I then researched the timeline of Futurism. Futurism began in Italy as a cutting-edge theory among early 20th century painters and sculptors, and evolved into a cultural movement that swept through other art forms, including fashion and design. The futuristics called for a break with the past, and a celebration of everything new, urban and industrial. For fashion, Futurism meant fabrics, designers, colours and cuts that reflected audacity, movement and speed. Futurism faded with the onset of World War II, but the movement's emphasis on revolt, risk and modernity continues to inspire fashion theory.
Futurism challenged artists to develop new styles that expressed the ideas and sensations of the modern world. In 1914, painter Giacomo Balla, one of the movement's founders, developed guidelines for fashion. Balla mocked the neutral colours, symmetrical designs and infirmity that dominated the styles of the day. He insisted that clothing should be aggressive, with "musuclar" or deep shades of colour and bold geometrical patterns. Rather than balance, Balla favoured asymmetry, such as jacket sleeves cut in different lengths and shapes. He empasised designs with layers that could be added or stripped away to spontaneously create a new look.
Futurism redefined the purpose of fashion. The movement gained action and aggression, and Balla called for a simple and comfortable clothing designed to allow the skin to breathe, and the body to move with ease. In 1920, Futurist designer Ernesto Michahelles, known as Thayaht, introduced a roomy, utilitarian, unisex jumpsuit called the tuna, short for the Italian word tutta, which means all. The tuta caught the attention of the public, and was the one Futurist design to achieve commerical success. Still, Futurism's new empasis on clothing designed to accomodate on active lifestyle was a genuine innovation and the start of what would eventually become modern sportswear.
As the idea of the future evolved, so did Futurism's role in fashion. In the early 1990's during a fashion era that Vogue editor Diane Vreeland defined as "Youthquake", miniskirts, vinyl dresses and neon colours signaled the same result aganist the past styles that stressed originality and equality. At the same time, Pierre Cardin and Andre Courteges introduced space-age collections that reflected the era's interest and enthuiasm for space exploration. The new look was built on sleek, minimalist clothing corrected with geometric shapes: Designers introduced synthetic fabrics, plastics and metals into clothing that relied on colours, such as metallics, day-glo and white for a futuristic effect.
Technology is shaping today's vision of the future, and the latest generation of futurist fashion designers has embraced engineering. Some designers are using high-tech and high-peformance fabric blends with new textures and metallic surfaces to construct more versatile shapes. Patterns that reflect machine components and circuitry have emerged as a trend. Other designers are incorporating machinery into designers that converse resources and energy are also a new focus of futurist fashion. Sustainable fashion uses fabrics and materials such as low-maintenance synthetics, recylced cottons and skins and furs from mangled populations of animals that are all produced through environmentally sound practices.
