What is the craze of fashion designers for esotericism a sign of?
The plethora of astrological motifs referring to the divinatory arts; the dissemination of mysterious symbols requiring initiation to be decoded; the use of “protective” crystals, or New Age incantations… More and more fashion designers are inspired by esotericism, sometimes even going so far as to embrace some of its related practices. Reinforced by the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the successive lockdowns it engendered, this cabalistic surge speaks to a need to reconnect to the other, to the world, and to nature, while enabling fashion to uphold its own mythology and designers to assert their status as a medium.