This season boasts something to offer every lover of fashion. If you love print, you’re sorted. Post-modern dazzle? You got it. Even a glamour-take on the military look is there for the taking, with Balmain pushing the bold shoulder to the final style frontier.
But if you’re someone who likes their fashion the way they take their coffee, this season’s sleeper trend is the equivalent of a non-fat latte, minus the trimmings.
This summer, if out-and-out dazzle and Riviera prints don’t do it for you, there is always the road less travelled. On offer is the ‘back to basics’ trend. Think of natural fabrics, unfinished hems, and a subdued palette of real-life-ready, workable neutrals.
But look closer and you’ll soon realise that this isn’t just a re-hash of Nineties minimalism. Ripped fabric, sheared hems and peeled-back layers: it’s a whole new way of looking at minimal fashion which has recently taken a back-seat to the attention-grabbing maximalist trends. Never the most exciting trend in fashion’s back catalogue, this new spin takes us to (quite literally) the woman underneath, injecting sex appeal and a dose of nonchalance where there was none before. Minimalism has in the past received bad press, being seen as a little po-faced with a tendency to take itself a little too seriously. Good news: this new take on minimalism is for the girl who takes life, but not herself, seriously.
Prada did the look with their trademark polish. Their collection – awash with 50’s prints and sunny skies – had a darker side if you were willing to discover it. This was translated by means of tailored shorts and neatly cropped jackets. Scissor sharp, these pieces left deliberately unfinished were an exercise in restraint: a symphony of cut and fabric. You almost cut yourself on the edges of the Prada jacket.
Chanel also did a U-turn on their impeccable tailoring, leaving the hems of their tweed suits unfinished to give them a playful, youthful edge. Other hits included Donna Karan’s folds and pleats taking on – and redefining – the power suit, and Nina Ricci introducing light-as-air trench coats that expose the outfit underneath. Handy if you’re someone who begrudges the necessity of a raincoat when you’re having a good clothes day.
The linen dresses, hessian bags and frayed coats on display aren’t just about reworking an old trend; they’re a wonderful antidote to the hard-edged ultra glamour of high fashion over the past decade. It’s a respite from the take-no-prisoners approach spearheaded by micro-trends such as the bold shoulder and body-con. Kinder and softer, this trend is more about the feel of fabric: this sometimes overlooked dimension is often what sells a garment on the shop floor. How many times have you vetoed a sweater on the basis that the wool was just too scratchy?
But this look is far from the soft option. The dramatic silhouette may not be there, but the emphasis on going ‘behind the seams’ hints at the very core of construction and skill required to make these clothes. Going back to basics reminds us of how supremely talented these designers are. The execution of skill and judgement (what to finish, what to leave) is what makes this look so refreshing. After several seasons of exaggerated lines and wow-factor finishes, this quieter look has a lot to recommend it.
This is ideal fashion for those who just can’t do pristine. It’s elegance for a new generation; the kind of girl who mastered the Prada pigtails within a week of seeing them on the runway. For those who missed Nineties minimalism the first time round, this revival is a wonderful way to experiment with cut and fabric but without losing out on detail.
Getting to the heart of the trend, the feat of engineering it takes to make a Jil Sander ripped trench owes more to super-construction than deconstruction. Some of these looks are only a few threads away from being back on the mannequin. It’s what’s holding the coat together that is the genius part.
The unfinished, undone look is a trend where the detail speaks for the big picture: an evocation of what’s great about high fashion. It can do show-stopper trends but also it does the quieter pieces with a precision that’s hard to beat. If ever you wanted a reason why high-fashion still exists, here it is. Like that most elusive quality, elegance, it’s all about what lies beneath.
HELEN TOPE
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