From Combat to Fashion: The History of Camouflage

God is camouflage, both as a concept and as a pattern, it is omnipotent and omnipresent. But how could a simple textile pattern be compared to God? The textile pattern of camouflage itself is just one aspect of the theory of camouflage, although it is the most visible. The pattern, with its original intention of hiding the human form during war, directly relates to the concept of the theory of camouflage practiced in other ways, such as hiding undesirable parts of the body or distorting visual reality. The term "camouflage" incorporates deeper philosophical meanings that speak of an intentional denial of truth. In fact, fashion camouflage springs from this theoretical realm of intentional deception – tricks aimed at survival through the alteration of reality.

Identifying the exact moment when camouflage became part of fashion is a difficult task. The deeper you dig, the further you go, the more complicated it becomes to explain where streetwear and military style intersect. So, what is it about camouflage that has made it so popular in the fashion world? In quick analysis, it is a combination of several factors; cultural symbolism, history, and aesthetics. Before understanding how camouflage became cool in an aesthetic sense, it is important to have a little historical and cultural context.

When it comes to military equipment, the focus quickly shifts to the 20th and 21st centuries. Even though several armies began to use uniforms in the 19th century as a result of the changing nature of war, it was only in World War I that it became necessary to use camouflage on a large scale.

With new technologies, from aerial reconnaissance to the use of new weaponry (long-range guns, machine guns, and tanks), it became more than necessary to hide military installations and soldiers. France had to learn the hard way during the early phases of World War I and quickly began employing artists, designers, and scholars to develop techniques to "hide" everything from vehicles to buildings. Art served as the main transfer node of camouflage between the military and civilian domains.

The major armies have always considered concealment, to the point of even resulting in the rise or fall of civilizations, as seen in the story of the Trojan Horse. There are also accounts that the first ships used in battles were painted blue to blend in with the ocean. 

For nearly 20 years, the Vietnam War dominated American politics, media, and mainstream culture throughout its duration, inspiring countless anti-war initiatives and becoming one of the major battlefronts of the counterculture movement. While soldiers in Vietnam were fighting a military war, America was fighting its own cultural civil war between traditional conservative values and the progressive idealism of the free love and civil rights movements. And unlike the Korean War that preceded it, or the two Gulf Wars that followed, the grim cocktail of the Vietnam War of jungles, napalms, cigarettes, opium, tour jackets, and camouflages not only solidified militarism as a central element of American identity but also made it perceived by the world.

"Tiger Camo" used in the Vietnam War

As a result, military culture became woven into the roots of American society in a way that it had never been before. Its effect spread across all corners of culture; bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival sang about it in their songs; books like The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, and Chickenhawk, by Robert Mason, brought harrowing tales of war back to American soil; and movies like Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, released in the years immediately following the war, are worth mentioning about Travis Bickle, the anti-hero dressed in M65 from the iconic film Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese, a disillusioned Vietnam War veteran struggling to readjust to American life.

The pop art movement was quick to subvert standards and re-signify the concept of camouflage, with many notable works, including the camouflage series by Alain Jacquet and later, the camouflage painting series by Andy Warhol in the mid-'80s, changed the way many fashion designers thought about patterns. Following major references of the time, rappers from Public Enemy generated excitement in the public, and in 1988, they wore a black-and-white camouflage pattern while promoting their album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, just as Bone Thugs, Wu Tang Clan, and Tupac also made some appearances with the print. So when we reach the rise of rap and hip-hop in the early '90s, the army style was everywhere. Young black rappers who grew up in cities like New York and Chicago looking to dress on a budget would have become familiar with shopping at army surplus stores, and the military aesthetic blended with American black gang culture at this time.

Art by Alain Jacquet

Art by Andy Warhol

Woodland Camo

U.S Woodland Camo Classic

 The rise of hip-hop was paired with the rise of streetwear, skaters, rappers, and graffiti artists needed durable clothing that fitted into their style and empowerment, each for their own reasons. As a result, camouflage found its place in virtually every corner of the 90s subculture.

Artists mediated the fluid transmission of camouflage between fashion and the military during the early 20th century. In Asia, thanks to World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War, American military culture had already been present for over 50 years. So, when designers in Japan like Jun Takahashi from Undercover, Shinsuke Takizawa from Neighborhood, and the founder of A Bathing Ape, NIGO, started their brands, each exploring 20th-century American culture in their own way, camouflage wove its narrative firmly into fashion.

French Lizard Camo

Camo ABC BAPE

The rich rap influences of Bape led to the creation of the iconic ABC camouflage of the brand, bringing the Vietnamese duck hunter camouflage paint pattern into a pop art pattern that would be used by practically every iconic rapper of the last 30 years, including Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Notorious BIG and others. Camouflage patterns permeate all facets of commercial fashion, especially since such famous designers as Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano designed collections featuring the print. Perhaps because of this, it lost its masculine symbolism, gaining mass appeal and appearing everywhere.

The predominant camouflage pattern used in fashion is the US Woodland pattern, probably due to American dominance in politics, economics, and popular culture in the 20th century. The broad cultural adoption of camouflage means it is democratic, with masses of people wearing the pattern, but interpreting it individually. This flexibility indicates that camouflage lacks a fixed cultural state, a malleability of changing meaning that is, in essence, the perfect definition of the word "camouflage."

At first glance, military camouflage seems to suggest the disappearance of the individual, its very nature as a uniform emphasizes conformity, while the optical effects of the pattern force the dissolution of the human form. However, when used in fashion, camouflage announces presence, serving to distinguish the user from others. Like the fragmented world, in sociocultural terms, the camouflage pattern incorporates conflicting connotations – violent but peaceful, urban but natural, conformist but subversive. Democratic, camouflage belongs to men and women, rich and poor, pacifists and warriors. Ultimately, it is the user, not the pattern itself, that determines its meaning.

Text/Research: Vitor Queiroz