REBOOT YOURSELF

Take a leaf out of Witchery’s book and start planning for a new look

Areboot seems almost an existential necessity after the year we have all had. It strikes me that all of society is craving a reset. It’s the kind of pairing down exercise that requires us to look at ourselves, our lives and, dare I say it, our wardrobes and question why we were doing all those things we were doing before. Did they have purpose and meaning and, to loosely quote Mari Kondo, spark any real joy?

It’s an exercise that a brand like Witchery has been doing by virtue of the fact that it has reached a significant milestone in its business trajectory — 50 years. It is a monumental milestone that has the cachet of serious time spent honing your fashion message. Rooted in the idea of dressing women every day, to be dynamic and unapologetic sits at the heart of the brand. Witchery has always projected a powerful, pulled-together subtext of stylish competence. It’s the kind of dress sense I have always aspired to get right.

In the ’80s they added the refinement of a strong fashion lens and premium quality and for the past decade the crucial filter of sustainability and luxurious fabrication. The need to make clothes that feel both ethically justifiable and rather delightful to wear.

This year more than any other they have had to refine their message and ask of the brand all the questions we have been asking ourselves. Suddenly their campaign of 24/7 style has a salience that we could never have imagined. Our clothes, like our lives, have segued from bedroom to boardroom to remote dating and socialising and back again, all in the confines of our homes.

What does being a stylish woman mean in this new context?

The answers are resoundingly positive, as we slowly emerge from our global hiatus and consider our sartorial choices and what they say about us. I think before we buy any single piece of clothing we are all asking how hard it will work for us. Witchery to my mind offers a compelling vision of womanhood. This woman is pared down, essentially pulled together and above all comfortable and stylish. As confident in the world as she is behind her Zoom camera. And most hopefully of all rather fetchingly kitted out for a night on the town, which, fingers crossed, is in our immediate future. It’s a reboot of sensibility that is just right for the moment and for the next 50 years.