Beyond Aesthetics: When Fashion Is Language and Culture – Restyled by G

I’m thrilled, I must admit, when I discover that true, curious, and profound research has gone into a collection. From a book, a journey, a subculture, a historical moment that someone has chosen to celebrate. When I understand that those fabrics, those shapes, those colors weren’t chosen randomly or because they looked good together, but because they wanted to say something, well, a whole new world opens up to me: fashion stops being an industry and goes back to being a language.

Let’s talk about the depth some designers bring to their research before even designing a collection, with a designer who has this approach in her DNA and applies it in an even more radical context: that of upcycling, where every piece of recovered fabric already carries a story to be heard before a new one can be told.

I met her during the Upcycling Hero call, where we searched for designers who would save and reinvent over 200 secondhand garments destined for the waste stream. Since then, we’ve been involved in the most daring initiatives. In this episode of the Pop-Up Green podcast, we invited Gaia Schiavetti of Restyled by G to explore the theme of dense fashion, the kind that, behind the aesthetics of its creations, more or less visibly conceals a more or less powerful message to communicate.

Dance, the sociology of fashion, fashion styling, social messages, journalism, subcultures: these are just some of the stimuli that inspire Gaia to continually search for meaning to embed in the stitching of her garments. Because expressing something through fashion doesn’t arise from designing a single piece or a single collection: for Gaia, it’s a modus operandi, and probably also a way of life, with which to continually advance her brand.

From a phrase written on a boy’s jacket in Camden Town, Gaia tells us about an important insight for her work: the message of a culture or subculture continues to exist beyond aesthetics and mainstream diffusion if it represents a true lifestyle.

We ask Gaia to discuss the commercial appropriation of subcultures, the subject of her thesis, citing major brands and learning about the aspects of streetwear style not widely known today. As she talks, we’re transported from the punk streets of London to the African-American neighborhoods of film, highlighting how what we wear is more than just a piece of fabric to cover ourselves and protect us from the climatic seasons.

We also discuss how to conduct research, how it differs from simple inspiration, and whether or not to fall into didacticism without creating soulless collections. We delve into the risks involved: not reaching anyone, not being understood, or, conversely, boring others by explaining a collection’s message too clearly. We ask ourselves: does it make sense to communicate even if the message doesn’t get through?

You don’t need a background in sociology to create fashion imbued with meaning or a harbinger of messages. Gaia offers us insights and tips  on how we can do so, suggesting stimulating readings.

We offer examples of designers who have communicated or are communicating through fashion shows or collections, as the result of a process of in-depth, unpremeditated research into subcultures, social situations, and hot topics that they experience directly, or not necessarily so closely. One such example illustrates how it can take a moment to go from conveying a culture’s social message to usurping that culture’s intellectual property.

Among the examples, Gaia explains how the Restyled by G brand itself, through the transformation of garments, profoundly communicates something to those who choose it, to those who see it at a fashion show, to those who talk about it in a podcast. She takes us behind the scenes of her work, enriching both fashion enthusiasts and those who create it.

Fashion becomes meaningful when it is rooted in profound, conscious, and responsible cultural research.

Listen to the episode all the way through. If you’re interested in researching your collections without traditional training, listen from minute 60:08 (see the complete table of contents) below).

And if you want to follow Restyled by G, you can find it here:

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00:00 – Intro

03:00 – Gaia and Restyled by G
The approach to fashion: from dance to studies
The identity of Restyled by G

07:25 – Fashion beyond aesthetics: why it’s a cultural language
That writing on the jacket that sparked a powerful intuition
Fashion and lifestyle: subcultures that survive the mainstream
Belonging vs. appropriation
Significance and meaning of objects
Examples of stimuli that lead to profound fashion

15-30 – The commercial appropriation of a culture: when fashion takes without giving back
Gaia’s thesis
Talking about what no one talks about or what everyone talks about?
Streetwear and the Loss of Meaning: From Culture to Commercial Trend, but Also to Icon

26:37 – What Does Cultural Research Mean?
Where Research Begins
Press Releases and the Tangibility of Collection Concepts

31:08 – Inspiration, Research, and Appropriation
Differences Between Concepts and Inevitable Risks
Voluntariness and Involuntary Consent
Marketable
Inclusiveness and Representative Casting

38:02 – Designers Who Communicate Through Collections
Fashion Shows as Narration, Not Just a Product
Fashion as a Vehicle of Information Beyond the News
The Case of “From Carrier of a Social Message to Usurper of Intellectual Property”

50:48 – Restyled by G and Research
Cultural Message of Upcycled Clothing
An Example of Transformation That Speaks of the Transition from Tradition to the Future, from Constraint to Freedom
The Brand That Speaks of the Italian Cosmic Youth of the 1980s
The Importance of Research for Aesthetics and Process
Criticism of Luxury Fashion
The Packaging
Customizing Services

60:06 – Who’s Behind Restyled
Brand Values
Who is Responsible for Production

60:08 – Building Meaningful Fashion Even Without a Sociology Background
Texts and References to Start With
Too Didactic or Too Cryptic
Ethical, Aesthetic, and Narrative Choices
Is It Worth It Even If It Doesn’t Reach Anyone?
The New Own

Photos: courtesy of Restyled by G