The Evolution of Beauty: Fashion’s Changing Values

Bret Schnitker  00:09

Yes, and I think we've seen, you know, body ideology change over the years, and that certainly had an impact on fashion.

Emily Lane  00:26

Welcome to Clothing Coulture, a fashion industry podcast at the intersection of technology and innovation. I'm Emily Lane

Bret Schnitker  00:34

and I'm Bret Schnitker. We speak with experts and disruptors who are moving the industry forward and discuss solutions to real industry challenges.

Emily Lane  00:42

Clothing Coulture is produced by Stars Design Group, a global design and production house with more than 30 years of experience.

Emily Lane  00:52

Welcome back to another episode of Clothing. Coulture award season is here! The red carpets have been rolled out. We've got Fashion Weeks happening all around the world. It's a very glamorous time in our industry, although we're seeing a new trend on the red carpet and on our runways. That is a little bit alarming,

Bret Schnitker  01:17

and you're going to give us the skinny on that, no play on words.

Emily Lane  01:19

Exactly yes. You know, there are a lot of great trends to be celebrating. And in fact, in an upcoming episode, we're going to revisit a great friend of ours,Sharon Graubard who is a wonderful trend forecaster, and have a little bit of a deeper discussion on this. But today we wanted to talk about Yes. Bret The skinny behind what we're seeing, we are seeing an alarming trend towards uber then think the gaunt days of the 90s. And now we're seeing that it's almost like skeletons walking down these red carpets. So let's, let's talk about what's happening and what we're seeing, the rise of Ozempic and those kinds of drugs, this desire to be thin, and how that is influencing our space,

Bret Schnitker  02:10

yes, and I think we've seen, you know, body ideology change over the years, and that certainly had an impact on fashion. I mean, as far back as prehistoric times, when Neanderthal women would be super skinny to avoid being, you know, dinners or dinosaurs.

Emily Lane  02:27

We might want to check the history books on that one a little bit. But

Bret Schnitker  02:31

I'm sure,

Emily Lane  02:32

certainly in ancient times, you know, a more robust figure was considered to be fertile and more attractive

Bret Schnitker  02:41

and appetizing.

Emily Lane  02:44

You know, you've got Rubenesque era, Renaissance, you know, you've got fuller shapes, which, which symbolized wealth, and you know, somebody's eating really decadently. That really started to shift. In the Victorian era, we had corseting come into play, really focusing on that hourglass figure. What I what I think is interesting about this time, though, is you've got that high bustle on the rear end, kind of amplifying the booty. You know,

Bret Schnitker  03:12

the early Kardashian period.

Emily Lane  03:14

That's exactly right. Sure, that's what it's called. And that really started to shift then in the 20s, I of course, love the 20s. You've got that boyish figure coming in. That's not why I love the 20s. I love the music and, you know, all of the the the spirit of the 20s. But it was really the first time we saw this kind of trend towards going thin and throughout time, you know, that waxes and wanes. You had Marilyn Monroe come to the scene, and curves were back. And then Twiggy came to the scene on, you know, modeling British fashion. And, oh, we're we got to be thin again. So we've seen this back and forth over and over again. What's What's interesting, though, you know, when these periods of thinness come into play, new mental disorders, eating disorders and things of that nature really started to take hold in the 20s and the 80s, there was a huge challenge with anorexia, among among women. And in fact, I believe in the 1990s when that came back during the whole, you know, oh gosh, think heroin, heroin inspired looks, yeah, it was as

Bret Schnitker  04:30

sad as that statement is terrible,

Emily Lane  04:31

it's terrible. It was a leading cause of mortality among people this whole the anorexia challenges. So I think that we saw great progress in recent years, under under these these trends, we had body inclusivity come to the runways, and people celebrating their curves. And I was very excited about where we were heading. As. An industry for us, we were talking with many clients about making sure that they're that they had, you know, styles to accommodate full of figures, and making sure they had size runs to accommodate bigger sizes. And now, all of a sudden, our what's walking down the runway, even those numbers are diminishing. As far as representation of fuller figured models, but I think it is a challenge. We're seeing size inclusivity on the on the runway, back backsliding. We've got,

Bret Schnitker  05:32

well, dramatically backsliding. I mean, Vogue kind of talks about out of the, I don't know 230 shows, and I don't know, 8000, 1000 garments, something like that, only eight tenths of a percent really had what's represented as 14 plus sizing on the runways. And you know that has a profound influence on on culture.

Emily Lane  05:58

It does. You know, not only are we seeing the shifts in the silhouettes to accommodate this more linear look, but you know, you definitely create more social pressure to be thin. So you've got rise of eating disorders and all of those concerns coming back. It does have some surprising benefits. I guess you would say, you know, people are consuming is that a good? I don't know if that's a good or a bad.

