The Italian fashion capital put miniskirts at the top of the agenda for autumn 2021, and when we say ‘mini’ we mean minute. While CFDA chairman Tom Ford’s AW21 collection unveiling was not originally slated to take place alongside Milan Fashion Week (the release was subject to COVID-induced delays), his launch proved flawlessly timed, chiming harmoniously with MFW’s newfound love of abbreviated hemlines. Autumn’s incoming approach, as Mr Ford sees it, is “about strength, about power. About reclaiming our lives”—an outlook that resonated with Valentino’s punkish monochrome minidresses.
What are we wearing on top of our new-era LBDs? Try Prada’s statement faux fur or Emilio Pucci’s quilted opera coats (because we’re not calling it quits on cosy any time soon). As for those knit co-ords we’ve all been living in this past year—Fendi has fashioned an after-dark version for when it’s safe to step out into the night again.
From the best Y2K looks to moodboard now to the return of the LBD: this is your breakdown of the standout trends from AW21 so far.
1 / 5
The trend: Y2K moodboard
Where we’ve seen it:
Blumarine, Tom Ford, Conner Ives
What you need to know:
Before you read any further, I’m going to need you to familiarise yourself with the strictly unofficial throwback account @TomFordForGucci. Tom Ford didn’t invent sex, but he did catapult 2000s sex appeal on to the runways, and this is exactly where we are headed this autumn. Low-slung hot pants, butterfly-adorned chain belts and spiky knee boots are just the latest turn-of-the-millennium staples to get a spicy, modern-day sequel.
As Vogue’s Nicole Phelps writes in her review of Tom Ford’s AW21 collection, 2021’s take is poised to be even more sexed-up than the original. The verdict? “Ford’s new hot pants, worn with turtleneck sweaters and puffer or aviator jackets, might actually be hotter—as in, more micro—than anything he ever did in his very hot days at Gucci.”
2 / 5
The trend: fuzzy thinking
Where we’ve seen it:
Prada, Marni, Sportmax
What you need to know:
The adage ‘you’ve got to fake it to make it’ doesn’t typically go down all that well with the runway’s most feted (ie copied) designers unless you’re talking about fur. The cruelty-free fuzz that stalked Milan’s runways this past week saw old Hollywood silhouettes made over in hyperreal colours. Note the conspicuously shaggy edges and ombre hues at Prada, Marni and Sportmax. The more fuzzy, faux and fun the better. In the case of Marni creative director Francesco Risso, fuzzy images are also a thing. “People came to me saying, ‘It has to be digital-savvy; it has to be digital-friendly; it has to go through the screen,’” Risso told Vogue. “Fuck that.”
3 / 5
The trend: quilted eveningwear
Where we’ve seen it:
Emilio Pucci, Cecilie Bahnsen, Giorgio Armani
What you need to know:
Danish star Cecilie Bahnsen is another designer (along with Tom Ford and New York-raised newcomer Conner Ives) to have shifted outside regular fashion fixtures—her AW21 collection unveiling coinciding with digital Milan Fashion Week. It turned out to be a well-timed move. Bahnsen’s knack for making fairytale dresses from quilted taffeta and silk will appeal to anyone who’s had a somewhat supine year—a spirit that was shared at Emilio Pucci and Giorgio Armani. While we are all ready to leave duvet-days and nights behind us, the suggestion is that we could take the quilt out on the town…
4 / 5
The trend: the return of the LBD
Where we’ve seen it:
Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Tom Ford
What you need to know:
Pierpaolo Piccioli has a word for the return of the lashed-to-here LBD: “radical”. On the empty stage of Milan’s historic Piccolo Teatro, Valentino’s jet-black minidresses reinforced one of fashion’s key tenets—that clothes can simultaneously be the stuff of resilience and romance, and in 2021 they can offer a crash course in the art of making up for lost time. In Valentino’s case, there was also a heaping of punk attitude. “It’s the radical act of having the strength to be who you are; that’s what I mean by romanticism today,” Piccioli said post-show. “It’s a subjective, almost anarchic gesture, assertive of one’s own identity—exactly like punk.”
5 / 5
The trend: preppy-meets-party knitwear
Where we’ve seen it:
Valentino, Fendi, Ports 1961
What you need to know:
Imagine the kind of knitwear sets your mother might have dressed you in as a child, add a resolutely non-kids-section price tag and a generous serving of Italian panache. If the ankle-grazing knit dress has been your ready-in-under-one-minute solution for the winter lockdown, the preppy knit pairings spotted at Valentino and Ports 1961 are about to put a collegiate spin on our collective love of snug knitwear. Seeking a mood that’s anything but PG? Look to Fendi, where Kim Jones’s debut ready-to-wear offering hailed the return of date-night dressing with off-shoulder bralets and in-sync pencil skirts.
