This show season was headline-laden before it had even begun. Hedi Slimane was making his debut at the newly christened Celine (minus the é); Riccardo Tisci was gearing up to unveil his first collection for Burberry; Ralph Lauren’s brand was marking five decades and the Missoni family brand four; Victoria Beckham was coming back to London from New York to mark a decade of her brand and Milan fashion week regular Gucci was going to Paris. But with the reviews published and all being said, shown and done, what are the trends that will trickle down into our wardrobes next summer? Read on to get an insight into what spring/summer 2019 is going to look like.
Eighties energy
Responsible for the heyday of Alexis Colby, Bananarama and Prince, the 80s is the decade that keeps on giving. Designers mined the most popular fashion references: at Moschino, Jeremy Scott presented it in pin-sharp suits that were double breasted and worn with wide-brimmed hats; at Balenciaga, Gucci and Escada, it was all about the power shoulder, too, seen in bold primary-hued blazers and knee-length dresses.
Hedi Slimane at Celine and Isabel Marant were thinking after dark with their take on the trend, seen in the former’s ruffled and puff-skirt mini-dresses and the latter’s stonewashed-denim looks. Not one for wallflowers, the 2019 take on the trend is all about more, more, more.
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To the sea
Designers took their cue from the beach for one of the most prevailing trends of the season and it came in many guises. Oscar de la Renta and Rejina Pyo both found beauty in accessories that looked as if they had been beach-combed; think shell necklaces and stone embellishment found on the plackets of skirt suits.
Elsewhere, the seaside inspiration was more focused on maritime references. Rope was a recurring theme at Chloé, Monse, Courrèges, The Row, Ports 1961 and Victoria Beckham, found in accessories, details and motifs. Fishermen’s hats, meanwhile, riffed off life on the ocean wave and were seen at 3.1 Phillip Lim, Michael Kors and Boss.
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All the trimmings
Fringing was a firm favourite at Anna Sui, Michael Kors, Sonia Rykiel and Chloé. From suede to jacquard, leather to silk, affects ranged from perfectly polished to deliberately undone.
At Loewe, Jonathan Anderson’s mishmash of textures and stimuli of kinetic space meant that they popped up and bobbed along on bags, while at Longchamp they extended from skirts to satchels, carried low so as to sweep the ground. The trim was especially elevated at Givenchy – where it was dramatic in rhinestone – and at Area, which added fringe embellishment to boots and bodystockings.
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The city hippy
There was a distinct sense of the city hippy in every fashion capital this season, steeped in the nostalgia of rambling road trips and sandy summer days. At Chloé, creative director Natacha Ramsay-Levi was all about incorporating summer keepsakes (such as anklets, market scarves and magpie-worthy trinkets) into a back-to-work uniform; at Jil Sander, Loewe and (of course) Missoni, joyous and multicoloured crochet with home-spun appeal was crafted into beautifully cut trophy pieces; while Carolina Herrera incorporated the flower-power aesthetic to patchwork suede boots.
Far from thrifty, these pieces were polished. The best example came from Marni creative director Francesco Risso, who went down the road of souvenir chic with several looks featuring postcard-like pictures, but executed it in sculpted satin and pencil skirts with decadently embellished trim and decadent charm belts. Elsewhere, the most distinctive of bohemian summer coverups, the cotton kaftan, was reimagined in silk at Richard Quinn, Oscar de la Renta and Saint Laurent.
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Surf’s up
The elevation of the ordinary has become commonplace on the catwalks (blame Vetements and Balenciaga wunderkind Demna Gvasalia who, for example, has single-handedly re-established the anorak as a must-have) and this season designers’ attentions have turned to surfing.
Given fashion’s ongoing penchant for late-90s to early 00s fashion, it makes sense that board shorts would make a comeback right about now too. R13, Sportmax, and Anna Sui all rode the crest of the wave. In their wake came scuba suits at Calvin Klein, rash-guard inspired tops at Richard Malone, and knitwear featuring surf motif intarsia at Michael Kors.