Bret Schnitker  06:32

No. Well, it's shifting the consumption habits. Certainly, right? As you lose weight, you've got to buy new clothes. You know, the big catalyst to all this that we don't, that we really haven't brought up, is really a new medical thing that's come to the surface, you know, with Ozempic and Wegovy, it's kind of making it very, very easy to lose weight in a time in the past, you had to go through all these kind of crazy diets or unhealthy situations with eating disorders today, you basically do an injection and you're just not hungry. Yeah, you're at least two sizes smaller, you know, I think the statistics are pretty wild that you know, was it 15 million adults in the US today are on some form of Ozempic or Wegovy, yeah, you know, for those that that need it, right? You know, Ozempic and Wegovy, were created to, you know, help diabetics and people lose weight so they don't have as many heart conditions. That's wonderful, yeah, but it really has created this huge catalyst where it makes it super easy to lose weight today. And what's wild is you look at that number, 15 million in the US, 6% or so of the US already is taking it. It's an astounding number. When you think how expensive it is today, you know, many times that's $1,000 a month. And that's, that's a pretty unique group of people that can do it's a big bill a month. Yeah, as that technology, as that, you know, particular pharmaceutical, becomes less expensive. That numbers bound. Yeah, globally, for sure, yeah,

Emily Lane  08:23

yeah. It has had an impact in our landfills, I would say, as well as is, as in the resale market. You've mentioned Bret that you know, as people lose weight, they need to refresh their word robes. So, you know, people are they say for every two sizes down, that is what inspires people to then let go of the old clothing or buy the new clothing. So there is a little bit of a buoy to the apparel economy.

Bret Schnitker  08:51

And for those people that are overweight or obese, that have lost weight to a more normalized weight that's healthy for them, they feel better about their body. They're moving around. They're being more active. So their their choices in terms of what they're wearing in clothing change too, right? You know, clothing that's maybe a little more body conscious, or things like that. And so the wardrobes are shifting in that case, too. So while that presents new opportunity for people in the industry, it also presents challenges. Everything's a two sided coin,

Emily Lane  09:22

right? Yeah, those, those the old clothes, are, if they're not, destined for the resale market, which is becoming saturated right now with plus size clothing. It is, if not there, it's going into those landfills that we've talked about. And

Bret Schnitker  09:38

it might be a little short sighted, you know the statistics are that a lot of a lot of people that are on these medications are kind of on them for two years, and then they're kind of like, okay, I'm done. And you know, once you're off that support system, sometimes people regain weight, right, to whatever degree, unless they've developed some healthy habits outside. Out of that exercise or whatever else, so they might not want to get rid of all those clothes so quickly, right?

Emily Lane  10:06

Yeah, it's pretty fascinating. Though. You know this, this trend, I think about my community of people, the number of people I know that are on this drug and and you're right, there are times when it's it's needed, and it does a lot of good for somebody. It helps them feel better, helps them get active, it helps them create healthy habits. All of those things are good when it's being used as a method to for beauty. Somebody who doesn't isn't struggling with weight, but they want to be even thinner, look better for that red carpet, or, you know, celebrate this, this new revisiting of the gaunt trend, that's when I think it's alarming and concerning, and I would hope that those in the industry would start considering putting some of those plus sizes back on the runway again, so that we're not completely reverting back to antiquated ideas of beauty.

Bret Schnitker  11:01

I think generally, we have a responsibility to make sure that all shapes and sizes are celebrated. Human beings come in all shapes and sizes. You know, creating this kind of unrealistic image in general does have an impact with people that that struggle with eating disorders, and that is a challenge, and it's okay to celebrate all shapes and sizes. So you know, absolutely, I think it's important to be certainly aware of that

Emily Lane  11:27

the world is a diverse place, and there are people of all shapes and sizes, and like you said, they all need to be celebrated so well. Thanks. Bret. Do you have any other thoughts on pharma fashion, or any other trends that are hitting the runway that you look forward to discussing with Sharon coming up soon.

Bret Schnitker  11:45

There's a lot of kind of wild trends that are happening on the runway, kind of this ultra shear that's happening, I think, with people rediscovering their body. I think that some people have gone way overboard in terms of ultra shear.

Emily Lane  12:00

And wait, are there actually clothes on that person?

Bret Schnitker  12:02

Yeah? Well, we know of a recent Grammy experience, kind of wild, and in that case, you know, as people feel more comfortable with their bodies and they go to shear, then we in the industry have to be very concerned, because then will clothing be optional some, yeah, so no, I think, I think I'm excited about, you know, having Sharon come back talk to us about what's happening overall is trend in a in a very interesting world today

Emily Lane  12:29

It is certainly well. Thank you Bret for joining me on this conversation. Thank you for joining us today. Don't forget to subscribe to stay apprised of upcoming episodes.

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