Everything
When you google search ‘nose band-aid fashion’, ‘nose plaster trend’, or ‘nose band-aid accessory’, one of the first results to appear at the top of the page is an article from The New York Times in 2008. One of the next fashion-inspired articles was from 2012, then 2018 when a trend report predicted the return of the first-aid tool, albeit adorned in loud prints and bold colours, used to accompany the rest of the look. Blame it on great SEO practice, but following the release of Alan Crocetti’s Fall/Winter 2019 jewellery collection it was obvious that the Brazilian-born designer was trying to resurrect the lost trend.
The micro trend which has seen a brief resurgence in recent years, but is most reminiscent to society’s affinity with nose jobs in the ’90s – you only have to watch Clueless once to get my drift. But the look stuck as it was born from the kawaii streets of Harajuku in Japan’s Tokyo. Colourful Japanese youth most commonly associated with the city plastered glitter and hello kitty iterations onto their faces and bodies before it seeped into Western street culture. And a deep dive into 2002 reveals perhaps the first time it reached mainstream media. ’00s rapper Nelly was first seen on the red carpet wearing a small, white plaster on his cheek before it soon became synonymous with his image. But according to an insider in 2010, it was a mere basketball injury rather than a fashion statement, but that didn’t hinder the slow rise of the bizarre trend.
In a reprisal of the London-based designer’s first, second and third collection, the gothic-meets-glamour capsule includes cuffs, earrings, ring and necklaces which hero rose motifs, flames and stars. However, when it comes to the infamous nose bandage, available in gold and silver, the meaning stems deeper than a nostalgic throwback.
Speaking to Highsnobiety, the designer explained, “The nose plaster was the first piece that I designed in 2014. It’s about the fractured man, about fractured souls. He’s trying to get out of the toxic masculinity that somehow has always pulled men back. That’s where the plaster comes from – us trying to fix ourselves.”
Is the next big thing for 2020? Time will tell.
Shop the collection here.
