Designers attempted to register the current shift in attitude, and reflect the popular sentiment of empowerment with seams, sleeves, buttons, and hemlines, that served to underline what fashion is really all about: making women feel good. Numerous designers discussed the notion of “protection”, explored most literally with Hazmat suits and boots and more commercially via myriad heavy tweeds. Many more discussed the idea of clothes as “armor”, via leather dresses and head-to-toe animal print. Welcome to the biggest trends of the new autumn/winter 2018/2019 season!
01. Animal Prints
For autumn, fashion is really wild for animal print. From leopard to ocelot, zebra to the tiger, wild stripes and spots covered the catwalks, exuding power and independence and shameless self-promotion in equal measure. The boldest iterations insisted on head-to-toe animal prints.
02. The Leather Dress
Silk and velvet are all very well, but what to wear when you mean business? Increasingly, the answer from the autumn catwalks is a leather dress. Short and sassy, ankle-length and utterly, deliciously irresistible, shirt-shaped and smart, leather was everywhere, and overwhelmingly grown-up.
03. Capes
You can’t blame designers for taking the empowerment brief literally: with a renewed focus on crusading women in politics, film, and fashion comes a fresh love affair with the cape. Take it sharp and structured or go cozy with blanket-like iterations.
04. Silver
Future-proofing your wardrobe is as simple as investing in a slash of silver this autumn. Get their first and shop the trend now!
05. Tweed
Autumn’s sleeper hit came courtesy of trusty, no-longer-fusty heritage tweed. Blown into exaggerated Eighties proportions, rendered hyper-elegant at Chanel, tweed has a shapeshifting swagger for the new season, and the best part is, you can wear it with anything.
06. Seventies Browns
For autumn numerous designers advanced via the past, referencing the Seventies and its various penchants for shearling, brown and crochet.
07. Pleats
Here come the knife-pleats, high-kicking their way into your new season shopping basket with uncompromising attitude. Wear them with trousers, wear them with chunky-soled creepers or wear them with a fluffy jumper and a bike chain of a necklace – just don’t wear them with a delicate blouse.
08. Silk
At Marine Serre, the young French designer had stockpiled and converted cliché French silks into gorgeous one-off dresses and handkerchief-hemmed skirts. At Gucci, Oscar De La Renta and Moschino, grandma’s scarf were blown up and recut in sinuous, slinky shapes.
09. Logos
Declare allegiance. Whether it’s on your chest, waistband, or feet there is no escaping fashion’s blaring logos come autumn.
10. Coat on Coat
Because one is never enough: come autumn/winter 2018, fashion insiders will be making like the much-memed Joey Tribbiani – the one where he wears all Chandler’s clothes at once – and stepping up the layering game, Balenciaga style. Scale back and try two coats on for size.
