Fashion Is Learning To Let Loose

Fashion is notoriously self-serious. What do you expect from a group of people in the business of legislating outward appearances? In the 2020s, the industry seems to have dropped its infamous judgmental attitude and decided instead to show off a killer sense of humor.

In the face of a bleak prognosis for planet Earth, fashion has, conversely, become increasingly light-hearted. In response to a pandemic, wars, civil upheaval, economic uncertainty, the collapse of democracy, and impending climate catastrophe, brands are abandoning the self-serious charade and leaning into maximalist absurdity, poking fun at the industry’s legendary put-on airs. This is an unsurprising response, according to Steff Yotka, director of content for the luxury e-commerce site and social media juggernaut Ssense. “Fashion always gets more surreal and more comedic during moments of global unrest—from Schiaparelli in the 1930s to Demna’s Balenciaga in the late 2010s,” she says. In the midst of the Great Depression, the couturière Elsa Schiaparelli went against the grain of traditional women’s fashion, collaborating with fellow artists in the Surrealist movement—including Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau—on pieces that were at once playful and transgressive. In response to the Trump presidency, the #MeToo movement, and the general widespread civil unrest of that era, creative directors across the industry rediscovered a sense of humor that can be seen from brands including Schiaparelli, Loewe, Jacquemus, Thom Browne, and more. 

In 2024, it’s no coincidence that Schiaparelli has once again captured the public’s imagination with their whimsical creations and pointed sense of humor. Under Artistic Director Daniel Roseberry, the popularity of surrealist brand Schiaparelli has skyrocketed, and it has quickly become a red carpet staple. The brand—which was relaunched in 2014, 67 years after its closure—is known for its gold, sculpted body parts, layering toes atop real toes, and ear-shaped earrings upon real ears. The brand is also a favorite among celebrities for creating exactly the type of attention-grabbing, reality-defying ensembles that get shared widely across social media, whether it’s Zendaya in a skirt affixed with a 3-D fabric lobster; Emily Blunt’s Oscars gown featuring a pair of levitating straps and trompe l’oeil sequin briefs; or the hyperrealistic, hand-embroidered lion’s head pinned to Kylie Jenner’s shoulder, like a hunter with her taxidermied trophy, at the brand’s Spring 2023 Haute Couture show.

Thanks to Jonathan Anderson, Spanish luxury brand Loewe has also become an integral part of the conversation surrounding funny fashion. Shoes featuring cracked eggs, roses, and nail polish bottles in place of heels helped define Anderson’s campy new vision for the house. An aesthetic that can also be seen in his clothing, like the T-shirt worn by ASAP Rocky designed to look like an 8-bit computer graphic or the infinitely meme’d Post-It note dress Aubrey Plaza wore to the Emmys this year. Plaza also went on to star in a campaign for the brand alongside Dan Levy in which both comedians poked fun at the difficulty people have with pronouncing Loewe. In June, Anderson proved just how tapped in he is to the conversations happening online about Loewe, sharing a video on Instagram of a clutch from the forthcoming Spring 2025 collection shaped like an oversized heirloom tomato. The video came mere days after a tweet went viral that read “This tomato is so Loewe I can’t explain it,” in response to a photo of a particularly gorgeously ribbed version of the fruit.

All of the above point to a renewed emphasis on wit in the luxury sector, and that pursuit of pleasure isn’t just limited to the collections. High-end brands are also embracing a more jocular tone when it comes to their marketing and ad campaigns, having seen the outsized impact these types of shareable social media moments can generate. Last April, Jacquemus posted an eight-second video to its Instagram account showing what looked like car-sized versions of its “Bambino” bag cruising through the streets of Paris, sparking an internet-wide debate over whether the clip was AI-generated or the real deal. Designers are also figuring out how to enter the TikTok conversation in a way that feels more authentic to their brand than just reposting clips from runway shows and campaigns. The jewelry label Alexis Bittar created a primetime-worthy miniseries for its account, posting vignettes from the life of the fictional, bangle-clad diva Margeaux Goldrich, played by Patricia Black, as she runs into various high-profile NYC fixtures, like Amanda Lepore, Kelly Cutrone, Coco Rocha, and Susan Sarandon. Marc Jacobs has likewise cracked the Gen Z code, rapidly enlisting the trending TikTok star du jour to create content on the brand’s behalf, proving to their younger, cooler clientele that they’re hip to all the same inside jokes.

Ssense has also pivoted its social media strategy in recent years to focus on generating more original memes using its own high-end fashion inventory in an attempt, as Yotka puts it, “to speak the language of our audience, which is 70 percent millennial and Gen Z…We just play on what we see on our site and in the world. Tonally, we like to be a little tongue in cheek, irreverent, and not over-explain.” She continues, “Fashion can feel so high-minded and hard to access—we want to offer the opposite, breaking down trends, products, and ideas into something that feels both digestible and relatable.” And it’s clear their approach is working, as the retailer’s social media engagement has grown, and the account has now cultivated a cult following in its own right (per Ssence, its Instagram reach has grown 200% over the last year and is seeing seven times more engagement on social media compared to competitors).

Online fashion commentary has also exploded, evolving past the more reactionary call-out era of Diet Prada–style accounts to a revival of real, nuanced cultural critique that still doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s been a boom in humorous fashion newsletters of late, with Substack reporting 80 percent growth year-over-year in paid subscribers to its fashion-and-beauty category to over three million people, as of March 2024. YouTube fashion commentator HauteLeMode also signed with UTA (United Talent Agency) this year, and Instagram fashion news source Style Not Com signed with CAA (Creative Artists Agency)—a harbinger of bigger, personality-driven things to come. 

The dialogue between these big brands and the people lampooning them on social media “is definitely open!” says Thnk1994 Museum co-founders Viviana Olen and Matt Harkins, who have used their meme account as a springboard to do everything from curate art exhibits to sell ashtrays. “What was once a vacuum is now a cyclical call-and-response team-building exercise.” The comedy ecosystem that has popped up around the fashion industry makes it both “more accessible and elitist. Which we love,” the pair adds. Accounts like @socks_house_meeting, @ideservecouture, and the fashion education platform 1Granary all use memes to simultaneously elucidate the inner workings of fashion for the casual fan while also making jokes only those in the industry can truly appreciate. And “the more jokes the better,” according to Olen and Harkins. “Hire more Kate Moss lookalikes. Make a hat that looks like Tom Cruise’s face. I want to see something, think I understand it, know I’ll never wear it, and then forget all about it.” 

Losing oneself in the frivolity of fashion can also be a way of managing life’s difficulties—a much-needed release valve on the sky-high pressure of existence. “Comedy is a coping mechanism,” Yotka says. “It’s a way to share and connect with others; it’s a way to give yourself the permission to indulge in levity. I think feeling comical—and its related emotion, joy—is essential in fashion. Why wear something that makes you feel depressed? Clothes should bring you joy.” May adds, “Aren’t we all just looking for that next dopamine hit?”