A previous article published on W24 provided a timeline of the history of social distancing in fashion. "In the past, maintaining distance – especially between genders, classes and races – was an important aspect of social gatherings and public life. Social distancing didn't have anything to do with isolation or health; it was about etiquette and class. And fashion was the perfect tool," it highlighted, referencing the larger-than-life ballooning crinolines (voluminous skirt) of the mid-19th century.
READ MORE | The fashionable history of social distancing
A lecturer at the Institut Français de la Mode neatly surmises the meaning of fashion by saying, "fashion in a sense is change," also describing it as a social paradox – a source of both stability and instability.