RETROPIA

Insecurities and anxieties of modernity in our increasingly violent world society lead many to give up on the effort of building a better future and turn towards the ‘retrotopia’ of an ideal past, a crucial sign of hope.[1]

Fascinated by all this nostalgia we see nowadays in fashion I started my research. An eclectic mix of styles and expressions keeping our nostalgic desires fed. But where does this desire come from? And why does this have an enormous commercial success? Fashion houses who celebrate nostalgia are making ground-breaking successes in the luxury industry.

The ideal past

Shortly after the death of renowned sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, his book Retropia was published. Since we have lost our faith that human beings can achieve happiness in the future, we have a desire to live in our ideal past, so called Retropia, by Bauman. Five centuries ago we lived in fixed places, had a sovereign state and we followed our leaders. Since we have lost our faith in utopias, the human aspiration  has not died but is looking back to the old future.

Fear of epidemics, refugees (both economic and political), climate and digital revolution are driving us back to the past. Wasn’t it better in my childhood? Don’t forget in which kind of luxury we live. Our wealth has never been so good as it was. When you have something, or when you have more than you had, the fear of losing it gets bigger.

The new vintage

Living in a society of constant change this insecurity drives us back to the ideal past. Wasn’t it better in the ’70s, ’80s or ’90s? The new idea of romanticizing the past gives us hope and confidence. This expresses itself in design and fashion.