Civil Unrest, a Recession and a Pandemic must all lead to something?
The punk subculture evolved in the 70s when the public realised that they could have individual freedom and anti-government opinions. With huge movements in music, fashion and gender expression represented by British environmentalists, independent record labels, designers and feminists.
Whilst living in my student house in Leeds, I'm constantly met with the most surprising trend of 2020... Mullets and it's not terrible. With thanks to Gucci, Mullets are back on the runway and on our streets. With both genders able to join in on the trend and now fashion icon Miley Cyrus jumping on the trend, showcasing hers whilst covering 'Heart of Glass', it is bound to become increasingly popular. We also must get used to these power statements as post-pandemic is going to lead to power suits, bold colours and risky clothing. The need for nostalgia will increase as the population regain their freedom (if the day ever comes). As more and more people are experimenting DIY hair cuts and fashion, we can see a new found freedom and fearless trend that allows strong styles such as mullets to re-appear. Experimenting with colour is back in full force. With Billie Eilish showing off her neon green roots, why wouldn't people adore this? As our generation begins to rebel from our government who are too busy messing up our future, the appeal for these trends are all fuelled by rebellion, just like in the 70's. As a women, who has been moulded to be the 'perfect', 'pretty girl' for the past two decades, its refreshing to see this attitude fuelled choppy look.
During the first wave of the pandemic, the spike in people creating their own clothes grew. I predict this will continue and the support for small businesses who don't participate in fast fashion will be great. Part of the original punk movement was environmentalists reusing their clothing and making it current, this needs to happen again. The fashion overconsumption is getting more severe as we carry on buying single use and poorly made garments. This all pushes towards the climate crisis and if you haven't watched the David Attenborough documentary 'A life on our planet', you need to.
2020 seems like the year for protesters. From Black lives matter to the most current 'CyberFirst', the government's way of scrapping the arts and introducing young peoples 'passion' for tech (absolute rubbish). Without the arts, I know myself, would have struggled even more so during the pandemic and music was the one thing that boosted my mood. As our generation become more wild, powerful and ambitious the more we can fight back and not give in to our dreams. Growing up with Brexit, amongst everything else, our generation will be stronger than ever, just like the punk movement.
Char.
Sources:
Freestone, C. (2020) Punk In Context. Coveteur [Online]
Parker, E. (2020) Mullets are Apparently Coming Back. Glamour [Online]
Medlicott, C. (2020) What does it mean to be a punk in 2020. Walesartsreview [Online]
Turner, E. (2020) Are you ballsy enough to pull off the modern mullet all the cool-girls are wearing. Glamour [Online]