Rainbow Connection e th on ingng Brbli
Can’t decide on the colour to wear? Good news. You can wear all of them— all at once 68
New year, new rules! Where once the idea of wearing every colour under the sun was pooh-poohed as gaudy, designers this season are embracing a colourful palette. No longer reserved for children’s nurseries and pride flags, the rainbow theme is being encouraged by the likes of romantic fashion house Valentino, which sent models down the runway in Victorian-era gowns sprinkled with rainbow dots, and Missoni, which championed the striped dress. It didn’t stop there. Rather than keeping the rest of the looks simple with minimal accessories, the designers layered on the rainbow with patchwork bags and statement earrings. So there’s no such thing as too much colour when it comes to the trend du jour, but for the more colour-averse, Miu Miu has candy-like pumps adorned with a rainbow of coloured beads so you can indulge in the trend without compromising your whole wardrobe.
We may still be a few years from mass space travel but that doesn’t mean we can’t start preparing our wardrobe for when the time comes. Designers are taking style cues from space cadets this season with Prada sending models down the runway in Star Trek-worthy jumpsuits and vintage messenger bags, and Ralph Lauren is showcasing his own take on a marriage between utilitarian uniforms and sportswear. Alexander Mcqueen adds denim into the mix with a jumpsuit covered in graphics and the signature string motif. While it may feel most intuitive to pair the daring look with safe sneakers, Prada proves that with a sensible belt, dress shoes can be equally viable for the more adventurous dresser.
This unisex brand of basics by Telfar Clemens was launched in 2005 when the Liberian-american designer was just 18. Never one to chase the trends of the industry, Clemens inadvertently championed genderless, down-market streetwear before the Insta-popular brands of today. His brand has become widely known for its democratic vision of fashion, where there’s no boundary between high and low fashion. This can be seen in him designing uniforms for hamburger chain White Castle that are also available to the public, a vision that to a certain degree was informed by his humble beginnings. Unlike many designers who attended prestigious fashion schools and trained under major brands, New York-born Clemens moved to Liberia, where he worked at his aunt’s sewing school until they moved back to the US to escape the Liberian civil war. It was then that he took the few hundred dollars he had and produced his first ready-to-wear collection. Clemens took the “normal” silhouettes of everyday wear and deconstructed them with a futuristic spin, whether it’s a polo shirt with a backwards collar or denim jacket with detachable sleeves, creating something radically original and new. Telfar won the CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund last year.