The trend of DIY fashion A trend that reflects a new mentality, re-establishing the relationship between brand and consumers

Among the many effects that the pandemic has had on our daily lives, there is undoubtedly the expansion and success of a new approach to fashion. New not in an absolute sense, but temporal, which after having remained a secret or at least niche for a long time was rediscovered in the months that forced us to stay indoors. With nothing to do, without busy schedules and without a real motivation to leave the house, we have rediscovered the manual skills of our gestures, for cooking, rolling out dough and doing gourmet experiments; to finish that puzzle we started in '99; to try our hand at creating candles and vases, even without being in a Ghost scene; or trying with our hands to make something from scratch, such as clothes or accessories. The DIY, the do-it-yourself, has therefore become an essential component of our vision of fashion, no longer static and passive, made up of shapes and colours imposed by others, but experiential, material, concrete, original and personal. In the pandemic months, tutorials on how to knit have proliferated, to give life to crochet garments, accessories and knitwear hats, making us discover and rediscover the favourite hobby of our grandmothers. In the same way, everything we have bought in recent months, especially if vintage, has become a new playground to test out our new skills, turning and adapting our purchases according to our body and our taste. We have become active actors in our relationship with fashion, a change of perspective that didn't go unnoticed between brands. 

The initiatives of the brands and the indirect response of users reflect a change of mentality, which moves on two intertwined tracks, which combine personal creativity and the possibility of creating unique items of their kind, with a green approach that reduces waste and doesn't rely on large productions. If on the one hand the interest of consumers, especially younger ones, appears authentic and genuine, it remains to be understood how much the fashion industry will believe and invest in the phenomenon.