There’s something spooky in the air. Halloween might almost be upon us, but the current horror wave in fashion has nothing to do with seasonal commercial festivities. Ghosts, skulls, and vampires are hot, or shall we say spine-shiveringly cold, on the agenda right now. Browsing through the tradeshow To Be Confirmed in London last month must have been a real shocker for the fainthearted. Where one least expected, demons and other creepy characters played peek-a-boo; Tiger of Sweden gave flimsy chiffon baby-doll dresses (yet another printed chiffon example) an evil twist by decorating them with little skulls. Diesel contributed to the story with rugby-clad, cadaverous zombies. On the international catwalks Bernard Willhelm, the fashion world’s Prince of Darkness, predictably looked to the twilight zone for inspiration (AW ’04), as Julie Verhoeven for Gibo did in her SS ’04 collection. Here, the horror theme was celebrated properly and materialized in an outfit that was not only covered in abstract skulls, but also accessorized with a life-size baby skeleton in rubber. Trendies are sporting skull pendants in semi-precious metals. And not even window shoppers are safe these days. London boutique Wink currently has a display consisting of little voodoo dolls peering menacingly through the glass surface, and skull cushions share shelf space with footwear with skeleton etchings. In Milan, Clone’s Bruno Bordese introduced skull stitching on pullover leather boots to supplant his usual marijuana symbol. Hot knitwear entry Giulia Piersanti’s has show-goers clamoring for this season’s “it” skull printed scarves and slaying maxi sweaters. Could this sudden homage to all things horrific be an attempt to defuse the scariness and uncertainty in the world? A return to gritty rock and roll? Or could it simply be a backlash to the conventional prettiness that stormed the SS ’04 catwalks? In any case, if this disquieting aesthetic leaves you whimpering in fear, relax and try not to panic, and think about donning crosses (another pervasive trend) to ward off these evil images.

- Emma Holmqvist
Photo: Giulia Piersanti fall 2003