorder, lack of coordination, and even incoherence among my clothes, fabrics, hues and designs. Every morning I had a headache just by thinking of what to wear, how to match my clothes and so on. My wardrobe needed an adjustment.

Photos by @rei.asami

Of course, this has never been a matter of appearance. The Italian language veiledly puts in evidence the link between dress (abito) and inhabiting (abitare): we dress to address the world. We cannot live without getting dressed. Therefore, it is obvious and intriguing how clothes position us in our society, through differences and similarities. The French-British rapper Octavian, protagonist of Bottega Veneta’s short movie, observed that “the way you dress unifies you with whoever dresses kind of similar”. This is socially unavoidable. Clothes tell something about us, brands and fabrics recount reasons we sustain and issues we try to solve, and designs portray our style. Clothes explain our self-extended identity, as all creative products do.

After analysing my wardrobe, I continued researching for the correct fit between my clothes and myself. However, before doing so, it was opportune to identify some useful principles for re-building my wardrobe in the most sustainable way. After all, we are what we consume, and consequently, what we wear. Consumptions define what we are fighting for, our purposes, our parts. If we care about our planet, we must be mindful regarding the production processes behind our purchases, as they should be coherent with the future we want to achieve.

Mass fashion production has always given rise to highly damaging environmental consequences. Recently, the pandemic has led fashion brands to take a break, making them ask themselves if the reiteration of usual blind seasonality is still sustainable or required. As a result, some designers and fashion companies realized that seasonality has always been colliding with sustainability.

The fashion system and approach have long-needed deep afterthoughts in order to pursue that pivotal sustainability, by adopting more appropriate levels of production, garments with lower usage of water and polyesters.

“The way you dress unifies you with whoever dresses kind of similar.”

— Octavian

After tracing my wardrobe guidelines, the first steps were to empty my closet and select the clothes that I wanted to keep. I sold some garments on second-hand markets, and I gave some away. This research phase has been the hardest and the funniest one of my wardrobe reconstruction. Discovering new brands, discussing with people and capturing opinions and information, has been the most creative and concrete process of the reflection of my wardrobe.

After many years of logomania and pervasive streetwear influences, I rejected prints and logos on layers. They, in a certain way, implement confusion while I was trying to achieve harmony, organicity, loyalty through pure colours, in the most anonymous and unbranded way possible. Black is powerful; beige and greige tones instead give a warm Mediterranean touch to the final result.

Secondly, comfort was a must. Everyday clothes must be soft and cozy. Avant-garde designer Rick Owens once said that in his career he tried to design and produce seasonless garments, both for working out and for elegantly staying outside. He did it. During an interview, mentioning the Rick Owens Forever line, he expressed how he enjoyed the fact that he managed to create comfortable and out-of-time clothes that are still required and appreciated by customers. For 20 years, its Forever line never changed. In order to conjugate comfort, simplicity and sustainability, certified cotton fabrics, linen and natural texture were suitable in order to achieve my intentions. Finally, I can partially see the final outcome.

My reflection on my wardrobe has been a very curious path; an attempt to deeply discuss my beliefs, my way of being. It has been an opportunity to discover something new, and to reason on matters as common, as invisible. Clothes, designs, and materials are a way to tell society something about ourselves. Exceeding or being careless about dressing may be good strategies. Surely, they are quick. However, finding equilibrium and compromise is more challenging and more human. But that’s another tale, the one I tried to tell you.

May this be a little story to make you vividly and consciously creative in your own wardrobe journey.

matteo