A new day dawns

The sun rises on a new fashion era, as designers meet the challenge of imagining what comes next. Via the autumn/winter ’21/’22 season, salute a new fashion future. By Alice Birrell.

The sun rises on a new fashion era, as designers meet the challenge of imagining what comes next. Via the autumn/winter ’21/’22 season, salute a new fashion future.

LET THERE BE LIGHT “I’ll tell you how the sun rose, a ribbon at a time”– Emily Dickinson

When we step out again, our relationship with our clothes will have transformed. Designers accounted for this, including a desire to retain the comfort of our lockdown wardrobes, transferring it to couture volumes as at Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs. Then they provided for the pent-up energy in brilliant chromatics from Prada, Versace et al; potent cerulean, apple and cyclamen in living colour. They also captured the burning desire for self-expression once more, and idiosyncratic patchworks that hew to a human scale, as created by Gabriela Hearst, put warmth, emotion and creativity first.

HEAT OF THE DAY “Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here. Here comes the sun.”– The Beatles

What embodies a brave new day more than youth? It makes sense that nostalgia for the carefree days of pre-recession noughties has reached peak appeal when we want to embrace the moment with renewed fervour. How better to return to social engagements than in Blumarine’s bubblegum cardigan and crystal butterflies, or Supriya Lele’s acid-green dress or a pop-princess bustier? Or, opt for a daring mini which, as part of higher hemlines’ resurgence in the 1920s and 1960s, finds its way back to the fore again. Try Saint Laurent’s very abbreviated version or Tom Ford’s with slink appeal.

ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT “We ignite, not in light, but in lack thereof.” – Amanda Gorman

As the sun sets on tribulation, celebrations will no doubt play out on dance floors around the world. When it’s safe, the bulbous balloon shapes born of the imaginations of Conner Ives and Rei Kawakubo will help us float, meeting the moment, lavished in volume and spangles. Liquid metallics will refract a disco ball’s light, as will glittering appliqué and voided-besequinned tops. It culminates in a moody return to midnight-hour dressing. Sultry, smoky blacks in evening fabrics from Givenchy, Saint Laurent and Oscar de la Renta are fit for dancing and carousing until the next dawn.