What’s old is new
How archival fashion was one of 2019’s big trends
NOSTALGIA was a major fashion trend in 2019, as heritage brands looked to their pasts to capitalise on decades of design and offer up authentically retro pieces for shoppers, reports AFP-Relaxnews. It started in January, when the sportsoriented menswear label Perry Ellis launched the second drop of its ‘Perry Ellis America’ capsule collection, paying homage to the sublabel of the same name that the brand first launched in 1984 with Levi’s. The five-piece series saw it update and reimagine nylon tracksuits, washed denim and other pieces with a vibrant red, black, white and grey colour palette and classic logos.
In April, Tommy Hilfiger got in on the act, adapting its vintage 1986 ‘Tommy Jeans CocaCola’ collaboration for a modern audience. The designer tweaked the original pieces to display a new logo fusing both the iconic Coca-Cola and Tommy Jeans symbols.
The same month saw US fashion label Guess roll out ‘#GUESSVintage,‘ which involved more than 150 authenticated vintage pieces sourced from all over the world and sold exclusively at the LA retailer Fred Segal.
Gap marked its 50th anniversary over the summer with a ‘Denim through Decades’ collection of revamped styles from the 70s, 80s and 90s, and a ‘1969 Premium collection’ of elevated pieces.
Target celebrated 20 years of high-end designer collaborations by rereleasing items designed with Missoni, Anna Sui,
Rodarte and Jason Wu, while Coach honoured its roots with a New York Fashion Week pop-up called “The Coach Originals”.
And this month, the ‘90s streetwear label DKNY Tech announced it was launching a new collection inspired by archival pieces exclusively at Urban Outfitters.
Whatever the reasons behind the throwback fashion trend, the appetite for retro fashion ties in neatly with some of the major trends seen on the catwalks this year, such as 90s streetwear, 80s denim and 70s colour palettes. Will 2020 see fashion continue to channel the good old days?