The prevailing thread in the fashion industry may be that Covid has annihilated fashion once and for all with many of us hanging out in our sweats, or worse half sweats half blazer, on our Zoom calls whilst working from home. And with people a little afraid of venturing out of doors, fewer events being hosted, and people unpracticed at wearing heels, summer ‘22 fashions have been a mix of chaos, creativity, idiosyncrasy, and a take on fashion that can only be bred in a post-pandemic world. If you’re older than an elder millennial or Gen X – think anywhere above the age of thirty – you’ll notice that young people have seemed to grab onto variations of the 90s fashions lately. We’ve seen bucket hats, underwear as outerwear, cargo pants, all the logos, chunky platform shoes, chain belts, and satin slip dresses. I guess it’s like 2000s kids raiding their parents’ vintage 70s outfits. Let’s take a look at summer ‘22 fashion trends.
Shorten those hems: the micro-mini skirt is back
The lowrise miniskirt, worn on the hips, has made a comeback this season with Prada, Miu Mui, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Bottega Veneta, Chanel and even Emporio Armani featuring the barely-covering-your-undies-mini-miniskirt. This might have been a trend you wish could have retired but the fashion gods have spoken! We haven’t decided if this is better or worse than the Spring-Summer 2019 trend (you know, all those years ago before we even knew the word “coronavirus” or “pandemic”) of bicycle shorts and blazers.
Enjoy bold rainbow colours
Remember in 2019 when lavender was the thing as well as patchwork prints and animal print everything? Now the world is back open again and fashion is reflecting it. There are no neutrals to see here, people. Think bright yellow, bright tangerine and sunset orange, fuchsia, pink, emerald and kelly green, brown, raspberry, and cerulean blue. Colour is the order of the day but thankfully not Spring 2021s penchant for neon! Bright colours were seen on the runways of Valentino, Prabal Gurung, Proenza Schouler, Halpern, Emilia Wickstead, Jason Wu, Lacoste, and Christian Siriano.
Bring out your biker jacket
The trend of the staple leather biker jacket (or vegan-friendly leather) has never really left us. Remember floral dresses and biker jackets? But this year, the biker jacket has a more edgy style, paired with leather trousers, cargo pants, leather skirts, your favourite plaid tailored trousers, and even with baggy jeans. We saw the biker jacket on the runways of Miu Mui, Balenciaga, Prada, Alexander McQueen, Simone Rocha, and Richard Quinn. You can opt for slim-fit and lapel free, a more structured style, or lots of zips and oversized.
Make an exit: embellished back details are in as are 90s-inspired trends
The backs of outfits are usually quite plain but this year, details on the back of your outfit are all the rage so think high-low dresses and draping, capes, and embellishments. Also think frills, butterfly crop tops, ruffles, jewellery, deconstructed denim and more. Runways like Blumarine, 16Arlington, Loewe, MSGM, Burberry, Missoni, Dior, and Tom Ford displayed these trends.
Be bold with stripes, sheer, sequins, and sparkle
Remember Rose McGowan’s famous sheer dress from the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards or Christina Aguillera’s infamous striped scarf as a shirt look at 2002 VMAs or Jennifer Lopez’s green sheer versace dress from the Grammys in 2000? Well, they all have one thing in common: they would still be at home in recent fashion trends. Stripes are all the rage as seen on the runways of JW Anderson, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Gucci.
Next, sequins, chainmail, sparkly mesh, crystals, and embellishments are back from the 90s as seen from Versace, Nensi Dojaka, Alaïa, Gucci, and others.
Finally, sheer, tight, and short are in with cutouts, sheer fabric (that shows lots of flesh), short lengths or slits. You can see these trends on the runways of Nensi Dojaka, Supriya Lele, Ludovic de Sain Sernin, and Coperni.
Tone it down with all-white outfits and tailoring
If sheer, sparkly, short, and bold colours are not your thing, then you can opt for the all-white looks and/or tailoring seen on many runways. You can create a monochromatic white or cream from head to toe look (with maybe a pop of colour on your bag and shoes). These all-white looks are bold with large collars, deep v-necks, puffy looks, or asymmetrical shoulder lines. The fits range from tailored to baggy. White can be seen on the runways of Totême, Max Mara, The Row and Peter Do, Alaïa, Hermès, Valentina, Valentino, Chloé, Christopher John Rogers, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Raey, Ermanno Scervino, Fendi, and Loewe.
The takeaways
Here’s a summation of the trends from small French fashion designer Justine Leconte. She sums up that fashion this season is all about skin and lots of it!
As Justine notes, this year it’s all about showing that we are going out! Comfort is still in but loungewear is not the order of the day. What do you think about this season’s summer trends?
Whether you follow fashion trends or just look on in open-mouthed surprise and fascination, one thing is for certain is that models everywhere have to be infinitely more comfortable as gone are the sky-high barely able to walk in heels on the runway; they’ve been replaced by lower heels, chunkier heels, flatter boots, even thick-soled sandals, and trainers. Which of these looks do you think you’ll embrace and which do you think you’ll ignore? Let us know on our social media.