T
he fact is, cultural obsessions permeate more than one facet of society, and science fiction is one influence that has never been stronger than it is today. Just take a look at some of the top-earning Hollywood movies in the past few decades — The Avengers, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Avatar, Transformers, The Matrix, Independence Day, Jurassic Park and Back to the Future before that. It’s clear that America has a particular affinity for anything to do with wizardry, space travel, time travel, aliens, post-apocalyptic worlds and Robert Downey, Jr. And movies are just one slice of the science fiction pie; we can’t disregard the television shows, video games, comic conventions, books and, of course, fashion. (Though Rodarte’s couture pieces may belong in a different subcategory
than, say, a brandished pair of Vans featuring a Stormtrooper.) But why the science fiction obsession? Nineteenth-century German sociologist Max Weber’s research may provide some insight. In a modern, bureaucratic Western society where scientific understanding is valued over belief, and rationality and pragmatism preside, we have become “disenchanted,” in Weber’s words. There is no place for mystery or magic in a world rife with explanation, with systems, with facts. So we turn to science fiction to gain a sense of wonder and recover the imagination of our childhood. Childhood, imagination … exactly what the Mulleavy sisters said inspired their Star Wars gowns. “In the end, for Rodarte, the dresses represent something intangible,” they added. “The instant where you learn to keep your eyes wide open to the vast potentiality of everything.”
After all, sometimes that with potentiality becomes reality: Nike is introducing the self-tying “power laces” worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II next year — the same “future” year the shoes are from in the 1989 film.
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