The Glas Age SS 2028 by Lidewij Edelkoort
Glass is a hybrid known for fragility while hiding its solidity and can be considered a liquid because of its fluid nature.
These contradictory qualities make it one of the most magical and versatile materials of all time.
Hovering between two states of matter, it is called an amorphous solid, which also perfectly describes the current state of fashion that is amorphous; a period
without clearly defined shapes, allowing various silhouettes to co-exist in one collection, on one body.
Glass doesn’t have a rigid structure, yet it isn’t liquid either and can be blown and moulded into fluid forms for technical, industrial and artistic purposes.
Versatile and fascinating, REFECTIVE GLASS is defined by its ability to be transparent, as a metaphor for honesty and clarity, as a looking glass mirroring the
growing need in society for avoiding the fake and thevoid.
SOFT GLASS represents a state where nothing is hidden and where reality can be observed in its purest form, possibly a reason why the material is
getting ready for a breakthrough; and indicating why transparency in fashion is reaching a critical mass, adopted by all brands in high and low, seen on all
people, young and old, in masculine and feminine clothes, often in broad daywear.
The first glass created by humans can be dated to the late Bronze Age when artisans in Egypt discovered the art of mixing sand, soda and lime to make objects
for drinking and storage, rituals and beads. These ANCIENT GLASS artefacts are inspiring undefinable melancholic colours that hover between one and
another and which will dominate design in the years to come; between yellow and green, pink andorange, brown and grey. To create garments that
are also hovering between day and night, casual and couture, antique and avant-garde. Artisans were also fascinated by IRIDESCENT GLASS, the process
of lustrous overlapping colour, making a remarkable comeback in textiles and design today in an almost
intoxicating motion, while shades of pink offer ROMANTIC GLASS to deploy its full potential as a carrier of couture and fragrance.
Venice’s glassmaking tradition has existed for over 700 years on the island of Murano, playing a major role in glass design, adding frivolity, reflection, mirrors
and more to inspire intricate HEDONISTIC GLASS and fashions that remember the huge influence of the Venetian designer Fortuny, famous for his printed
velvets and precious glass buttons and beads. From the 15th century onwards, glass beads were traded in exchange for ivory and gold and became the most
colourful currency on earth. Inspiring young Africans today to revisit AFRICAN GLASS as a token of reborn identity to overcome colonial trauma.
The most amazing conveyors of multiple colours are the glass tesserae used since antiquity for MOSAIC GLASS, illustrating everyday scenes as found in
Pompeii and contemporary mosaics, with figuratives in fashionable swimming pools and irresistible dresses.
In different categories of design and architecture, this 100% recyclable material is used for functional and structural purposes; with minimal aesthetics inspired by studious and durable INDUSTRIAL GLASS, constructed futuristic rainwear influenced by BUILDING GLASS which introduces the return of glass bricks and blocks and basic clothes that belong to the utilitarianism of WORKER GLASS.
These alternative trends that celebrate functional glass and minimal garments are important to counter the otherwise
sophisticated fashion stories.
Reminiscent of the 1970s and in full VINTAGE GLASS fashion, artistic blown vases and artisanal sconces in
solid bright tones dictate an alluring style of Italian origin. Monochrome dresses, boots and pants will surely follow suit. By contrast, the darker shades of
summer such as BROWN GLASS as well as slate, soot and black hint at another wartime-inspired moment in
design, where contemplative harmonies are dull and darker to accommodate fashion that is conscious of the barbaric moment giving shape to combative and
BRUTALIST clothes.
And finally, from the 1960s onwards, glass sought to radiate and sparkle even more, introducing amorphous alloys to its core. Physically embedding
METALLICS into glass created an additional dialogue with reflection, tinting the matter gold, silver or bronze to design small furniture and curiosity objects,
inspiring an ongoing need for wild dancing fashions to dazzle… Dancing on the volcano, that is.
– Lidewij Edelkoort
Paris, 5th of April, 2026
