We speak of a society that thinks, feels, and holds opinions. Fashion often reflects this collective sense of society with striking accuracy. But who exactly holds this opinion, who thinks and who feels? Who do we mean when we talk about society?
Front row, everyone is wearing black. Oversized coats, heavy shoes, serious faces. It's the kind of black that doesn't look like mourning - it looks like style. Like control. Like a shared agreement. Behind the camera, someone says quietly: "The collection reflects nowadays society." Nobody asks what exactly that means. And nobody has to ask. Everyone nods, as if they already know.
Who is meant when we say "society"? It appears in conversations like a person. It wants sustainability, it is tired of consumption, it longs for authenticity. In trend reports, press releases, and essays it is described as if it were a human being with taste, morals, and clear expectations. Somewhat moody, contradictory - but still remarkably consistent.
Few fields are read as quickly as a mirror of collective feeling the way fashion is. When skirts get shorter, they say society wants freedom. When they get longer, it is searching for protection. When everything becomes minimal, it is exhausted. When things get loud, it is rebellious.
An Invisible Majority
Sociologists have been pointing out for years that "society" is less a clearly defined actor than a constructed collective. Studies on the formation of public opinion show that many people consider their own position to be a minority view - even when it is statistically widespread. What is perceived as the "majority" is often created through media repetition, not through actual consensus.
A recent European consumer study arrives at a similar conclusion: over 70 percent of respondents say they want to consume more sustainably - yet over 60 percent regularly shop from providers known for overproduction and low prices. The desire and the behavior diverge. Both exist in parallel. And yet, from this contradiction, a unified societal will is formulated.
From many such decisions, patterns emerge. From patterns, trends. From trends, narratives. Fashion houses, media, and market research firms pick up these narratives and amplify them. A system takes shape. Fashion is one of the fields in which this contradiction becomes particularly visible and in which sweeping statements about "all of us" are made particularly quickly.
"We" as a Shortcut
Philosophically speaking, "society" is a narrative that creates order. It helps to compress complexity, to endure contradictions without having to resolve them. In language, the word "we" sounds binding, almost comforting. But it often refers less to an actual collective than to an idea of consensus.
This "we" is deceptive. It sounds as though there is a shared direction and shared values. But most of the time it does not mean everyone. It only means those who are visible. Those who are quoted. Those who buy, post, comment. Fashion amplifies this effect. Images circulate quickly. Clothing becomes a statement before it is even worn. In this context, every piece and every collection is read politically, every aesthetic judged morally. Body image, sustainability, gender - all of it is negotiated in the name of social progress. Those who deviate are seen as backward. Those who conform are seen as conscious. Neutrality seems impossible in this moment.
And yet people wear their clothes for entirely different reasons. Out of habit. Out of insecurity. Out of a lack of alternatives. The private motivation disappears behind the public interpretation. Between inner life and outward reading, a translation error occurs.
Perhaps "society" is precisely that error. When multiplicity is compressed into summaries. When observations are shaped into expectations. And when the opinions of many individuals are read as one intimidating voice. But that voice is nothing but an illusion.
Tension Instead of Consensus
This does not mean that there are no shared developments. Of course there are. But they are fragile, contradictory, and time-bound. They shift the moment you try to pin them down. Society is not a state - it is a process. And fashion is one of its most visible products.
Back to the front row, to the black coats. What is read there as a reflection of society is perhaps simply an aesthetic decision. A moment of agreement among like-minded people, not a worldview. But this reinterpretation happens almost automatically. From observation, meaning is made.
Fashion makes tensions visible. It translates individual decisions into collective statements. So when we say: society wants - we often mean something else entirely. We mean: there are signs. There are tendencies. There are narratives.