{"id":19655,"date":"2021-04-14T15:46:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T05:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=191126"},"modified":"2021-04-14T17:50:36","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T17:50:36","slug":"through-the-hourglass-post-covid-dressing-what-comes-next","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/through-the-hourglass-post-covid-dressing-what-comes-next\/","title":{"rendered":"What Comes Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Parisian Location: Louis Vuitton FW21 Venue. Clockwise From Top Left: Vest, Sweater, Tulle Bubble Skirt, Louis Vuitton. Jacket, Sweater, Tulle Bubble Skirt, Louis Vuitton. Ski Suit, Chanel. Ski Suit, Chanel. Loungewear, Hommegirls From Net-A-Porter. Jacket, Sweater, Tulle Bubble Skirt, Louis Vuitton. \u2018The Pouch\u2019 Gathered Clutch, Bottega Veneta From Net-A-Porter. Sneaker, Air Jordan X High OG Dior. Art: Kimberlee Kessler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fashion industry was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic quickly and literally. Northern Italy was the first area outside of China that the virus spread to, and the outbreak began during the throes of Milan Fashion Week. Giorgio Armani<\/a> was the first designer to cancel his runway show, and soon after, the hundreds of editors, models, influencers, and other industry figures in attendance flocked back to their respective corners of the globe. A year on and they are yet to re-emerge.<\/p>\n

The pandemic went on to wreak havoc on the retail space, as it did so many other industries. A predicted 20,000 retail stores closed in the United States alone in 2020, with Diane von Furstenberg, Barneys, and J Crew, among the COVID retail casualties. According to the Business of Fashion<\/em> and McKinsey & Company\u2019s annual report, the last 12 months saw the industry post record low economic profits, down 93% across the board. But there were also strange, contradictory trends too. Despite the majority of the world having nowhere to go, buy-now pay-later services like AfterPay celebrated record sales, doubling their profits by March. Bottega Veneta<\/a>\u2014the undisputed cult brand of the moment\u2014celebrated a 21% uptick in sales in the third quarter of 2020, while Herm\u00e8s<\/a>, purveyors of the world\u2019s most beloved handbags, saw a 7% increase in the same period.<\/p>\n

Net-a-Porter<\/a> saw a predictable spike in the sale of loungewear and investment jewelry and handbags (all that money not spent on bougie dinners and Ubers had to go somewhere), but also noted the emergence of less obvious consumer habits. \u201cWe saw an increase in interest for fine jewelry that carries cultural meaning, including evil eyes, zodiac signs, and symbols that mean \u2018calm,\u2019 \u2018strength,\u2019 or \u2018wholeness,\u2019 says Libby Page, Net-a-Porter\u2019s global market editor, citing brands like Foundrae, Sydney Evan, and Anita Ko. \u201cThe added relevance and meaning offered a kind of greater significance that I think people were really drawn to during such an uncertain time.\u201d In short? People hadn\u2019t stopped shopping, they were just shopping differently.<\/p>\n

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Foundrae Necklace Via Net-A-Porter<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Foundrae Necklace Via Net-A-Porter<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

This year is now well underway, and after watching the Autumn\/Winter 2021 shows play out in February and March \u2013 the second ready-to-wear season to take place virtually \u2013 many of us were left wondering what style will look like in a post-pandemic world. Some designers opted for total pragmatism, others reached for optimism in the form of unabashed glamour and frivolity. When we look back on this year we are likely to see it as our transition period, the space between the confusing hellscape of 2020 and a return to something resembling normality in 2022. How we dress in that time will largely be informed by trends that began to take shape in 2020, but which have transformed the fashion industry permanently. Each is evidence \u2013 uplifting evidence \u2013 that adversity breeds innovation, and that the ever-malleable fashion industry is adapting to our new world order with grit and gumption.<\/p>\n

RENT CONTROL<\/h5>\n

Many of the shopping trends that defined 2020 followed the dictates of logic (activewear, homeware, \u2018Zoom blouses\u2019) but some totally defied it. Enter stage right: the rise of rental fashion. Once the sole remit of wedding guests and those with impending black tie functions, the rental landscape has drastically transformed in the last couple of years thanks to companies like By Rotation, My Wardrobe HQ, and Hurr. What\u2019s different? The reactive, user-led business model, where instead of buying and holding stock themselves, they facilitate wardrobe-sharing. Think Airbnb for clothes.<\/p>\n

