Do you remember the days where logomania wasn’t popular? Well, as you may recall logomania existed in the loud, bright American fashion in the 1980’s. This color blocking, fluffy hair era was followed by the subdued, neutral earth tones of the 90’s.
At the turn of the century, logomania exploded across bags, velour tracksuits, and everything in between. Let’s look back even further in the early to mid 1900’s. Logos were only visible to the wearer in the brand tag or in the custom “made for” tag.
The past decade or so has been logomania, indeed. The term embodies the absolute explosion of hats, bags, clothing and accessories that scream a brand’s logo or logo pattern. There has been a rise in high-end designer brands with roots in France, Spain, Italy and the United States that have recently revamped their styles and logos from the archives of their fashion maison.
Have you noticed a lot of brand’s archival looks are some variation of logos on brown canvas? Think Celine triomphe, Fendi pequin and Louis Vuitton damier ebene. From Saint Laurent’s archival logo design from its founding year in 1961 and Versace’s recent twist on La Greca, brands are known to go into their archives to appeal to new and existing customers by presenting new offerings that are directly related to the fashion house’s heritage.
I’ve shared before in talks that, yes, heritage can mean one’s ethnic, racial and religious background; it can also embody the values that one holds dear and the values and imagery that has been passed down from generation to generation. A lot of the high end fashion brands have such a rich heritage from a random story that happened to the original designer on the streets of Paris or stories relating to the common practices of a certain era. Anything that matters to the original designer and the fashion house as a whole can be used to further refine a company’s heritage and brand identity.
I have always enjoyed fashion and high quality goods and I can’t help but notice that logomania has no signs of slowing down in the fashion industry for many years to come. Listen, I love a good fashion moment, but I was taught that logos are for the lining of clothing. Some people say that wearing items with a branded logo can make you look like a walking billboard for the company. I’m sure some people can pull off a logo-heavy look and some may just have a sliver of impeccable branding in their day to day fashions. Wherever you are on the spectrum, I think we can all agree on the absolute power of logos and brand recognition.
Heritage Writing Co. 