Engaged in the clothing industry for 20 years.
Tracing a trend: Mermaidcore
Mermaids in history and on film and TV
Myths about creatures from the sea that are half-human half-fish date
back centuries. In 1837, Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, ‘The
Little Mermaid’ was published. The story was so popular that the
Danish government commissioned a bronze statue of the mermaid to be
built in Copenhagen in 1909.
The movie ‘Splash,’ released in 1984, and starring Darryl Hannah, the
story of a mermaid and a man who fall in love, has become one of the
most beloved Hollywood movies of the late twentieth century. In the
coastal town of Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, the Mermaid Parade
of 2023 celebrates 40 years of people dressing up as sea creatures.
Some people are even professional mermaids and mermen as evidenced in
a documentary currently showing on Netflix called ‘Merpeople.’
The impact of Disney’s 2023 movie, ‘The Little Mermaid’
As predicted by e-comm retailer, Asos, and reported on by
FashionUnited, the Disney movie,’The Little Mermaid’ is currently
having a major influence on fashion, especially for 20-to-30
year-olds. According to Teen Vogue, “Once just a niche subculture of
style, ‘mermaidcore’ is all about emulating the mythical sea
creatures”
#mermaidcore – the statistics speak for themselves
There has been a 736 percent spike in recent Google searches for
‘mermaid style,’ and Pinterest search data has seen a 614 percent
uptick in searches for ‘mermaidcore.’ On TikTok, #mermaidcore has
amassed over 333 million views.
Mermaidcore at retail
According to Mashable.com, along with tutorials on how to dress and
hairstyle ideas,
“jewel-toned fabrics and crochet skirts dominate beach attire; pearl
earrings and sequined blouses — reminiscent of fish scales — top it
off. Eyes are coated with glimmering shades of blue; billowing skirts
are adorned with seashell-strung jewelry.”
On the runways
Post-pandemic, many runway designers have delved into the aesthetic,
arguably starting in the ss21 season when Donatella Versace showed
dresses printed with seashells and starfish. Talking about the
inspiration behind his ss23 collection, David Koma said, “I then had a
vision of an underwater world with colorful sea creatures illuminating
the darkness.”
Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquière held his resort 24
collection on a tiny island in Italy. Inspired by the surrounding
lakes, he mixed neoprene tank suits with lavish courtly robes, and
paired mermaid-scale sequin skirts with naval jackets. The baroque
headgear was custom-made for the show by an atelier in Rome that works
for the opera and movies. Mermaidcore includes a range of styles,
fabrics and colors. Here are eight designers who made an impact.
Versace ss21
Look 36: A green, blue and orange tank top embellished with starfish
and a matching mini skirt.
Look 66: a ‘shell-like’ bra top in satin and sequins with a flounce
mini skirt with a shell and starfish print.
Alberta Ferretti ss22
Look 48: a sleeveless full-length gown of jade, turquoise, sapphire
and amethyst shimmering palettes.
Spotlight
look 50: a blouse and mini skirted version rendered in the same
fabrics and colors with white pointed toe pumps.
Joseph Altuzarra fw22
Look 43: a long-sleeved gown with a deep vee neck in various sizes of
copper and gold paillettes.
Look 44: a floor-length halter-neck dress in small and large gold
paillettes with an additional overlay across the chest.
David Koma ss23
Look 6: full legged low-slung denim jeans with a necklace of gold and
silver coated shells on a gold chain.
Look 10: a head to toe look in Yves Klein blue with a sporty zip-front
top contrasted to a sequined skirt with a marabou feather fishtail
hem.
Look 26: A one-shouldered mock-turtle neck long-sleeved tunic in a
multi-colored tie dye print. Silver shells trimmed the shoulder.
Accessories included iridescent metallic thigh-high boots in a mock
croc pressed leather.
Valentino Haute Couture ss23 – designer Pierpaolo Piccioli
Look 65 was a short fitted mini dress covered in oversized green and
blue metallic paillettes, accessorized with opera length green leather
gloves and white satin pumps.
Bronx and Banco fw23 – designer: Natalie DeBanco
Look 10: a one-shouldered, asymmetric fishnet dress with rhinestone
embellishment and matching headdress.
Look 14: a halterneck dress in diamond-shaped fishnet and a long
fringe at the bust.
Diesel resort 24 – designer: Glenn Martens
Look 5: A strappy bustier in denim with a pink and turquoise
iridescent treatment on the surface with a midi-skirt in a similarly
treated gold denim.
Louis Vuitton Resort 24 – designer: Nicolas Ghesquière
Look 4: a multi-colored neoprene jacket with an ocean themed print and
a black flounce neoprene mini skirt.
Look 16: a stingray leather jacket with ‘anchor’ buttons and a below
the knee skirt of blue, silver and grey paillettes. Accessories
included an intricate headdress, custom sneakers and a handheld duffle
bag.
Look 17: a cream-colored fitted jacket and a below the knee length
skirt in grey and silver paillettes. Accessories included a feathered
headdress and custom sneakers.
