Apr 15

Apr 15 Fashion's Great Escape

down coat GRANDLE GREEN bra SLOGGI top MARQUES ALMEIDA shoes H&M necklace STYLIST’S OWN — down coat **GRANDLE GREEN** bra **SLOGGI** top **MARQUES ALMEIDA** shoes **H&M** necklace **STYLIST’S OWN**

Would you rather travel five-hundred years into the future or five-hundred years into the past? Would you rather be able to breathe under water or soar like a bird? My friends and I are fixated with asking each other these hypothetical questions. They make us laugh. They make us think. But mostly, they allow us to imagine ourselves as more than merely human.

top VINTAGE bra-shirt SLOGGI skirt BCBGMAXAZRIA accessories STYLIST’S OWN — top **VINTAGE** bra-shirt **SLOGGI** skirt **BCBGMAXAZRIA** accessories **STYLIST’S OWN**

One question has stood the test of time. Would you rather teleport, be invisible or mind-read? Recently everyone has arrived at the same conclusion: teleport. In other words, everyone yearns for a means to escape.

bra top SLOGGI red stripes top GABRIELLA SARDENA red stripe short GABRIELLA SARDENA oversleeve STYLIST’S OWN. down coat GRANDLE GREEN bra SLOGGI top MARQUES ALMEIDA shoes H&M necklace STYLIST’S OWN — bra top **SLOGGI** red stripes top GABRIELLA SARDENA red stripe short GABRIELLA SARDENA oversleeve **STYLIST’S OWN**. down coat **GRANDLE GREEN** bra **SLOGGI** top **MARQUES ALMEIDA** shoes **H&M** necklace **STYLIST’S OWN**

Obviously, we are not Harry Potter or Oz’s own Dorothy —a flick of a wand or the click of some ruby slippers won’t disentangle us from society’s overgrowing problems. If it’s not Trump it’s Brexit, if it’s not Brexit it’s global warming. They’re like weeds that have learnt to resist their own pesticide. We need a way out.

hockey outwear STYLIST’S OWN headpiece STYLIST’S OWN t-shirt SLOGGI shorts SLOGGI shoes BYSANZ tights CALZEDONIA — hockey outwear STYLIST’S OWN headpiece **STYLIST’S OWN** t-shirt **SLOGGI** shorts **SLOGGI** shoes **BYSANZ** tights **CALZEDONIA**

Fashion and technology share the ability to transport us from the world we live in to one we can create as our own. Inspired by the online game PlayerUnknown’s battleground, Cvalda’s photographs blur the line between reality and the virtual world. Ironically nodding to the division between real life and the virtual realms ever-blurring future, whilst simultaneously offering the viewer a getaway to the fantastical realm of sci-fi technicolour hues and humorous eccentricity. The photo series both comments on and reveals the integral role these virtual games now play in our everyday lives. Fashion no longer just reflects our need to escape, it is becoming more and more digital so that we actually can. If we can look better, feel better, and dress better in this technologically infused sartorial world, it begs the question—will we ever return to reality? Or perhaps, do we need to? Soon the question we ask amongst our friends will be a slightly more sinister one: would you rather live a fabulous life online or a mediocre one in reality?