Anti-fashion is an umbrella term for various styles of dress which are explicitly contrary to the fashion of the day. Anti-fashion styles may represent an attitude of indifference or may arise from political or practical goals which make fashion a secondary priority. The term is sometimes even used for styles championed by high-profile designers, when they encourage or create trends that do not follow the mainstream fashion of the time. This anti-fashion was adopted in response to the 'overly fashion conscious' fans of bands such as the Sex Pistols.
In the 1990s, a minimalist style described as anti fashion emerged on both sides of the Atlantic where young people would typically wear simple clothes such as black jeans and white T-shirts without a visible brand name. Another period of anti-fashion has taken place in the 1950s with the advent of rock and roll, especially with young adolescent women.Instead of the standard of wearing a dress or skirt, particularly hoop skirts and poodle skirts, many young women wore jeans and plaid shirts, or simple plain T shirts in rebellion with the gender roles and societal norms at that time. This fashion has the roots of many modern anti-fashion trends, such as grunge, decades later.Wikipedia
In the 1990s, a minimalist style described as anti fashion emerged on both sides of the Atlantic where young people would typically wear simple clothes such as black jeans and white T-shirts without a visible brand name. Another period of anti-fashion has taken place in the 1950s with the advent of rock and roll, especially with young adolescent women.Instead of the standard of wearing a dress or skirt, particularly hoop skirts and poodle skirts, many young women wore jeans and plaid shirts, or simple plain T shirts in rebellion with the gender roles and societal norms at that time. This fashion has the roots of many modern anti-fashion trends, such as grunge, decades later.Wikipedia
" From punk to grunge, from wearable pieces of art to conceptual fashion and crazy body adornments, ‘Anti-Fashion’ describes the ways in which designers and the fashion-aware express their opposition to the fashion establishment.
In the context of contemporary fashion, which has seen various hybridizations between art and fashion, style and design, mainstream and avant-garde, fast-fashion and slow-fashion, where’s the borderline between ‘official’ fashion and its opposite? Can we still trace a clear distinction between what’s ‘Anti-Fashion’, and what’s just plain ‘fashion’?
As we deal with an ambiguous, tricky concept, it is important to underline from the beginning what I mean by Anti-Fashion. In fashion theory, the concept of Anti-Fashion is usually linked to the avant-garde, especially that of the 1990s (an era that is widely believed to have given birth to Anti-Fashion). Fashion theorists debate it in various ways – from Simmel’s ‘differentiation vs. conformism’ to Elizabeth Wilson’s ‘oppositional dress’ or Claire Wilcox’s ‘radical fashion’. Actually, Anti-Fashion is a general term which attempts to cover particular phenomena in the field of fashion, namely uses of fashion that are previously unheard of, or which do not easily fit into an established category or mode of fashion.
In the context of contemporary fashion, which has seen various hybridizations between art and fashion, style and design, mainstream and avant-garde, fast-fashion and slow-fashion, where’s the borderline between ‘official’ fashion and its opposite? Can we still trace a clear distinction between what’s ‘Anti-Fashion’, and what’s just plain ‘fashion’?
As we deal with an ambiguous, tricky concept, it is important to underline from the beginning what I mean by Anti-Fashion. In fashion theory, the concept of Anti-Fashion is usually linked to the avant-garde, especially that of the 1990s (an era that is widely believed to have given birth to Anti-Fashion). Fashion theorists debate it in various ways – from Simmel’s ‘differentiation vs. conformism’ to Elizabeth Wilson’s ‘oppositional dress’ or Claire Wilcox’s ‘radical fashion’. Actually, Anti-Fashion is a general term which attempts to cover particular phenomena in the field of fashion, namely uses of fashion that are previously unheard of, or which do not easily fit into an established category or mode of fashion.
While the (un)fashion styles tend to evolve apart from the world of fashion, the concept of Anti-Fashion is closely linked to the intrinsic dynamism of fashion. The history of fashion provides us with many examples. In the ‘20s, Gabrielle Chanel initiated an Anti-Fashion movement, proposing masculine attire for women. About the same time, the Italian artist Thayaht designed the Tuta, an utopian outfit inspired by workwear, which appealed to the Italian elites of the time. The Zoot suit emerged as a product of counterculture in ‘40s America. Rudi Gernreich’s infamous monokini of the early ‘60s was, in its way, a statement of Anti-Fashion, as were Kawakubo’s frayed clothes in the ‘80s. Each phase of avant-garde was initially described as Anti-Fashion – Westwood’s punk style, Hamnett’s militant T-shirts, McQueen’s subversive shows.
As we can see, Anti-Fashion is possible only in the context of the mainstream fashion (without referral to which, Anti-Fashion simply doesn’t make sense). Fashion and Anti-Fashion share a lifelong love-hate relationship. They’re somehow symbiotic, as the evolution of fashion is fuelled by Anti-Fashions, and the Anti-Fashion arises as a reaction to ‘official’ fashion.(notjustalabel.com)"
As we can see, Anti-Fashion is possible only in the context of the mainstream fashion (without referral to which, Anti-Fashion simply doesn’t make sense). Fashion and Anti-Fashion share a lifelong love-hate relationship. They’re somehow symbiotic, as the evolution of fashion is fuelled by Anti-Fashions, and the Anti-Fashion arises as a reaction to ‘official’ fashion.(notjustalabel.com)"
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