Steven Hong
White, gold, black, blue, and ugly. The newest controversy has taken the internet by storm in the form of a dress.
Last week a post on Tumblr prompted heated debate, depicting a dress that to some people, appeared black and blue, and to others, white and gold.
Causing what seems like a mini revolution in the fashion industry, its chromatically vexing fabric is the newest trend in the capricious fashion world.
This week, Paris Fashion Week was host to a vibrant array of fabrics that shimmered and shifted right on the runway.
“The dress has served as an inspiration for artists like ourselves,” fashion designer Mikey Moors said. “The way the fabric alters the light really accentuates the natural curves of the body.”
While fashion enthusiasts are hyped to explore the possibilities of this new fabric trend, environmentalists and animal rights activists are fighting like never before.
“The fact that they skin chameleons for clothing garments disgusts me. It’s absolutely REVOLTING,” PETA representative Amanda Porter said. “We don’t have the infrastructure set it in place to sustainably, and humanely, collect the skins of chameleons.”
Porter is fearing that the fate of the chameleon will be akin to the alligator, which has been hunted extensively due to the overreaching fashion industry.
“Alligator bags and tortoise shell accessories are old news,” fashion designer Lois Vetten said. “I see a future of color changing fabric. Chameleons are in, and are here to stay.”
Many critics at Paris Fashion Week think of the black and blue dress popularized by social media as the tip of the iceberg, a doorway to untapped potential, an opportunity for change.
“The technology is still in its infant stage. Imagine, a garment that can change colors with the emotions of the model,” Moors said. “The possibilities are endless.”
