What's the meaning of it all anyways?

Although most of us are ready to forget last year as soon as our clocks change. I think it’s important to say goodbye to the last 365 (or 66) days we were subjected to.  To help me with my annual shake down, I asked a few of my friends if they would tell a story for CAMOUFLAGE about their 2024. The only parameter was that there were none… So I hope you enjoy seeing, reading about, and listening to, some of my super talented friend’s favorite stuff from last year :)

As with all my writing prompts, I am often incapable of following direct instructions. Beyond discussing my trend forecast for 2025, this article has become more of a rambling epitaph of my ethos as an artist, creator, and a person. For me, it’s hard to look at something as small as a trend and not see the broader picture. What has led to this trend's prevalence? How does it speak to our broader socio-political atmosphere? And above all:

What does it mean?

Given the chaos of just this first month of 2025, it can feel a little futile to scroll through influencer’s “In’s and Out’s” or read through another article declaring this week’s new need-to-have item that will be filling up your neighborhood Goodwill next month. @style.analytics, a social media page dedicated to analysing fashion & style trends through consumer data, described a similar feeling in a recent post to instagram on January 8th. But upon doing a sentiment analysis of over 900 comments on 2025 trend prediction posts she found that a majority of comments were positive and expressing excitement for upcoming trends and pieces. With that being said, I give you my forecast:

The Bag Charm, DIY, & Punk’s New Look

Since I was a child I’ve always been interested in “DIY”. DC probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind as a fashion hub, but growing up there in the 90’s & early 00’s I caught the tail end of the hardcore movement.

My style has always been heavily inspired by the punks I would see walking around Georgetown in their home-sewn & studded out garb. It was probably the first exposure I had to the impact of creating your own clothes & style. The power of wearing an item you concocted with your own hands, that speaks perfectly to the union of your body and soul. In a weird way, I found a certain spiritual enlightenment in it.

I remember waking up and quickly sewing a top or a skirt out of some scrap fabric before running out the door to school because I needed something just right to fit my vision.

The revival of DIY over the past couple years feels like a response to the loss that kids who came of age during the Pandemic felt. Many people explore DIY for the first time as a teen, when finances are limited but the need for self expression and identification is highest. Doodling on our jeans & shoes in class, collecting the perfect assembly of charms on your bag & phone. It’s a universal experience for most artistic kids.

Many companies have tried to capture the delight of customized clothes, whole stores have popped up filled with millions of charms, patches, & stickers to mimic the look of a carefully collaged t-shirt or phone case. But I would argue that commercializing DIY is what kills it. It’s the patience & curation over time to build a perfectly studded jacket or jingling keychain that makes them DIY. Punk is a movement that came out of a community who lacked fiscal resources & rejected capitalism, so you can never recreate it in a store.

Last fashion week I had the privilege to attend the Mind Blown runway show. Millie & her partner Ben started their brand back in 2019, focusing on sourcing unconventional materials & scrap fabric to construct their garments.

Their style is akin to streetwear Vivian Westwood, though I would argue that the brand they have created has the potential to surpass her. Their SS25 runway had many of their staple deconstructed denim corsets & baggy jeans, but what i loved the most was the incorporation of tech waste. An structured bubble skirt & matching bra top made out of woven wires, phone chargers, and cables, and a stunning chainmail bra encrusted with memory cards & circuit boards all caught my eye.

Mind Blown has always been about creating showstopping looks from unexpected materials, but the crossover of tech & textile waste is truly inspired. Two of our most wasteful industries, curated into a poignant depiction of our future.

I’m hoping that our trend of DIY and customization that has been slowly growing over the past few years will shine in 2025. Learning to embrace clothes that we have by upcycling or modifying them. Giving new life to broken items that might otherwise be thrown out. Embracing our creativity - and sharing it. That’s a trend I can get behind.

The Modern Day Knight (aka. I <3 Feudalism)

The only new trend I can freely admit to jumping on is chainmail & the medieval fashion revival. For Halloween 2023, I spent a month and a half making a 4 ½ foot long sword, a top & skirt set, and covered my entire head with 100 star clips to become an Archangel. The centerpiece of the look was a gorgeous handcrafted bra by chainmail artist @_stevekong. That summer I had become obsessed with all things medieval and I knew that I needed to somehow become a modern day knight. 

Since then my Pinterest has been overflowing this year with the likes of chainmail looks, Pre-Raphaelite art, and Joan of Arc-esque fitspo, bedecked in armor & loose flowing tunics and bloomers. The balance of romanticism and toughness has really resonated with my experience of femininity.

It makes me wonder if this more masculine take on womanhood is a reaction to the coquette aesthetic that has been popularized since 2023, as well as the restrictions we have been facing as women in the western world.

I see this depiction of a powerful & hardened femininity reflected other adjacent trends too. The Boho 2010’s revival is marked by loose flowing tunics and puffed sleeves paired with studded leather brings an androgynous feel to medieval silhouettes.

A gorgeous example is local Brooklyn designer @______jaded_______. Jade is a hairdresser turned fashion designer, whose looks feature ballooning diapers & pantaloons, micro tops with puffed sleeved boleros, all accessorized with bows & wings made of human hair extensions. Her first collection, INNOCENCE, chronicles the progression from childhood to womanhood, and the experience and eventual loss of innocence. It speaks to the earth shattering experience of puberty and the inherent trauma in growing up. 

Personally, my search for a hardened female form is expanding beyond chainmail & armor. I’ve been experimenting with making patchwork scrap leather outfits and soft solder stone jewelry, a look my friends have lovingly dubbed “OogaBooga-core”. So maybe our next step is to look beyond the Medieval era and take us back to the Neolithic era. It certainly speaks to our collective desire to cast off technology and reconnect with nature. And I believe both styles are, deep down, about becoming powerful & strong enough to take on our hardened world.

Be Gay, Do Crime

While I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the trends that have been on my mind, the real focus in our current social lexicon has been personal style. Aka. Do whatever you want!

We have been oversaturated with infinite micro trends, millions of must-have pieces, and so many influencers trying to sell us on the exact brand of person that we should be. It’s exhausting. I look forward to an era of fashion that celebrates individuality & self expression. Fashion is strongest when represented as an art form. It speaks to the unique nuances of our time, our culture, our society, and ourselves. 

I’ve been hooked on the account @aview.fromabridge, an installation on a bridge in London By artist Joe Bloom. Everyday people pick up the phone booth mounted on the bridge and share their thoughts. It’s been a great source of inspiration for me lately.

For this article, I was struck by a line @ethanljoseph said, “you produce culture by existing in it”. Creation is seen in a deeply commodified way nowadays. You can’t just celebrate the joy of creating, it’s meant to be a means to an end.

We are encouraged to promote ourselves, market ourselves, start a brand, make money, make art. I realized fairly recently that I really just want to create for myself. I enjoy the feeling of making something new, exploring a new material, a new style. I don’t have the energy or the desire to do anything else. But I don’t think that means that I exist outside of our current culture. I think my voice has a place in the way that I hold myself, in the way that I speak, in the way that I act & connect. Fashion isn’t just what we wear, but a way of sharing our voice.

Use your voice.