fashionfinestera

BY POPULARDEMAND

FABULIsthisthemost

EVER?FASHIONmoment
This season sees anything but
another clean palette redux;
Sarah Ann O’Hegarty examines
why now is fashion’s finest era.

LOUS MOSCHINO

are to wear a LOEWE
tiara to tea? Don
a tracksuit to brunch? WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHERE WE SAINT LAURENT PARIS
What about slipping into a CELEBRATE INSTA-STARS ALONGSIDE ANYA HINDMARCH
boudoir-inspired lace dress, or going into INSTITUTIONS; GIGI AS MUCH AS THE
fourth gear maximalism with head-to-toe GEEK, ANTI-CAPITATLIST IDEOLOGY
pattern? Or perhaps walk the runway ALONGSIDE BLATANT LABEL-WHORING.
with an OTT accessory in the form of a
strapped-on human? (Yes, this actually It’s a nice place to be because there’s hits of the twentieth century move.
happened at Rick Owens.) The age of something for everyone.” Corkery echoes this. “We’ve been
fashion rebellion may be over, but before
that sounds too dull, now is our time to What’s changed? We’ve grown up. looking at decades for a very long time
reap the benefits. Fashion’s greatest gift to Fashion no longer simply rehashes the now. When you look at the seventies,
us today is that absolutely anything goes. nineties, the seventies or the sixties in a eighties, nineties, it’s a reinvention of them
Newsflash to those who thought rehearsed space. What is truly modern at this point. We did them before, we’re
suiting up in a biker jacket replete with is that shows now use all decades as a doing them again. But it’s nearly like we’re
buzz cut, in the spirit of Hedi Slimane’s jumping off point before mashing them moving on now. This season seventies is
grunge-approved collection for Yves up into a wearable milieu. Yes, the leg strong, nineties is strong, but they’re much
Saint Laurent, would be a coup for anti- of mutton power-shoulder excites, but better versions of the seventies and the
establishment movements everywhere. so equally does the retro demi-flare, or nineties this time. I think we understand
Hold your fire! Because – spoiler alert the mid-century, ladylike length, should fashion more this time around.”
– it’s been done before. That fight has it take our fancy to wear them, either in
been fought by our predecessors. The isolation, or in an all-together, greatest Could the reality be that things had
likes of Christian Dior, Mary Quant, gotten a little banal of late, and now
Vivienne Westwood et al, have broken
consequential barriers. So much so that
the word rebellion is often hard to equate
with fashion today. The good news is that
this is reason enough to celebrate.
We live in an age where we celebrate
Insta-stars alongside institutions; Gigi as
much as the geek; anti-Capitalist ideology
alongside blatant label-whoring. We can
be as maximalist or as minimalist, chaste
or provocative as we desire. The modern
woman’s prerogative is to dress like a
Saint Laurent punk one day, and a Simone
Rocha bubblegum dream the next. On one
hand, she can kick ass in a rainbow-bright
power suit but, just as quickly, indulge
her inner Phoebe Philo in clean lines and
simple shapes. It’s fluid and it’s fun.
“Fashion is in a very assured place
at the moment, and it’s a very powerful
place to be,” says Shelly Corkery, Fashion
Director of Brown Thomas. “We’re very
confident with mixing colours, we’re
very confident with mixing prints, we’re
very confident with over-embellishing
everything. Yet simplicity is still very
relevant. So we’re not afraid to leave it,
but we can still big it up. It’s all about
styling, it’s all about mixing. And I think it
is about contradictions.

34 IRISH TATLER APRIL 2016

GUCCI

CHLOÉ It’s stretching beyond clothing
too. There may be a long way to go
THE MODERN in terms of unilateral balance but
WOMAN’S there are some positives. Gender
PREROGATIVE fluidity has been embraced with
IS TO DRESS open arms on the catwalk; models
LIKE A SAINT of colour are commanding more
LAURENT attention, with Lineisy Montero’s
PUNK ONE appearance in this season’s Chanel
DAY, AND campaign as a distinct highlight.
A SIMONE
ROCHA As the industry unveils a happier,
BUBBLEGUM more self-assured stance, so too do
DREAM THE our favourite staples. The array of
NEXT. IT’S FLUID languid shapes which abound are
AND IT’S FUN. undoubtedly fashion’s metaphorical
‘aaand breathe’ something which
UNIQUE a look at the new guard of denim
alighting this season confirms. No
MOSCHINO longer happy for the skinny jean to
punch the clock for another season,
we want to blow off some steam? “The the things you feel strongly about and the spring summer catwalks were
problem was that everything had become that you like as a brand, and be more the harbinger of its demise.
too homogenised,” says Caren Downie, confident with it and have your own
co-founder and brand director of hot- attitude. It’s how you put it together and What happened next? Some
right-now high street label, Finery London. the way that says that you’re you.” revelled, some revolted. But,
“Particularly the high street. Everybody something is sticking. For the first
felt they had to follow the same trends Downie should be feeling pretty time in nearly a decade it seems
and if they didn’t have exactly the same upbeat herself, as news has broken that we could actually be serious about
things, then they were missing out and so Finery London generated £5 million in trading our skin-tights for rigid
everything ended up becoming quite dull.” revenue in 2015. Not bad for a brand straight-legs, wedgy-inducing Levi’s
that has been trading for just over a 501s and cropped flares. And there’s
To whit, the newest wrinkle, rather than year. It seems this newfound poise and more where that came from: frayed
being a hymn book of didactic trends, is tenacity expands far beyond stylistic edges, mullet hems (that’s longer at
far more telling – confidence. “It’s actually endeavours. What a refreshing sentiment the back and shorter at the front to
just about having the confidence to portray to be en vogue. us) and irreverent frills are just some
of the new features to dally with
and delight in.

New York-based luxury denim
label, Current/Elliott, has long
waltzed to its own tune when it
comes to fluid shapes and styles,
championing vintage cuts that nod
to the golden age of Americana.
Something which the brand’s
100,000-strong Instagram following
savours. “Women these days want
to feel comfortable and are always
looking for pieces that allow you
to look great while doing so.
There is a collective movement
happening between all of us, which
is constantly redefining the meaning
of sexy,” says Vice President of
Design, Michele Manz. Current/
Elliott’s reach is no longer US-
restricted either, as demonstrates
the brand’s denim pop-up, running
at Brown Thomas, Dublin until 31
March. The mandate? To help you
find the perfect alternative so you
can truly ditch the skinny for good:
We predict a mutiny in the J Brand
aisle. The revolution may be over,
but the anything goes mentality is
something worth fighting for.

APRIL 2016 IRISH TATLER 35