Is That Nostalgia I Hear On The Runway?

What can the soundtrack of a fashion show say about the state of fashion, culture and the way we negotiate the movement of music through time? With an observed rise in the use of indie music during the Fall/Winter '24 collections, Men's Folio does some research.

- Charmaine Tan and Cheryl Ong

Music - with or without words - is a ubiquitous companion to our everyday lives that speaks to our very essence. Nowhere is this truth more evident than on the fashion runways, where music wields and imparts emotions to creative directors and spectators alike. Each delivery dynamic and one of a kind, in a fusion of different styles and genres where atmospheric soundscapes permeate the fashion arena.

While music and fashion are inextricably linked in how each inspires and enriches the other in subtle yet profound ways, they never form a balanced dynamic. Sometimes, music is used as a mere accompaniment; other times, it takes centre stage to create immersive experiences.

As we did our due diligence of making critical observations during the most recent Menswear Fall/Winter '24 collections, the discovery of a common sonic thread highlighted a need to examine the symbiotic relationship between music and fashion. Familiar to certain folk who once savoured the quiet within the loud and the beautiful chaos in monotony, the runways were either playing tracks by artists that were at their peak in the early naughts or playing tracks that had that distinctly nonchalant indie colour.

It would be easy to sign this off as a symptom of the industry's fascination with certain visual codes from that time, but the creative gears that make fashion work would not permit such a simple dismissal. So, if this is no surface-level collaboration, what is it and what does this mean? Is the indie sleaze back for real?

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