As poet of our age Peter Cunnah, lead singer of D:Ream, once said, “Things can only get better.” It’s an adage I’m personally clinging on to for dear life right now, not only due to the horrifying Covid figures and comically miserable weather, but also because I haven’t gotten properly dressed in months and I’m looking more like Onslow from Keeping Up Appearances with each passing day.
It’s a state of affairs which has both encouraged a certain sartorial introspection in me and unearthed a stylistic itch I’ve not felt the need to scratch since the pandemic first took hold last February.
Perhaps it’s because the end is (almost) in sight, or maybe it’s due to the fact that I, like everyone else, am just bored rigid of wearing sweatpants. Either way, I’m suddenly feeling the need to get dressed, to go out and to resemble an actual, self-possessed human being again – and it’s a feeling in which I’m sure I’m not alone.
The good news is that once the effects of the vaccination programme begin to kick in and case numbers start falling, we’re going to be allowed – nay, encouraged – to get out into the world again and to start spending all our hard-saved lockdown cash. We’ll be imbued with a new-found sense of collective freedom, which, I predict, will have an enormous impact on the clothes we wear, buy and, of course, bin.
So here, in anticipation of our glorious emancipation, is my guide to exactly how we’ll be dressing once we return to some semblance of normality. (Though, be warned: it’s probably not going to be all that normal.)
The gap between loungewear and tailoring will be fully bridged
Valued at $414 billion in 2019, the global athleisure market is expected to expand to a whopping $570b by 2023 (that’s roughly the GDP of Poland, give or take a few billion). It’s an impressive increase which will no doubt be pushed even higher by the time 2023 finally comes around, not least due to the fact that we’ve all been living in sweatpants, hoodies and trainers for the past 12 months.
The truth is, however, that although the aforementioned loungewear items will undoubtedly play a greater roll in our wardrobes post-pandemic than they ever did before, I believe the real boom will occur in clothes which boast a considered synergy of tailored aesthetics and athleisure levels of comfort. Think unlined jackets which wear more like cardigans, tailored trousers cut from tracksuit fabrics and cashmere tees that look smarter worn with suits than shirts and ties ever did.
A look from Prada’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection
Garments such as these were being made well before Covid-19 hit, of course (you only need look at the sports-luxe stylings in the recent collections from Brunello Cucinelli, Boss, Loro Piana, Prada and Canali for proof), but the new age of flexible working which is set to dawn once restrictions are finally lifted – a couple of days at the office here, a few days working from home there – will require clothes that are elegant, yes, but easy to wear too.
A look from Brunello Cucinelli’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection
© ALISTAIR TAYLOR-YOUNG
Restrictive, canvased suits and pinchy, handmade shoes won’t disappear, of course – there will always be a place for hard-edged elegance – but, in my opinion, well-cut clothes with comfort at their core will be more highly prized by day-to-day consumers than ever before.
But when we dress up, boy, are we going to go for it
Twenty twenty was a challenge, not only due to Covid but also because of the seismic social shifts that occurred across the year. In 2021, therefore, we need to come together both despite and in celebration of our differences and, well, dress up and party (when we can do so safely) as though the pandemic never even happened. Expect glitter, rhinestones, pagoda shoulders, velvet, chiffon and lamé by the mile.
A still from Gucci’s new tailoring campaign featuring A$AP Rocky, Iggy Pop and Tyler, The Creator
Brand-wise, you should look to the likes of Gucci, Loewe, Loverboy, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Saint Laurent and Harris Reed, all of which have spent the past few years pushing out colourful collections which not only celebrate ostentation but blur gender boundaries too.
“So much of what we thought we knew about everyday life went completely out the window in 2020,” says Reed, whose eponymous genderless brand is all about making a statement. “We have had to learn to look at life through an entirely new lens, a lens that I believe, in 2021, will no longer see ‘labels’ of what women and men can wear or be, but instead we will help create in a new space of openness. Like babies taking first steps we will learn a new way of looking at fashion and, in turn, the world.”
Logomania will disappear (for now...)
In the days before social media we humans would express our personal style through the music we listened to, the videos we collected, the books we read and, of course, the clothes we wore. Recently, however, thanks to our collective bi-dimensionalisation at the hands of Instagram, TikTok, Twitter et al, style, for some, has shifted from being a mode of self-expression to a means of showing off how much cash they’ve got.
