The new wave of 1990s-inspired plaids, slip dresses and faded florals
marks the return of grunge this spring. Part punk, part working class,
grunge has been a recurring trend in fashion since the early 1990s. It
first crawled out from the underground in the late 1980s in response to
financial hardship, a backlash to capitalism and the emergence of
regional rock music. The Seattle-born style was popularized by front men
like Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain (his tortured-by-fame look included
moth-eaten sweaters, beat-up Chuck Taylor sneakers and shredded denim)
and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder (fond of oversized plaid shirts paired with
baggy cut-offs and combat boots). Courtney Love, lead singer of Hole
and Cobain’s wife, brought her version of burnout beauty into the
spotlight with baby-doll dresses, smudged eyeliner and slashes of red
lipstick. Anti-fashion went mainstream and Gen Xers everywhere started
Goodwill hunting.
Designers began to take notice. Marc Jacobs based his Spring 1993
collection for Perry Ellis on this surprisingly influential slacker
style but gave it a decadent twist. Sleeveless flannel shirts were
produced in luxurious silk, thermal tops were woven in cashmere and
Chuck Taylors debuted in Duchesse silk. Then there was the skillful
layering: Full-length granny-floral dresses were worn over striped tops,
flowy skirts were left open to reveal hot pants underneath and crop
tops were worn over T-shirts and under button-ups. The media were
smitten and Jacobs won the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year Award
but the collection didn’t sell well. The king and queen of grunge—Cobain
and Love—were sent pieces from the collection, which they later burned.
In a 2010 interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Love shed some light on
this fiery situation: “We were punkers—we didn’t like that kind of
thing.”
Three-figure price tags and thrift store-inspired threads weren’t a
match made in retail heaven back then, but now luxury has been
redefined. This season, designers including Phillip Lim, Dries Van Noten
and Henry Holland are hoping to cash in on their tidier interpretations
of the 1990s trend. Spring 2013’s look is about juxtaposing luxe with
lowbrow, masculine with feminine and construction with deconstruction.
It’s artfully messy with an underlying polish. Van Noten put a soft spin
on it, showing plaids in taffeta, organza, mousseline and lamé. His
other spring standouts included oversized sheer button-down shirts
(perfect for layering) and white oblong sunnies similar to the ones
Cobain wore. Rochas continued this glam grunge theme with
vintage-inspired slip dresses (hello, Courtney), while Henry Holland
churned out lace and sheer-edged dresses that referenced the 1990s in
hues much deeper than his usual bright, bold mix. 3.1 Phillip Lim showed
bare midriffs, distressed denim, tie-front skirts that gave the
illusion of a flannel shirt around the waist, and tough sandals that
channelled Doc Martens, while Acne designer Jonny Johansson paired
sleeveless novelty tees with parachute skirts held together with utility
belts.
Grunge, in all its haute hybrids, is showing no sign of social
alienation this time around. The spring campaigns are high on
hobo-meets-hipster chic: Jacobs, the original guru of grunge, set his
latest Marc by Marc Jacobs ads in a gritty, graffiti-covered bathroom
and small alleyway, proving that loud colour, chaos and clashing prints
are the new must-haves. Somewhere, Kurt Cobain is flipping us the bird.
