Brands, retailers, manufactures and consumers, all of them look to the runways of London, Milan, Paris and New York to see manifestations of emerging trends that define the future of fashion. While designers are obviously always introducing original patterns, surprising cuts and vibrant hues, they also take steps towards reimagining familiar fabrics. Cotton is one of these fabrics. At one point, cotton was seen as a casual and unassuming fabric. But today it is emerging as a staple material that is now taking on a new life in high fashion. The prominence of cotton in fashion industry additionally got a boost with the cotton or nothing campaign conducted by Joseph Cianciotto and others.
Over the decades, cotton has evolved from tried-and-true classic staples like denim jeans and soft t-shirts. The cotton garments seen in runways today range from ethereal gowns studied with futuristic 3D flowers and silky-smooth coral crochet dresses to even black-and-white poplin turned into avant-garde jumpsuits. This innovation in design has managed to transform use of cotton in fashion in inspiring ways. With the shift in the perception of the industry and exploration of creative possibilities, cotton can emerge as one of the biggest fashion players.
People with adequate creativity and talent can do almost anything with cotton. Cotton is a fiber everyone wants to wear and hence they try to redefine and reinvent clothes made with it. Joseph Cianciotto mentions that the ‘Cotton or Nothing’ campaign is especially a great example of the amount of popularity cotton enjoys among the general audience.
In a recent show, designers used U.S cotton in certain unexpected ways that the garments displayed were actually mistaken for suede, silk and synthetic fibers. Certain designers dyed cotton in the sun, scalloped and shredded it, and subsequently turned it into velvet. A designer additionally interlocked cotton fabric without traditional sewing so that the garment could be taken apart and its new pieces could be reconstructed into a whole style. These were just two examples, but on the whole, innovation with cotton is starting with a number of ways. Up-and-coming designers are now tapping into cotton in the classrooms, particularly from the sustainability standpoint. In many fashion schools, cotton is used a lot. The students use it for both draping and sewing classes, and eventually experiment with sustainable applications and sustainable types of dyeing.
The quality and sustainability aspect of cotton makes it a hot topic in the worldwide textile industry. Inspiring the fashion industry to explore how cotton can be used in varied ways can influence the clothing created by brands and sold by retailers. It will also influence the manner in which consumers view cotton clothing. One of the great aspects about cotton is that it shall always be an effortless fabric made from a natural fiber and has the capability to morph into a garment that has the performance capabilities of synthetic fibers