With social media making the lifespan of trending fashion pieces ever shorter, forking out hundreds of dollars on a designer piece you\u2019re likely to feel ambivalent about in three months makes little sense \u2013 particularly in an era where we\u2019re so attuned to the environmental downsides of fashion wastage. The new wave of rental services trade on the immediacy of trends, while simultaneously expanding the lifespan of each product. In Australia, David Jones partnered with rental juggernaut Glam Corner on a series of in-store pop-ups. In Copenhagen, cult Scandi brand Ganni launched their own rental service called \u2018Ganni Repeat.\u2019 In China, H&M began road testing an internal rental service, with plans to expand globally. Rent the Runway \u2013 the OG of high fashion rentals \u2013 has revealed plans to become the \u2018Amazon Prime of renting,\u2019 eventually replacing the need to own 90% of your wardrobe. The future of fashion? A radical re-thinking of the nature of \u201cownership.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT GOES AROUND…<\/h5>\n

There was once a time when professing to own secondhand clothing was anathema to fashion types. Now, even the highest echelons of the industry are embracing the so-called \u2018circular economy.\u2019 Over Christmas, Miu Miu<\/a> unveiled a bespoke collection of upcycled party dresses, mixing dead-stock from the brand\u2019s atelier with vintage pieces from a curated selection of international sellers. With only 80 pieces made and the resulting creations sold in-store at one of nine international boutiques, the project was Miuccia Prada<\/a>\u2019s hyper-refined take on sustainability, turning upcycling into its own kind of couture. We\u2019ll see this idea play out again in the spring, when Miu Miu unveils a collection of upcycled reworked vintage Levi\u2019s. This is, as they say, only the beginning.<\/p>\n

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Elisa Visari Wearing Upcycled By Miu Miu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elsewhere, we\u2019ve seen Gucci partner with The RealReal to incentivize the resale of old-season pieces, revealing in late 2020 plans to eventually launch their own buy-back initiative whereby customers can trade in their unworn Gucci goods for store credit, which will then be upcycled for new collections. Levi\u2019s unveiled their own buyback scheme in October, a couple of weeks before Alexander McQueen announced a groundbreaking circular economy approach with Vestiaire Collective. Alongside a \u2018Brand Approved\u2019 program which authenticates secondhand pieces, McQueen too invited long-time customers to sell their old season pieces in return for store credit.<\/p>\n

2020 also saw luxury e-tailer Farfetch partner with Thrift+ offering their customers store credit in return for their secondhand clothes which were then sold on the Thrift+ website. In London, long-time sustainability maverick Bay Garnett launched a first-of-its-kind Oxfam pop-up at Selfridges Oxford Street flagship, selling thrift store clothes for $40 alongside thousands of dollars worth of ensembles by Saint Laurent<\/a>. It may prove the ultimate democratization for an industry that has too long run on exclusivity and inaccessibility.<\/p>\n

CULT APPEAL<\/h5>\n

2020 saw radical cultural changes that had nothing to do with the coronavirus, namely a long overdue global fight for racial justice. Among the proliferation of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, we saw genuine change take place in the fashion industry, including the launch of Aurora James\u2019 15% Pledge. James \u2013 whose accessories label Brother Vellies is a long-time favorite among diehard fashion types \u2013 highlighted that despite making up 15 percent of the population, black designers are given less than 1% of venture capital funding. She asked mainstream retailers to commit to representing 15% of black-owned brands \u2013 and so far Moda Operandi, Macy\u2019s, Bloomingdales, and Sephora are among the signees.<\/p>\n

The success of the 15% Pledge spoke to a drastic change in the relationship between customers and retailers \u2013 who now not only expect but demand that the brands they invest in reflect their personal values. This has seen small, independent designers experience an outsized industry influence, rallying together hundreds of thousands of customers who were looking to \u201cvote with their wallets\u201d during the pandemic, even in a moment of mass economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Accessories and ready-to-wear label Telfar (their affordably priced but hard-to-get handbags are nicknamed the \u2018Bushwick Birkin\u2019) are perhaps the best example of this phenomenon, an independent business with strong, consistent values, delivering product on a \u2018drop\u2019 basis to reduce deadstock and environmental wastage. Founder Telfar Clemens had been toiling away for 15 years when coronavirus hit and, like most small brands, assumed the pandemic would be a death sentence. But the accessible price point and inclusive brand attitude \u2013 they run on the ethos \u201cwe\u2019re not for you, we\u2019re for everyone\u201d \u2013 proved perfect for the cultural moment. Since last August, they have grown 270% week on week, and in December the New York Times<\/em> dubbed 2020 \u2018The Year of Telfar.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Telfar Shopping Bag \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elsewhere, the marriage of cohesive brand values and a bold, unique aesthetic has elevated the likes of Harris Reed \u2013 a recent Central Saint Martins graduate who promotes gender fluidity and inclusivity, who counts Harry Styles among his many fans \u2013 and Thebe Magugu, a South-African based designer who donates portions of profits each season to different charitable endeavors. Libby Page at Net-a-Porter notes the ubiquity of this trend too, citing Christopher John Rogers, the Black queer up-and-coming designer who created Kamala Harris\u2019 inauguration outfit, and Kenneth Ize, a designer dedicated to \u201cpreserving the heritage of Nigeria through textiles,\u201d as being among the e-tailers most popular new names.<\/p>\n

