Star Wars

With glittery lunar boots, constellation motifs and the optimism of the space age everywhere, Kenya Hunt explores why the future of fashion is now

Consider, for a moment, the impossibly sexy allure of a ‘what if?’ As in: with the present, and all its boring, predictably unpredictable disruption, what if you could imagine a different, more perfect-looking future? There is something inherently optimistic about fashion’s long-held soft spot for the futuristic, from the ’60s-era conceptual designs of André Courrèges and Paco Rabanne to Hussein Chalayan’s wearable tech of the ’90s and the immersive, space-age utopia Alexander McQueen created for his final show, Plato’s Atlantis, in 2009. And, this year, the love for sci-fi is growing. For proof, just take a scroll through the season’s runway photo galleries online. There were bulbous ‘creatures’ scooting down the runway like foil-covered Teletubbies at Comme des Garçons. While at Gucci, Alessandro Michele covered models in face-to-toe glitter bodysuits, like disco diamanté versions of the robot Maria from Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi film, Metropolis. And at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld created high-fashion takes on space suits, with a life-size rocket ship as a backdrop. Space is big.