Trend Report: Fall/Winter 2021

After a year of staying in and dressing down, fall/winter 2021 promises to satisfy our collective itch to dress up—and nothing says fashion with a capital F like silhouettes blown to fantastical proportions. Options abound: There are Louis Vuitton and Loewe’s modern twists on historical silhouettes, Molly Goddard’s bursts of tulle, Patou’s clouds of taffeta and JW Anderson’s bulbous, brightly coloured knits.

Chalk it up to our new-found habit of opening doors with our sleeves. This season, designers are turning out sleeves so long they could double as gloves—a seemingly simple touch with high visual impact. At Raf Simons and Stella McCartney, the ultra-long sleeves carry a whiff of grunge, while the ones at Loewe and KENZO play up the collections’ surreal proportions.

Countless Zoom meetings later, we’ve come to realise that it’s the details that are in frame that matter the most, and designers have landed on a brilliant solution to dress up the visage: Statement jewels. The fall/winter 2021 collections are filled with showstopping jewellery meant to draw attention to the face, from earrings in the form of giant gobstoppers and dripping chandeliers to fistfuls of crystals clasped around the throat.

In anticipation of a Roaring Twenties redux and us being creatures of the night again sometime in the hopefully- not-too-distant future, designers have cranked up the wattage for their latest creations. There are glimmering, Old Hollywood glamour gowns at Michael Kors and Moschino; short, sparkly party slips and shifts at Burberry, Chanel and Saint Laurent; and futuristic sheen at Dolce&Gabbana and Balmain.

The black dress is a style perennial and a no-brainer for an instant hit of chic and allure. This season, though, designers have reinvented it by upping its sex appeal; think less prim and a lot more provocative—Belle du Jour instead of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Slink into one of the sheer, sexy versions from Gucci, Givenchy, Valentino or Saint Laurent for a va-va-voom entrance.

If there is one key piece to invest in this season, it's the bodysuit. The snug one-piece is a natural extension of all the athleisure and sweats we've been wearing the past one year, fulfilling the need for both ease and comfort, with the added bonus of making a fashion statement. The bodysuit forms the foundation of Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada's latest joint collection, while it is sexed up at Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and Dolce&Gabbana.

In recent seasons, the idea of craft has really come to the forefront of fashion—a slow approach that stands in direct opposition to throwaway fast fashion. One of the clearest marks of the human hand can be found in pieces lovingly patchworked together. Marine Serre has made it a core practice at her brand and this season, Gabriela Hearst joins the conversation with both her eponymous label and her debut Chloé collection.

Call it a reaction against the micro bags that have been trending the past few seasons or a reflection of the times in which we’re living, where we carry more of our lives with us as the concept of an office is increasingly fluid and mobile, but this season’s standout bags are positively epic in size. For sheer spectacle alone, nothing beats the giant totes at Marni and Fendi. Stella McCartney and Prada, meanwhile, propose more practical versions.