womenswear spring summer 18
Belated if you’re going by the fashion calendar, right on time if you’re going by the actual seasons currently happening: here you have it, my roundup of favorite Spring Summer 2018 looks! But first, a letter from the editor, if you will:
I like to give myself a teeny bit of the credit for Tavis’s transformation into a full-fledged menswear blogger (who did his homework on time!! here you can read his men’s SS18 review that we posted back when that fashion week actually happened). So, inspired by him, and therefore also by my past self, here is my attempt to re-excite myself about writing and fashion.
“Burnout” seems to be a defining word of our time. The fashion industry is no exception: designers can’t keep up with an endless cycle in which they create over-the-top collections two to four times a year, only to have fast fashion companies knock them off using wage slave labor and disastrously polluting manufacturing methods.
There’s something that really sucks about trying to turn what you love to do into something that makes you money. Blame capitalism, blame obligation, consult Big Magic or any other self-help book: everyone agrees that responsibility, big business, greed, and social pressures (aka worrying about the reactions of others upon peering into the depths of your artistic soul) are top killers of creativity and joy. Add on the human and environmental costs as a nice little guilt + self-doubt combo cherry on top.
The fashion industry has a lot of shit to sort out. A very long way to go. But the current generation of designers and consumers is heading back in the right direction. Slow, mindful, ethical, environmental production is cool again. To delve further into this, I’d recommend listening to this Mara Hoffman’s thoughts about this in her interview with Erica Williams Simon on The Call, which is the best podcast out there right now, by the way. And check out blogs like Style Bee and Unfancy, who I wrote about here.
Forget overconsumption, bring on conscious consumerism! Forget greed, sharing is caring! Forget the fact that it has taken me six months for me to obsessively look through every collection on Vogue.com to compile all my favorite moments from this season! Let’s party, fashion folks.
ART NOUVEAU
From Badgley Mischka and Valentino giving us Alphonse Mucha-esque looks to Vivetta’s modern interpretation of classical / nouveau symbols, I’m digging this update on the bohemian macrotrend that’s clearly not going away any time soon.
Don’t forget too that the Arts and Crafts Movement coincided with Art Nouveau (and this Alice + Olivia vibe feels like a very artsy-craftsy colorful quilt that I want to wear everyday)! Basically, the modern Maker Movement and Boho Jungalow Freaks are just repeating the same cultural trends from the hippies, the flappers, and the arts/crafts/nouveau folks before them. History is a never-ending circle, and in the case of this beautiful design trend, I’m okay with that.
COLORS: GEN Z YELLOW + FRUITY-HUED RAINBOWS
While Pantone’s color of the year, Ultra Violet, better known as Melodramatic Purple, wasn’t widely present on the runways (only a couple floofy examples at Giambattista Valli and Alice + Olivia), yellow was everywhere. Be it in The Queen Rosie Assoulin’s do-no-wrong dresses, chic Big Bird fashion, ruffled mustard office attire, or just some plain and simple sunshine daisy butter mellow yellow goodness.
Also, RAINBOWS: at Alice + Olivia (always one of my favorites, can you tell?), Vivetta, as well as Tome.
BLUE CHINA PATTERNS + GINGHAM AIN’T DEAD
These two pair nicely together in a picnic-y sort of way and are also pretty self explanatory… for gingham, see breakout brand Tosia, Adam Selman, and Adam Lippes. And for dresses that looks like a plate, pot, or maybe curtain – in the best way – see Red Valentino and Céline.
“GROUNDBREAKING” FLORALS FOR SPRING
Even Sarah Burton can’t really surprise us with the use of flowers at Alexander McQueen… but they do feel a little bit less “been there, done that” when they’re paired with the right greasy hair, combat boots, and chunky costume jewelry. Life through this lens is a dirty, sexy ball and we’re here for it. See also: all the sensual, neon, out-there flowers I’ve been seeing on Instagram lately (and I’m not alone).
Lastly, speaking of florals, the ones in the cover photo for this post were designed by the lovely Sophia Moreno-Bunge of Isa Isa Floral.