Bal Harbour

WHAT IS THE FUTURE Yes, it may be digital, but it's also hinged to our social consciousness, argues fashion historian Darnell-Jamal Lisby. OF FASHION? the top of December of last year, Balenciaga sought to captivate audiences with Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow, a video game released to showcase and memorialize its Fall 2021 collection. On the one hand, the ability to purchase the ready-to-wear collection is within the capacity of a sliver of the global population. Still, virtually, a much larger fraction of the world was made to feel somewhat connected to the luxury brand as it engaged them for the first time through this digital medium. This quick adjustment to experimenting with various digital platforms to reach the masses (apart from the necessary Instagram rollout, YouTube posting and e-comm sale) is unequivocally the result of Covid-19. Throughout history, fashion has survived political skirmishes and dodged social warfare, becoming a multi-billion- dollar industry that has continued to grow and plateau. But Covid and mother nature incited a complete halt to how many companies, luxury and beyond, conducted their businesses, challenging them to seek creative ways to touch audiences and retain relevancy. Creating accessible products has officially become equally necessary to creating accessible presentations. In tandem with the digital lane the fashion industry has occupied during these times, the art of collaboration has also become incredibly poignant; brands have quickly found ways to attach themselves to products that are more accessible to broader audiences. As Luke Meagher, notable for his dynamic and rapidly growing HauteLeMode social media and YouTube empire expressed, "It's become about collaboration collections… bigger brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Loewe are starting to work with collaborators, artists and trusts… normally those brands would've never thought to go to those depths." From Kim Jones working with Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo for Dior's Spring 2021 men's collection to Valentino's recent appointment of Zendaya as the first face of the house, this time is a reflection that we are reimagining how fashion can provide a piece of escape for everyone, not just a selected few. Pivoting to create effective digital presences is essential to that reimagination, as well as pushing fashion to be more inclusive of the marginalized and segmented communities who have helped build and sustain it. That brings up another significant facet of fashion's digital future. Currently, the racial pandemic is also front and center in the fashion industry, with the protests throughout the summer of last year working as a catalyst for change within numerous global industries. Just as sustainability, gender equality, labor laws and a host of other humanitarian concerns are closely tied to this system, racism is a major issue many brands will need to conquer to maintain and grow diverse consumer bases. To aid in this process, Professor Kimberly Jenkins of Ryerson University recently relaunched the Fashion and Race Database, offering a plethora of resources across racial, sexual orientation, gender and cultural lines that illuminate the contributions of various marginalized groups to the history of dress. This database acts as a brainstorming center to help companies grapple with cultivating the changes that audiences want to feel, in conjunction with the digital evolution. "My vision for The Fashion and Race Database was to mine the rich resources that are often locked away and to organize them in a manner that both the pedestrian audience and the business of fashion can understand," says Jenkins. "In fact, the business of fashion is part of my target audience—most of the power brokers in fashion are not educated in fashion history or theory, so I wanted to build a platform that connects the dots for them. Once the other shoe dropped in 2020, many fashion brands agreed that education was essential to their survival." All things considered, many of us are wondering which brands are adjusting successfully to this abrupt digital transition while also working towards balancing social consciousness with their platforms. "I do think there are certain brands—Valentino, Alexander McQueen and Fendi come to mind—trying to pivot to this changing notion of what fashion is and who can buy it and be a part of it," says Meagher. "It takes time and baby steps to get there, but I am hopeful." In addition to expanding reach, digital platforms offer new routes for fashion companies to think more dynamically about who they want to be in this era. Even though the future of fashion is digital, to thrive, it must also be a future that evolves to embrace those beyond its conventional communities and authentically uplift the social values we collectively champion. At An avatar from Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow, which showcased Balenciaga's Fall 2021 collection. 126 BAL HARBOUR

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