Out-of-Season Womenswear Designers S/S 21

With the official seasonal runway calendar in Covid disarray, several key designers opted for an off-schedule approach, presenting their S/S 21 collections via small-scale presentations and conceptual lookbooks. Overall, the mood was for a simpler style, with practicality and comfort driving the trends.
Tory Burch
The designer stripped away her signature globetrotter flourishes this season and took inspiration from the simple lifestyles of the Shaker community, incorporating subtle decorative details into easy silhouettes.
- A low-key palette of white with neutrals, inky blue and pops of vivid brights.
- Practical windcheaters and shirt jackets.
- Midi-maxi hemlines.
- Neat geometric prints.
- Kaftans and tunic shapes.
- Easy pull-on wide trousers.
- Detachable collars, piping and cuffed trouser detailing.






Marques’Almeida
Sustainability underscored Marques’Almeida’s S/S 21 collection, designed and produced during lockdown in the duo’s hometown of Porto, Portugal using locally sourced fabrics like marine-debris taffetas and certified organic cotton.
- An uplifting palette of white and silver with pops of sunshine yellow, seaweed green, baby blue and pink.
- Oversized sweatshirts and slouchy boyfriend jeans.
- Eighties bubble hems.
- Seventies flared bell sleeves on mini dresses.
- Exaggerated mesh effects.
- Flounces, ruffles and raw-edged fringing.
- Random tie-dyes and overdyed washed denims.






Michael Kors
Easy and casual were the buzzwords driving Michael Kors’ S/S 21 showing, as the designer presented a wardrobe of covetable layered pieces perfectly targeted to everyday living.
- A mono palette of black and white with shades of earthy browns and pops of vegetal green and sky blue.
- Simple shapes and easy layering.
- Tailored jackets over breezy tunic shirts and easy trousers.
- Oversized tunic knits with asymmetric hems.
- Structured waistcoats over shirtdresses and tunics.
- Ditsy mono floral prints.
- All-over shimmering micro beading and sequins.






Celine
Celine girls will be marching to a youth-oriented beat next summer, as the fashion house’s bourgeoise tropes were replaced with a Gen Z vibe that mixes sporty pieces with girly grunge.
- Wheaten neutrals, washed black and grungy greys.
- Eighties blousons and colour-blocked nylon jackets.
- Tiered midi dresses in faded florals.
- Sporty tracksuit bottoms and athletic shorts.
- High-rise cropped carrot jeans.
- Breton stripes and camouflage prints.
- Tailored blazers layered with cropped tops.






Raf Simons
Fresh from his first collaboration with Prada, Raf Simons riffed his signature bold graphics with a play on skinny versus cocooning silhouettes, drawing inspiration from the iconic movies of his youth.
- A palette of vivid brights ranging from ultraviolet, Dijon and aqua to lilac, emerald and salmon pink, counterbalanced by stark black and white.
- Narrow silk and satin skirts teamed with skinny polo necks or oversized sweaters.
- Bold portrait logos and slogan messages.
- Retro psychedelic prints in brights with white.
- Oversized tailoring and billowing capes.
- Waistcoats as a key layering piece.
- Maxi ankle-skimming hemlines.






Proenza Schouler
A new simpler approach from Proenza Schouler, which reduced its signature detailed looks into something more pragmatic and ‘of the moment’, with the emphasis on today’s much needed feel-good factor.
- Sharp white and warm, sunkissed neutrals, highlighted with soft pastels and black
- Long languid silhouettes.
- Ribbed knits and soft stretch jersey.
- Statement skin and ombred tie-dye prints.
- Sassy cut-outs on jersey dresses.
- Fluid trousers with contrast tuxedo stripe on inside leg.
- Glossy tailored leather.





