As our southern hemisphere summer rolls into a temperate autumn, we look to the northern hemisphere centres of New York, Milan, London and Paris for their premier women’s fashion weeks of the year. Across the bridge from February to March, the fashion mecca’s have previewed collections and street styles that are set to govern our autumn and winter fashion looks for 2022 and beyond.
An observation to behold, as global restrictions ease, is a return to the establishment of the traditional fashion runway show, attracting the attendance of many international fashion editors and guests to the Women’s Fall Fashion Week showings.
With a gaze cast wide across the abundance of fashion shows and street style looks, autumn fashion’s key trends have unapologetically made themselves known. The fashion styles speaking volumes are a return to glamour, vibrant pinks and purples, textural and oversized outer layers and elevated classics.
A return to glamour
International runways boasted elevated looks from the outset, mesmerising audiences with displays of decadent glamour. Viewers were suspended in time, as the essence of 1930s glamour was fused with futuristic silhouettes, witnessing floor sweeping gowns paired with moulded geometric corsetry from designers such as Belmain and Dior. A reflection of 1930s glamour swept into the curved edges of Jil Sander and Badgley Mischka's sculptural dresses and coat designs, while extravagance paired with elegance was found in shimmering textures of metallics, sequins, embroidery and embellishment. These dazzling textiles were woven in to display in most all collections, with special mention given to Givenchy’s pearl-encrusted jeans and Altuzarra’s oversized sequin gown modelled by Gigi Hadid.
This autumn, we are seeing the pendulum swing from the relaxed house wear looks that gave comfort in early pandemic fashion toward opulent and extravagant ball gowns and embellished classics, elevating our every day moments. These elements of glamour can be integrated into this season’s wardrobe in any measure, from the subtle integration of vintage, embellished pieces found in op-shops or family wardrobes, to welcoming extravagant, full-bodied skirt and dress silhouettes once more.
Vibrant colour
Maximal moments translated from form to colour, with vibrant pinks, purples and reds turning heads from runway to street. Valentino set the precedent for attention-holding colour, introducing a collection of full fuchsia looks, presented upon a vibrant pink runway — the vivid monotone drawing attention to the nuanced glamour of tailored and embellished silhouettes. Hot pink tones swept across collections with Huishan Zhang’s designs offering a clash of bold colour, pairing vibrant magenta with bright apple red in floor-kissing gowns. New York Fashion Week saw loud pinks and reds alchemised with a touch of blue, offering a haze of purple. Carolina Herrera’s corseted ball gowns flowed in purple with hidden sides of red and Dior playfully infused purple, accessorising outfits with purple knee-high socks.
Dior shows how the colours of the moment can be added to our autumn wardrobes lightly, with spirited accessories, while Valentino and Herrera embolden our ensemble imaginations, sharing full-bodied colour at peak volume. To embrace intensity, consider colour-blocked looks, pairing a purple blazer and shirt with red pants, or simply adding pops of vibrancy in your accessories.
Outer layer play
From glamorous dresses to robust colours, outerwear designs are also taking on larger-than-life forms. Just as men’s fashion week saw the trend of oversized tailoring, the tailored jackets and coats of women’s fashion week are extending beyond their standard frames. The trend of oversized tailoring has made its mark. In Paris, the trends reach was announced in the opening look of Chanel’s runway show, presenting an oversized pink plaid coat, tied with a wrap waist and accessorised with purple stockings. Also in Paris, Louis Vuitton’s opening runway look was an oversized maroon bomber jacket, followed by a series of outfits featuring oversized tailored coats with broad shoulder silhouettes. The maximised silhouettes commanded their space on the runway.
Elevated classics
Everyday moments are enhanced and spectacularly celebrated in this seasons’s autumn designs, honoured in a spectrum of expressions, from glamorous maximal looks to the gentle elevation of simple classics. The runways saw everyday elevation flourish through skirt and sleeve designs, accentuating a-line and wrap skirts with pleats, volume and length in Tory Burch and Peter Do’s collections and the voluminous sleeves we have fallen for were given sculptural structure and form with heavier fabrics in Chloé and Jil Sander’s collection.
