NEW STYLE HORIZONS

It’s time to reignite your love of fashion with the season’s most joyful, free-spirited styles

Words: Thea Bichard. Images: Hugo Comte.

NEW STYLE HORIZONS

It’s time to reignite your love of fashion with the season’s most joyful, free-spirited styles

Words: Thea Bichard. Images: Hugo Comte.

With all of us itching to get back out into the world again, it’s time to show our much-neglected wardrobes a little love. But will the months ahead turn 2021 into the fashion equivalent of The Roaring 20s: 2.0, or will we struggle to relinquish the ease of loungewear? Really, there’s no need to pick a side: SS21 is proving to be an eclectic, joyful mix of textures, colours and intriguing silhouettes, with plenty of opportunities for going all out (often while staying in our comfy zone). Filtered through photographer Hugo Comte’s dream-like lens, against a surreal ‘half-in, half-out’ backdrop befitting the months ahead, these are the style horizons we’re keen to explore…

NENSI DOJAKA - Cut-out woven and silk-blend mini dress (coming soon) / PRADA - PR73V wrap-around sunglasses / JACQUEMUS - Baguier multi-ring gold-toned bracelet / SUSAN CAPLAN - Pre-loved Dior bracelet (coming soon)

Body-framing silhouettes

If ever there was a better antidote to loungewear fatigue, then this season’s figure-loving, flesh-baring collections have to be it. This collective yearning to get out and have some human contact is reflected in the second-skin styling and sheer fabrics clinging to the SS21 collections at Nensi Dojaka, Givenchy, Ottolinger and countless more. “I studied lingerie for so long, and I always pay extra attention to the female body,” says designer Nensi Dojaka. “I love to work around the body, not on top of it.” Think of this as 2021’s answer to bodycon: sinuous straps, tantalising mesh, unexpected cutouts and silhouettes designed to accentuate your frame. Never has it felt quite so good to shed those winter layers (both in a physical and metaphorical sense of the word)…

BOTTEGA VENETA – Button-up knitted jacket, Knitted mini dress, Point top-handle bag, Wedge sandals (all coming soon)

Go green

What better way to brighten our day than a welcome hit of feelgood green. Once again, Daniel Lee set the tone for the season. The bright burst of green that kicked off Bottega Veneta’s salon-like show at London’s Sadler’s Wells theatre ran head to toe across summer knits and elegant skirt suits (coincidentally, these are also keywords on our SS21 bingo card), and its influence spreads to our shoes and bags, too. Be it a joyful pop of emerald, lime, mint or sea foam, we’re looking to pieces that not only reflect our optimism and hope for the year ahead but also nod to nature, now that we’re able to explore the great outdoors once more.

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SS21 is exciting because it explores the future of a more laid-back glamour like we saw in Matthew Williams’s Givenchy collection, and at the same time celebrates the artistry of making a garment – we saw such craftsmanship in the collections of Nensi Dojaka and Bottega Veneta.

– Jeannie Lee, Head of Womenswear Buying

GIVENCHY - Open-back maxi dress (coming soon), G-Chain medium silver and gold-toned necklace, Leather Balle mini grained-leather tote bag, Cutout sliders (coming soon)

The LLBD

OK, so an LBD might feel like a style step too far after a year of elastic waistbands and slippers – but what about the new LLBD (aka long, lean black dresses)? Matthew Williams showcased wonderfully sleek options in his debut Givenchy collection, along with the likes of JACQUEMUS, KHAITE and Bevza. Embracing 2020’s ‘throw on and go’ vibe yet hitting the 2021 fashion mark with cut-out-and-keep silhouettes and figure-hugging styles, they’re the perfect way to ease you back into the world again. Plus, the beauty of any black dress is that we know it’ll be an investment that endures.

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GIVENCHY – Ribbon crepe top / JADE SWIM - Via triangle bikini top / RICK OWENS - Diana cutout high-waist stretch-cotton mini skirt / BOTTEGA VENETA – Point small leather clutch bag (coming soon) / SHAUN LEANE - Quill sterling silver ring / FRAME – Platform sandals (coming soon)

PACO RABANNE - Floral-print turtleneck stretch-knit top

Free-spirited styles

Keen to continue to reap the benefits of stretchy fabrics and non-restrictive silhouettes, even when you’re dressing up for long summer nights out again? Ever attuned to our whims, designers have delivered via loose-cut tunics, flowing maxi dresses and expressive knits – we’re particularly drawn to Paco Rabanne’s soft-furnishing florals that bring the indoors out, along with Dries Van Noten’s expressive-as-ever prints. “The collection had to be rather simple, rather straightforward, but not boring – I wanted really to create something that was fresh and optimistic,” Van Noten said. Amen to that.