Authenticity in Awkwardness? Why Fashion Is Striking an Uncomfortable Pose | Fashion

AThe mood in the fashion world is getting increasingly unhealthy. This week, an almost unrecognizable Daniel Craig starred in the latest campaign for Spanish luxury brand Loewe. With long hair and yellow-lensed glasses, the 56-year-old actor looked more like a hacker in a '90s thriller than a Hollywood actor known for his conventional 007 looks.

It's the latest in a line of intentionally uncomfortable designs, from big brands to high-end labels, stools are poised, necks appear twisted and shoulders hunched.

Introducing our August 2024 cover star: #Winona Ryder. With a #Beetlejuice sequel on the way and the last season of #Stranger Things In conclusion, Ryder has a lot to look forward to and she is still savoring it all. Read her cover story for the Performance issue: https://t.co/MULeMmyWdk pic.twitter.com/EvOA9pFbFS

— Harpers BAZAAR (@harpersbazaarus) July 11, 2024

“}}”/>

Winona Ryder strikes a charmingly awkward pose on the cover of the recent Harper's Bazaar. For the Versace spring/summer 2024 campaign, the Oppenheimer actor Cillian Murphywho is regularly turned into a meme due to his apparent personal discomfort in Hollywood, has adopted a protective posture. The Bottega Venetas campaign features models in a playgrounddressed to the nines, contorting themselves through equipment or sitting statically with their feet stuck in climbing structures. Skims' recent menswear campaignthe most embarrassing scene of undressing in front of someone has been caught on camera, with the model wobbling as she takes off her boots. Meanwhile, in Vogue Italia, model Karen Elson appears in a photo that every politician dreads eating a hot dog, and one of the models in Scottish designer Charles Jeffreys' autumn/winter campaign appears to have hurt her back.

Fashion brands try to use the way their models pose or move, in the case of runway shows, to emphasize their identity. Ty Tashiro, psychologist and author of Awkward: The Science of Why Were Socially Awkward and Why Thats Awesome, explains why awkwardness can be considered aspirational: “Many of us may feel uncomfortable at some point in our lives, and as we mature, there’s something very liberating about embracing parts of ourselves that don’t fit into society’s expectations. Perhaps celebrating awkwardness is an expression of optimism.”

Laird Borrelli-PerssonEditor-in-chief of the Vogues archives, who wrote about how postures and poses go in and out of fashion From the slouching silhouette of the debutante to the slender silhouette of the 90s, she sees this as a kind of anti-AI phenomenon, tying it to the idea of ​​authenticity, which she says is rare today. Everything feels commercialized, every person is a brand, every brand is a brand, campaigns feel like they have a campaign for the campaign. This awkward mood is part of a search for something human, she says. As we become more digital, it’s not just about perfection, but what are the things that technology misses?

In the crazy times we live in, she says, perfection can be a little off-putting, or can seem a little fake. On the other hand, clumsiness, a traditionally fake quality, becomes charming.

Fashion historian Tony Glenville is less convinced, citing the idea that magazines and brands avoid putting irrelevant glamour on the cover or in our campaign at the highest price point, a bit too much.

ignore newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

Technology, beyond AI, could play a role. From tech necks to rounded shoulders, the digital age is bad news for posture. The discomfort depicted in these latest images could be interpreted as an expression of a very modern physical discomfort.

Fashion photography has recently largely favoured authenticity over glitz: Martin Parr’s work, which shows fashion without the veneration, has been a model. In the ’90s and early 2000s, campaigns featured outrageous budgets, fantastical concepts and highly editorial poses, said Christine Buzan, posing expert with 1.7 million subscribers on TikTokLooking for something accessible, consumers began looking to street style stars and fashion bloggers for inspiration.

Buzan cited the simplicity of Hedi Slimane’s photography-driven Saint Laurent era as a turning point in the industry. As a result, fashion campaigns adapted; poses became more relaxed, campaigns more sober, and the focus shifted to lifestyle and accessibility.

Around the world, Buzan added, posing trends have evolved rapidly over the past 10 years. As we’ve become more comfortable with photography technology, our poses have also become more relaxed. If we’re all posing with more ease now, it makes perfect sense that fashion houses are choosing disruptive editorial poses to stand out!