TWINNING is winning
MATCHING WITH YOUR FRIENDS USED TO BE A FAUX PAS. BUT, IN AN INCREASINGLY ATOMISED WORLD, IT’S BECOME A BONDING MECHANISM…
Why, in an era that places so much emphasis on unfettered self-expression, do we find such contrarian joy in looking like others? On Instagram, one account that celebrates this instinct is @StarterPacksOfNYC. ‘We’ve been programmed to define ourselves by what we wear and buy,’ says the account’s founder, Sasha Mutchnik. ‘So while it may seem counterintuitive in our hyper-individualised world to want to admit a collection of six to eight items is “literally me”, it’s a way of saying you’re a part of a group and are, by extension, normal.’
What starts as ‘twinning’ expands into a connection in a disconnected time. We can lie on our own beds, but stare into the same glowing light of our phones, learn the same skincare routines, order from the same shops, watch the same shows – and then emerge into the world and discuss those things with each other, while also looking like each other.
The runways aren’t immune to this: Prada’s spring/summer 2022 collection took place in both Milan and Shanghai at the exact same time. Guests in both cities watched the models on the catwalk as their counterparts on the other side of the world were projected onscreen. As co-creative director Raf Simons explained in the show’s press notes: ‘It’s about sharing – not just sharing imagery, not just sharing through technology, but sharing a physical event.’ Meanwhile, ‘twinfluencers’ Hope and Grace
Fly and Reese and Molly Blutstein make showing up to Fashion Week in coordinating looks a virtue, not a gaffe.
A friend of mine was once part of a group chat with fellow wearers of a specific cardigan. It started when she made friends with another aficionado of the Agnès B style: ‘We immediately felt simpatico in some vague but visceral way that I think was related to our wardrobe choices.’ It seems sameness is no longer a taboo: it’s now a form of bonding.
In February, photographs of Julia Fox’s birthday party showed that no one in her identically corseted, Birkin-toting group of friends believed matching is a fashion ‘don’t’. Kylie Jenner and her best friend Anastasia ‘Stassie’ Karanikolaou have been twinning since they were children. And for actual twins Simi and Haze Khadra, who share an Instagram account, their outfits match much like their DNA. The thing about twins who twin is that it creates one personality – double the dose of mesh outfit and moody make-up.
Right now, life can seem like an unusually competitive game. But here’s something to consider when getting dressed for your next dinner party: most match-winning teams wear the same uniform.