It’s that time of year again where we transition from one season into another, moving into Spring Summer 2021. It’s normally around the beginning of February that you start seeing the true Spring seasonal stock landing on the high street and a shift in colours and trends from the darker Winter tones into a softer, brighter colour palette. There was a definite sense with all of the SS21 Collections that designers wanted to have some fun with an antidote to the pandemic, with a message of dress up in your best clothes, to lift your mood.
Two key trends from this were the Occasion Dress and the Little Black Dress reimagined. On the flip side to that there was also a lot of consideration for staying at home with comfortable pieces such as wide and straight leg relaxed denim fits and a nod to loungewear with reimagined shapes in soft knits and lots of hoodies!
It was great to see that sustainability was also at the forefront of the collections for 2021 with new fabric innovations being launched and many designers using deadstock or previous season’s fabrics. According to an article from The Evening Standard ‘Sixty per cent of Gabriela Hearst’s collection was made from pre-existing and recycled materials, while Balenciaga managed 93.5 per cent — the highlight a chainmail dress crafted from basketball net chains.’
The source of many recycled materials this year are food waste and plastic bottles. There are also new plant based fibres derived from things like Pineapple as an alternative to Leather, which is one of the most unsustainable fabrics. Gucci also opted out of the Fashion Week calendar for good this year, citing sustainability as the main cause, which is powerful to see from such a huge brand.
The high street stores take a lot of their inspiration from the Catwalk shows which happened back in September 2020 in New York, London, Paris and Milan (although last year was very different and most shows happened online). That's the great thing about fashion, it's a trickledown effect from high end designers to high street, which makes fashion accessible to everyone, no matter your budget. The negative side to this is that you can often end up buying into trends and items that you don't really need, and that don't suit your style or body shape. It's even easier now to be influenced into making the wrong decisions, with the rise of social media.
With this in mind, instead of listing all of the key trends for the season (which you can find in many key publications such as Vogue), I wanted to focus on the most wearable trends which should have longevity in your wardrobe. My Top 6 trends for SS21 are:
Key Trends with Longevity
1. Relaxed Workwear
2. Dress Up
3. Loungewear
4. Outdoor
5. Colour Pop
Key Items
Clothing
1. The Puff Sleeve (Blouse, Dress etc)
2. The Trench Coat
3. The Hoodie
4. The Occasion Dress
5. Straight Leg Jean
6. Wide Leg Trouser
7. Little Black Dress
8. The Blazer
Shoes
1. The Braided Sandal
2. Sporty Slides
3. Trekking Sandal
4. Ladylike - Mary Janes, Ballet Pumps
5. Footbed Sandal
6. Square Toe Mule
7. The Kitten Heel
8. Slippers
Key Prints
1. Checks
2. Florals – ditsy and oversized
3. Stripes
Colour Palette
1. Soft Pastels
2. Colour Pop Brights
3. Monochrome
4. Dark Neutrals
If you do want to buy into some of the more niche trends such as netting, the bralette, neon colours and cut out pieces, my advice would be to hunt these pieces down second hand or pre loved - this could be from Ebay, Depop, or from your local charity shop. Or alternatively to wait for them to become available to rent from sites such as OnLoan, Hurr or ByRotation. I really believe in making more conscious fashion decisions in order to be more sustainable and look after our planet. We could all go out and buy into these trends from the value retailers, but if it's something you're likely to get rid of within a few months or after one season, this is just adding to the landfill of clothes.
If you’d like some help pulling together outfits from your existing wardrobe that fit with these trends (this can be more easily done than you imagine!) then get in touch as I’d love to help with my Online Wardrobe Edit service. Or perhaps you’d like to source a few key pieces you feel you’re missing for the new season, I’d be happy to help with my Virtual Shopping Service, or book you in advance for an In Person Personal Shopping experience when lockdown eases. Don’t wait to feel good about yourself later, do it now, with my help!
All photos used within main images courtesy of Vogue Runway
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