History and return of the military cap in fashion From popular uprisings to Fashion Week

There are clothing items that have been at the center of international conflicts and epoch-making revolutions, that have helped to define the identity of a people and have been symbols of identification for both those in power and those fighting to conquer it. The military berets have always told stories of struggle, but now also of fashion: at the latest Fashion Week, designers like Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have reintroduced modern variants of the accessory, inaugurating a true revival of the trend. At FW24, in an interview with WWD, Miuccia Prada herself emphasized the timeless and generative value of historical clothing. “One looks at history to learn something,” the designer stated. «It was some intellectual who said that removing a piece from the past means separating it from its cage.»

Celine for FW24 proposed a personal version of the classic Police Bobby Hat, the metropolitan helmet still worn today by local English police. This type of military beret was already the subject of the so-called Atomic Age, a 1960s fashion movement led by Andres Courrèges, Paco Rabanne, and Pierre Cardin, who at the time had models wearing hats similar to military helmets and aviator berets. It is no coincidence that the designers proposed this type of aesthetic during the Cold War, confirming that designers' choices are inevitably influenced by the historical context and thus also by ongoing armed conflicts. The return of military berets to the catwalk recalls the long-standing and mutual influence between fashion and military clothing. Fashion's fascination with war-wear has always existed: it can be seen in the choice of materials such as nylon and gabardine, still used in military contexts and often employed by designers, in the silhouettes of army uniforms that, starting in the 1970s, inspired the construction of ready-to-wear garments. An example remains the safari jacket by Yves Saint Laurent, originally worn by the Afrika Korps during World War II and reintroduced by Anthony Vaccarello for SS24 of the maison.