Fashion is more than just garments; every runway season has a narrative to it. The "Consumed" collection was meant to be a reflection on consumerism and how corporate language had flourished mainstream culture and society. If this season had to be described in one word, it would be “Capitalism.” The Spring/Summer 2003 season was the epitome of these beliefs; it was a dystopian metropolis where any meaning to pictures was lost in over-saturation, with models going to the extent of getting corporate logo tattoos.
The most recognizable pieces from this season were the shirts with words like “membership" and "resisted" along with variations of the logos for PlayStation 2, Canon, and a "Sun Bank" printed on shirts. The “Penelope” sweatshirt with the mechanical shark from the movie Jaws was also a legendary collectible, and we have seen its price surge overtime as a result of its scarcity. Ashley Bickerton, an artist who made collages in the 1980s, served as the inspiration for many of the corporate designs in this collection, which was created in honor of her.
This season will remain as one of Raf’s greatest seasons because of the deep meaning behind it. Raf was far ahead of his time, as evidenced by the fact that the world evolved into one that was increasingly logo-filled and that we saw a massive increase in the number of brands that focus exclusively on logos. There is no denying that he was a genius for this show.