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Drop it like it’s hot
Suits may have dominated the street style over fashion week, but on the catwalk, skirts reigned supreme. The silhouette of choice for spring/summer 2019 is that shape so synonymous with the 1920s: the drop waist. Favoured for its insouciant, relaxed and languid sensibility, it sauntered down the runways of Anna Sui, Carolina Herrera, Vacquera, Molly Goddard and Hugo Boss.
At Erdem and Rodarte, they were cut from rich and sumptuous lengths of taffeta – an approach contrasted by Proenza Schouler, where waists came dropped in denim, proving that this is a trend that works whatever the occasion.
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Yin and Yang details
It’s all about the details next season, and two polar opposite ones in particular. First up: big bows were big news. Rodarte, Erdem, Miu Miu and Emilia Wickstead were the most distinctive adopters of this trend (the latter creating the most satisfyingly perfect fixtures for her models hair) striking an overtly feminine and lavish note.
At the other end of the spectrum, models came armed with holsters. Call it the Virgil effect (the designer went big on them for his Louis Vuitton menswear debut in July) or call it a sign of female empowerment, but designers presented them in myriad form.
At Calvin Klein, primary-coloured leather styles were worn over blazers; Sies Marjan partnered his with tonal suits styled around the shoulders; at Fendi, a belt version was worn to toughen up a classic dress; while Gabriela Hearst, House of Holland, Michael Kors and Chloé all used it as a statement accent.
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At your service
The utilitarian theme marched through the collections to a resounding approval from the fashion press. At Givenchy, Clare Waight Keller hit her stride at the fashion house delivering a knockout collection full of functional patch-pocket trousers and sharply tailored separates that were punctuated with with D-ring belts; Dries van Noten featured army-green twill and dresses with drawstring halternecks; and elsewhere, Burberry (utility shirts), Tory Burch (precision-pressed tops) and Fendi (combat pants) all signed up.
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Tie-dye
Part Ibizan bohemian, part Glastonbury reveller, nothing strikes a summer party note quite like tie-dye. This trend had a strong thread from the start of the shows: in New York, Calvin Klein and R13 enticed showgoers with their rainbow hues; in London, Ashley Williams represented with bewitching black; and in Milan, No.21 went neon and Mrs Prada put it on her signature A-line skirts.
Not to be outdone, Paris gave it a twist of its own, with Christian Dior, Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood and Paco Rabanne all stretching out the party vibe until next spring.
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All the world’s a stage
It wasn’t just about the clothes at the shows. Several designers went all out with their spectacles for their moment in the spotlight, shifting the focus away from their sartorial creations. At Gucci, Alessandro Michele eschewed the runway for a theatre where models meandered around the stalls before making their way the stage for the finale; at Christian Dior, creative director Maria Grazia got choreographer Sharon Eyal to mastermind a dance prelude to the show, which took place in a pop-up space on the outskirts of Paris; and Giorgio Armani invited guests out to Milan Linate airport where, after entering through security, they were transported to the fashion house’s hanger where they were serenaded by Robbie Williams.
Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent also got in on the action, staging his catwalk on water at the Place du Trocadéro in Paris, while Ralph Lauren took over the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park to stage his 50th anniversary show. Also in New York, Telfar opted for an outside location on the banks of the East River (open air, in the rain) and created a vocal sound collage by South African performance artists Faka and Ian Isiah featuring Selah Marley and Austin Williamson.
But it was Anya Hindmarch who really stole this show by opting not to show any clothes or accessories at all. Her Chubby Cloud installation at Banqueting House (which was also open to the public) comprised the world’s biggest white beanbag, which attendees sat on as they were serenaded by BBC newsreader Zeb Soanes reading a special shipping forecast and the Eric Whitacre Singers – and not a single fashion item in sight.