SMART CASUAL<\/h4>\n

It was a telling sign about what the future of fashion might look like when Pierpaolo Piccioli \u2013 the Valentino creative director beloved for his otherworldly, utterly opulent evening wear \u2013 collaborated with Levi\u2019s for Spring \/ Summer 2021. The brand unveiled a reworked take on the bootcut 517 style, worn with flat shoes, a crossbody bag and blazer. Times, they are a-changin\u2019 indeed.<\/p>\n

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Valentino SS21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rise of a kind of high-end casual is probably the most predictable of all trends to come out of the pandemic \u2013 but the way designers are exploring it is surprisingly compelling. For their second ready-to-wear collection as Prada co-creative directors, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons unveiled skintight bodysuits, made in comfortable jersey and finished in bold, graphic prints. A kind of souped-up take on the \u2018longjohn\u2019 that appeared in both the menswear and womenswear Fall Winter 2021 collections, the bodysuits were worn under traditional tailored suiting or fabulous fringed skirts. The idea being: We won\u2019t be returning to the \u2018old\u2019 way of dressing without taking a piece of 2020 with us.<\/p>\n

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Prada FW21<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Prada FW21<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

At Chanel<\/a>, Virginie Viard paid homage to apr\u00e9s-ski, sending puffy quilted overalls, knitted beanies and fluffy snow boots down the runway.<\/p>\n

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Chanel FW21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Louis Vuitton<\/a> puff-of-tulle bubble-hemmed dresses were dressed down with oversized sweaters and chunky parkas. At Miu Miu, models strode through the Dolomites mountain range in slinky embellished slip dresses, worn with ribbed tights, beanies, and chunky, functional boots.<\/p>\n

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Miu Miu FW21<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Miu Miu FW21<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Miu Miu FW21<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Miu Miu FW21<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

An unsurprising Business of Fashion<\/em> report published in January revealed that the sales of high heels have dropped in double-digits in the last 12 months. What\u2019s replacing them? $4,400 crystal-encrusted sneakers by Jimmy Choo, or the Dior X Nike Air Jordan collab, which experienced hour-long waitlists and immediately sold out globally, despite costing a cool $2,900 a pair. Add to that the sudden ubiquity of souped-up denim.<\/p>\n

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Jimmy Choo Crystal-Encrusted Sneakers<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Dior X Nike Air Jordan Sneaker<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Last year, cultish British brand Chopova Lowena sold out 300 pairs of jeans hand-painted by the artist Faye WeiWei (price was on application) while MATCHESFASHION<\/a> quickly snapped up Central Saint Martins graduate Kevin Germainer\u2019s debut collection of $2,000-a-pair crystal-embellished stove-pipe jeans. All of which suggests that even when we return to \u201creal life,\u201d we\u2019ll be taking the comforts of this one with us.<\/p>\n

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Crystal Embellished Stove Pipe Jeans, Kevin Germainer From MatchesFashion. Art: Kimberlee Kessler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Top Image: Clockwise From Top Left: Sneaker, Air Jordan X High OG Dior. Evil Eye Coin Bracelet, Sydney Evan From Net-A-Porter. Crystal Encrusted Sneaker, Jimmy Choo. Knitted Headwear, Miu Miu. Apr\u00e8s-Ski Style Collection, Miu Miu. \u2018The Pouch\u2019 Chain Embellished Clutch, Bottega Veneta From Net-A-Porter. Bodysuit, Prada. Jacket, Sweater, Tulle Bubble Skirt, Louis Vuitton. Art: Kimberlee Kessler<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26240,"featured_media":19656,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[17,16],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Comes Next? - Grazia USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/through-the-hourglass-post-covid-dressing-what-comes-next\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Comes Next?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The fashion industry was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic quickly and literally. Northern Italy was the first area outside of China that the virus spread to, and the outbreak began during the throes of Milan Fashion Week. 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