The Plastic Coat

Stefania Corti
Aug 17, 2016
2 min read

When they are not busy discussing the imminent elections or the dangers imposed by the advancement of not-so-far-eastern wanna-be states, Americans and Europeans alike passionately indulge in another very 21st century hot topic: the environment. Politicians the world over use their eco-friendly initiatives to get votes, and people's obsession with being green spans from their nutritional habits to what they wear.

But ultimately whether common citizens personally recycle is not fundamental. What matters is that companies practice the art of being good to nature, if they don't want their stocks to plummet and their market share to be swept away by competitors.

Patagonia, the outdoors apparel manufacturer, has been a leader in recognizing early on the need to comply with our generation's request for a cleaner planet. They are often emulated in how they manage to reduce carbon emissions, water waste, pollution, and the usage of many harmful chemicals in their fabric production. Recycling fabrics, especially polyesters, has been part of their personal quest and campaign, and many other fashion companies have followed suit.

To my point now: if it might seem strange to see plastic on the runway instead of more organic materials, it is on the contrary the more nature-friendly way of transforming a pollutant into an innocuous piece of clothing that still has a chance at life.

The PVC (vinyl, or shiny plastic) raincoat is an important example. Back in the 1960's and '70's -when it became prominent in the fashion covers - it was what it was: newly generated plastic, in any possible color. Couturiers such as Courrege and Gaultier, Cardin and Lanvin, St Laurent and Paco Rabanne designed entire collections around this material. Many of these specimens today sit in museums. and current designers are taking the dust off of them to use them as inspiration for their own version of the vinyl raincoat, once again to be seen on every model and fashionista in Fall/Winter 2017-18.

The photos below show some early examples of the PVC coat.