The massive logo trend that dominated the menswear world for much of the latter 2010s was the apotheosis of that shift. But the good news is, in my opinion, that it’ll be out of the window in 2021.
A look from Vetements’ Spring/Summer 2016 collection
The reason? We spent a great deal of time alone with ourselves in 2020 – more than ever before, I’d be willing to wager – and it encouraged many of us (yours truly included) to interrogate how we hope to be perceived by the world once things finally return to normal.
And, I don’t know about you, but the last way I want to be perceived in life 2.0 is as a lost fashion victim with a giant logo stamped on my front (or back, for that matter).
It’s all about trinkets, objects and lifestyle… stuff
For many of the brands which usually make the bulk of their cash from high-price apparel, 2020 was a particularly challenging year. Stands to reason, then, that a handful of the smarter ones pivoted to placing trinkets, toys and elevated versions of everyday bits and bobs at the heart of their seasonal offerings.
Coffee cup by Saint Laurent, £865. ysl.com
From Saint Laurent’s (surprisingly extensive) Rive Droite collection of branded skateboards, pen receptacles, coffee cups and bottle holders to Celine’s Collection Maison, which is full to bursting with monogramed playing cards, £500 sterling-silver lighter cases and backgammon sets, 2021 looks set to be more about lifestyle gear and stuff than any year before.
Brands which stay true to their DNA will succeed
Many of the labels, retailers and fashion companies which fell by the wayside last year struggled to keep pace with the shift to digital, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. What is also true, however, is that many of the same brands had lost touch with the needs of their customers well before Covid-19 hit.
From beleaguered mid-level American label J Crew, which shed custom to cheaper, trend-focused labels such as Zara and H&M, to high street stalwarts Debenhams, Topman and House Of Fraser, which failed to keep up with the shift to online retail, what 2020 proved was that to be a successful fashion brand in turbulent times (or otherwise), you need to know exactly who your customer is and you need to cater to them on all platforms.
Bethany Williams wearing her own designs
© David M. Benett
Hope can be found, however, in a host of younger brands and designers, who have taken the tumult of the pandemic as an opportunity to reach new clients. From sustainability-focused pioneers such as Pangaia, Ahluwalia and Bethany Williams to ultra-focused labels which do one thing incredibly well, such as Alighieri and CDLP, success in 2021, it would seem, is all about integrity (just ask Joe Biden).
Colour will return, softly
We’re going to need to be kind to each other when this is all over, and that kindness should be expressed as much in our behaviours as in the ways we choose to dress (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but Tom Ford’s assertion that dressing well is a form of good manners is a mantra to live by). Therefore, we must all start wearing more colour, not only to celebrate our glorious freedom, but also to ensure that we are a treat for the joy-starved eyes around us.
Some of the biggest pastel looks for Spring/Summer 2021 (from left): Moschino, Gucci, Philipp Plein, Isabel Marant, Homme Plissé Issey Miyake, Balmain, Ermenegildo Zegna, Prada, Etro
What this trend is not about, however, is dressing like a cartoon character. Rather, it’s about embracing the soft pastel hues of the season and spreading some inviting, understated joy through the clothes you wear on your back.
If in doubt look to the Spring/Summer 2021 collections from brands such as Etro, Moschino, Gucci, Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta: the Italians know where it’s at on the colour front right now.
Sustainability’s (finally) going to get sexy
For all too long the fashion industry’s movement towards sustainable production and dissemination has been aligned with a particular brand of hippy-dippy crustiness that is not only outdated, but also deeply unsexy. For 2021, however, sustainability is getting a full glow-up at the hands of a host of designers determined to shake off the hemp dust.
A look from Ahluwalia’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection
From Stella McCartney’s new unisex line and Pangaia’s excellent range of fully sustainable tracksuits to Ahluwalia’s shirts and suits created from repurposed dead-stock fabrics and Bethany Williams’ man bags made from old lunchboxes and recycled children’s books, many of the finest collections being released this season prove that it is possible to buy sustainably and still look stylish.
A look from Gucci’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection
Other brands worthy of note include Gucci (which last year became one of the first fully carbon-neutral global fashion companies), Vivienne Westwood (who actively avoids difficult-to-recycle blended fibres, uses cotton from certified organic yarns, has banned the use of exotic skins and furs and has eliminated all use of plastic), Raeburn by Christopher Raeburn and Hungarian label Nanushka.
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The Link LonkJanuary 16, 2021 at 05:00PM
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Men, this is how you’ll dress in 2021 - British GQ
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