Fashion Army by Matthieu Nicol

Fashion Army investigates the evolution of military attire into iconic fashion. French visual researcher Matthieu Nicol presents a catalogue of three hundred and fifty documentary images from the declassified US Army Natick Labs archive, tracing military style from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. These images showcase the meticulous development of clothing and gear designed for both the battlefield and everyday military life, highlighting the profound connection between fashion, power, and aesthetics. Through this ambiguous and compelling sequence, Fashion Army offers a nuanced account of style, innovation, and the far-reaching influence of military apparel on fashion and identity, ultimately interrogating the signifiers of violence embedded in such attire.

Includes an essay by renowned fashion critic Angelo Flaccavento, reflecting on the interplay between military functionality and the fashion industry.

Matthieu Nicol is a French editor, and curator. He is the author of Better Food for Our Fighting Men (RVB Books, 2022), the first chapter of his exploration into the Natick Labs photo archive.

Angelo Flaccavento is a fashion critic, writer, and curator. He is currently a columnist for The Business of Fashion, Il Sole 24 Ore, Dapper Dan, and D, and a contributor to System, and Arena Homme+.