SS21

SS21 trend report: What will our ‘New Look’ look like?



Christian Siriano SS21

I feel rather disconnected from Fashion Month this season but this image caught my attention.

It’s last Thursday’s Christian Siriano SS21 show and the colours, plus olde worlde Slim Aaron’s-esque glamour (tempered with the now-normal sight of a Covid mask), place it firmly in the space of aspirational longing. Longing for parties, whimsy and unbridled joy instead of caution and pragmatism.

My overarching goal for following the SS21 shows is to understand what ‘fashion’ is going to look like for all of us for the next few years. (more…)



Louis Vuitton menswear summer 2021 goes ‘seasonless’



Louis Vuitton menswear Summer 2021 Virgil Abloh

An interesting concept from Virgil Abloh for his Louis Vuitton menswear Summer 2021 collection.

Shown in Shanghai this week, his ‘seasonless’ strategy mixes past looks with new on the same runway. “This is debuting my future format of shows,” he told WWD. “We as humans want new things, we always want to go forward; the newest, fastest, shiniest things…[But] if my collection I debuted in January I believed in, by the time it gets to July, I still believe in it. It’s not that it’s so old that it can’t be seen ever again. I’m questioning that system by proposing that my collections are all as one.” Fair play! (more…)



The culture of fashion: Dior SS21 menswear ‘portrait of an artist’



Dior SS21 men Amoako Boafo

Some more menswear SS21 highlights. On the maximalist craft tip, Dior hit the top notes again with a fab collab with Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo. (See the collection video here.)

Dior’s creative director Kim Jones first met him last year during Art Basel Miami. Boafo was the artist in residence of the new Rubell Museum, opposite Dior’s fall show venue. As Jones’ artist collaborations are now a mainstay of his collections (tying in nicely with Mr Dior’s gallerist past), it made perfect sense for the two to collaborate. Jones already has a connection to Africa having grown up in the continent, while Boafo has a connection to fashion, with his fantastically wardrobed portrait sitters always dressed in attention-grabbing prints and colour combinations. (more…)



On digital fashion weeks, craft and context



Loewe SS21 menswear

I’m catching up on the ss21 menswear collections that designers have been producing during lockdown.

An early trend is for three-dimensional or heavily crafted pieces and those with intricate surface decoration. Collaborations with artisans are another ‘thread’ to a brand story that designers can weave, showing support for their craft, or putting the spotlight on their own pattern makers.

Two standout videos I’ve enjoyed – Berluti and Loewe. (more…)