THE GREAT MIGRATION
a romantic rural revolution
Spring/Summer 2023 & beyond
"The year 2020 will remain in the history books as a moment of profound change in people’s lives. After several lockdowns of working from home, endless Zoom sessions and kids being educated on-line, life suddenly became free from location and one could live wherever one wanted as long as wifi was available. As a result, a great migration from urban to rural housing took place, deserting city centres in favour of village squares. Students went back to their parents’ homes, researchers settled in country residencies and sabbaticals were planned on remote islands. Airbnb developed a more permanent residential programme and hotels sheltered stranded travellers. From Tokyo to Paris, New York and Melbourne young families and old couples bought or rented country dwellings with incredible speed, often over the phone, since there was so little housing left…
That migration has now become a shift in society to reckon with, where expensive and cramped city apartments are traded for houses, farms and more spacious lofts in secondary cities, towns and regions. Bringing culture and sophistication to the countryside in a hybrid movement, between the casual and the creative, spanning fashion, food, crafts and interiors. Whether acting as weekend retreats or permanent housing, this move to the outdoors will have great consequences for work, life and happiness.
A savvy new style is being developed that is born from the hybridisation of city and country clothes, of antique and innovative textiles, of vintage and contemporary patterns, of rustic and modern interiors. One cannot exist without the other: the dress needs to be domestic and stylish, workwear should be authentic and avantgarde, loungewear and bedding are cosy and creative, and cocktail clothing blends casual with couture. Family heirlooms are mixed with farmers’ furniture and modernist finds.
A strong romantic mood dominates these emerging lifestyles, with decorative elements and historical citations, perfectly absorbed by a contemporary mentality. Learning from streamed period series, gardening shows and cooking tutorials.
Styling these disparate elements together becomes the true new fashion direction, where personalities are formed by informed choices, taken from the past and present to forecast our future."
– Lidewij Edelkoort
