Futuristic Colour Blocking

Colour blocking isn't the most adventurous of sartorial choices but, over the past four years, it has steadily turned into something that brings a wry smile.  I'm a huge fan, for what will become obvious reasons, and can track it back to 2008 and a sweater from French Connection; I saw it and was amazed it existed.  Since then it's become an almost permanent part of my wardrobe but, as a very specific trend, has grown into ubiquity.

Let's take a look and see if you can figure it out...

River Island gave us these in Autumn/Winter 2013 and 2012.

They're simple, relatively low-key, and the one on the right is identical in style and colour to French Connection's sweater from 2008 but made from a thicker knit.  At this stage you might spot a design link but are more likely to think that it's a bit of an accident.  However, if you amp up the colours we get into more obvious territory.

Lacoste featured the left in Spring/Summer 2011 and the right in Fall/Winter 2013:

Shifting the palette to red and gray Tesco got in on the act with a short dress and Crosshatch with a gillet in F/W 2013:

Obviously we're talking shoulders and several popular designers have sported the shoulder style of blocking with this jumpsuit from Victoria Beckham in 2012 and another sweater from Ann Demeuelemeester in 2013:

 

Now, unless you had a passing familiarity you probably wouldn't have noticed anything other than the repeat in style; it's not uncommon in commercial fashion design and when spread far and wide in a department store might go unnoticed.  However the possibility that these are all accidental progeny is obliterated when we meet the previous winner for most direct reference, Karen Millen in 2012: 

I doubt that any team putting this together didn't see it so whether it was intentional in the design or not it made it through to production. That said, and most recently, the 'adidas NEO' label has taken the title by producing a t-shirt that turned a potentially unknowing homage into the hilariously bizarre and produced practically a uniform that you can genuinely buy:

I find it terrific to think that there may be people who buy some of these garments with no concept of what influenced them, directly or not. I like even more the thought that, of the many designers involved, at least one of these must have been intentional.

Theiss would love this...just look at the Edo.

Many things are said to have been inspired by Star Trek; how true that is I'm unsure but over the years there have been floppy disks, automatic doors, mobile communication, touchscreen tablet computers, all items that are useful enough to have been developed on their own but all appearing in some form on screen.

It's interesting to track fashions from high-street store to high-street store, but even more so to track the inspiration behind commercial fashion, whether it's a fashion house, piece of art, historical period, or a costume designer on a television show years ago.

That said, I remain thankful that the current trend is colour blocked shoulders and not colour blocking in the style of the Original Series designer William Ware Theiss or the infamous male mini-skirt, the 'skant'; I may be sorely tempted but it wouldn't be for the faint-hearted.  I, for one, favour more subtle references.