Style alert: Memes are about to take over your closets

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The September 2024 issue is out on newsstands now.

American singer-actress Sabrina Carpenter may not have been

a headliner at music festival Coachella in April

, but that did not stop her from making headlines. As she stepped out to perform, pop’s It Girl wore a tee that read “Jesus was a Carpenter”.

The tee – simple in its iteration of black script printed on white cotton – was an immediate crowd fave.

Fans promptly scoured the web for copies, proving there is always a place for fun in fashion. Suffice to say, the look was a hit.

Since the dawn of Internet 2.0 – where user-generated content reigns supreme – memes have become a frequent and casual vocabulary which people communicate with and cannot seem to stop. 

People send GIF reactions when they are gossiping in group chats. They incorporate online vernacular into their daily lingo. Fashion is no stranger to that.

As brands continue to find new ways to cut through the noise and reach younger, clued-in social media natives, memes proliferate on the runways and online.

After all, if real estate on your social media feed is precious, what better way to grab one’s attention than with ironic fashion that can evoke a laugh.

Perhaps that is also why fashion houses are embracing meme-fied content as a new medium of relating to Gen Z audiences.

One need only peruse multi-label retailer Ssense’s feed for a good chuckle, as the self-aware cult store from Canada pokes fun at everyone, from people in situationships to fans of British singer-songwriter Charli XCX. 

Fashion brands Loewe and Marc Jacobs have also turned their social media feeds into an emporium of giggles, trend-jacking social media content for laughs.

Sure, oftentimes on the runway, these meme-focused designs tend to come from younger, contemporary creative minds that are not afraid to make a statement.

Take, for example, Paris-based designer Burc Akyol’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection. Inspired by the love songs mixtapes that he listened to obsessively while learning the English language, he sent out a collection that paid homage to the music he grew up with.

On one model, a snugly fitted knit sweater with the Best Of Love CD logo was a “wink wink” homage to Akyol’s own personal history and will certainly appeal to millennials who grew up with those CDs in their bedrooms.

At Botter, the Netherlands-founded, Paris-based cult brand by designers Lisi Herrebrugh and Rushemy Botter, a Carlsberg beer logo gets reworked to read “Caribbean Couture” and immediately sets the tone for the designs to come.

Herrebrugh and Botter, who often address social issues through their collections that include ocean pollution and melting icebergs in the past, took aim at Big Oil this time by reimagining a recognisable petrochemical logo that now reads “Hell”.

It is the perfect blend of quick-witted funny mixed with an “if you know, you know” attitude.

“We’re here to talk about certain things that happen in the world and translate them in a relatable or poetic way,” Herrebrugh said to Women’s Wear Daily. “But it can be quite straightforward like this.” 

Throwing his own hat into the funny ring was Masayuki Ino, the creative mind behind Doublet. At his Fall/Winter 2024 show, the Japanese designer sought to strike up a conversation of the gargantuan wellness industry through wry wit.

Cue a procession of zombie-walking models that exited onto the runway in knits bearing the word NAP in bold, collegiate font across restrictive knit tops and oversized blanket-shaped hoodies – as if to remind people that no matter how many new sleep techniques they try, they are all tired and frazzled.

On another model, a cropped top looked like it bore the McDonald’s logo, except the golden arches have been modified to read “magnetism”. This was Ino’s incisive way of commenting on the overly commercialised side of wellness.

Yet, it is not just the young designers who can appreciate a giggle-inducing article of clothing, as industry veteran Yohji Yamamoto clearly demonstrated in his collection. The Japanese maestro adorned his signature deconstructed silhouettes with off-kilter sayings such as “YoYo loves black. Is your underwear black? Is it transparent?”

These humorous clothes were also seen on models of all ages, including American actor Norman Reedus, 55, and Australian musician Warren Ellis, 59, as if to say that a joke can be chic for one and all, regardless of age.

To riff on what English designer Victoria Beckham said about fashion stealing people’s smiles, Yamamoto’s poetically jocular collection found a way to lead people to joy again.

More importantly, he and the rest of these designers remind people that when they are all in on the joke, looking funny is truly fashionable.