With fashion month officially wrapped up, we have all experienced the first “digital fashion weeks”. The pandemic threatened fashion as a whole with fashion shows themselves seeming to take a place on the chopping block. But designers and their teams rose to the challenge and delivered outstanding displays, look-books, videos, and fashion shows to showcase their brand’s stories. Many were skeptical of how each of these fashion weeks would play out, but it was refreshing to see designers find new and creative ways to showcase the collections. With fashion shows already under scrutiny for the amount of time, resources, and money they cost, this fashion month may have set the groundwork for how collections can be displayed and where the fashion industry can head in the future. Continue reading to see some of our favorite collections for Spring/Summer 2021.

Givenchy

When Matthew Williams was announced as Givenchy’s new Image Director, following the departure of Clare Waight Keller, I was skeptical if Williams was up to the challenge of crafting couture-level womenswear. Williams is no stranger to commercial success with his brand 1017 ALYX 9SM and his collaboration with Dior Homme. He has become synonymous with luxuriously branded hardware paired with sharp and functional silhouettes. The house of Givenchy has had its fair share of talented creative directors and the past references were on full display in Williams’ first collection. Horned heels and hats paid homage to the great Alexander McQueen, while the elegant tailoring spoke true to the house’s founder, Hubert De Givenchy. Williams’ talent for designing hardware was on full display throughout the handbag charms, chains and jewelry. The styling was sharp, effortless and a balance of dressy and casual. The S/S 21 collection blends the archives of the house with an early 2000’s music video in the most elevated way possible. A beautiful debut for Williams and an exciting direction for the Givenchy House. Let’s hope we can wear these clothes in a Parisian nightclub come 2021.

Loewe

This was an explosive, unadulterated showing of pure fashion in tumultuous times. Jonathan Anderson gave us a Loewe show full of clothes that demand you feel something when you wear them. These are not clothes for #WFH but clothes that are the result of allowing a mind to wander into fantasy and escape to a world much brighter and lighter than the one we are currently living in, a uniform for utopia. In the words of Anderson: “It was a moment when I fell in love with fashion again. I work in fashion, so let’s do fashion! Let’s remove the parameters of ‘sellable’ and ‘not sellable’ and explore things that we’ve always wanted to do. What we’ve all been able to achieve is testament to creativity and that we’re very lucky to work in fashion. It was about people being locked in their houses and trying to escape through creating something.”

Balenciaga

An exemplary display by Demna Gvasalia that fashion need not always be escapist or only able of fantasy. Fashion should reflect the world we live in and the unfortunate circumstances we face. Gvasalia has been no stranger to bringing our grim circumstances that threaten our very existence to the runway. The runway has represented aspiration and sometimes that aspiration can be awful. We should be ecstatic that a designer is making us grapple with the complex questions that face our society each and everyday. What made this collection even more incredible was the sustainability aspect to it. In a recent press release leading up to the show it was stated, “93.5% of the plain materials in this collection are either certified sustainable or upcycled. 100% of the print bases have sustainable certifications. Most pieces are unisex, a template that will diminish the environmental impact of a gendered production model.” Gvasalia reminds us that fashion needs to be bizarre, ugly and sometimes even uncomfortable.

Rick Owens

Rick Owen’s S/S21 collection, titled “Phlegethon” found itself presented in Venice instead of Paris this year. Rick Owen’s shows are always one of the most sought after shows at Paris Fashion Week, but for this collection he wanted something different, something more fitting to what he has been feeling as of late. He chose to present this collection at one of his favorite places in Venice, The Excelsior Hotel. A historic and storied hotel that has been around for over a century. Rick Owens chose Venice to showcase this collection because he views it as the most magical place in this banal world. Owens felt himself coming closer to sexuality this collection, something he tends to avoid in his women’s collections. Exaggerated and flamboyant shoulders with thigh-high wader boots (to stand in the river in Hell which the collection is named after) struck not power, as that is too subtle, but feelings of dominance. The state of fashion shows and their existence is threatened but Owen’s always reminds us of the power they have and the stories they can help tell.

Thom Browne

For Thom Browne’s SS21 collection, he offered up some of his most beautiful clothing to date. I dare say this may be Thom Browne’s best collection as the conceit of the collection was purely Thom. The collection consisted of effortlessly relaxed silhouettes done in mostly a peaceful, bright white. Thom looked to the fashions of the 1920s to create this collection, invoking a sense of freedom and suppleness that wares from that time period held. Thom is a proponent of gender-fluid fashion and this collection was no different. “I’d like it to become normalized,” he said, of genderless clothes. “It’s important that it becomes a little bit more natural. And it played to the hopefulness of the collection—that people are moving forward, and seeing things in different ways, and accepting them more readily. I’ve always loved the idea of a genderless approach to fashion…. I think there’s something really beautiful about it.”

The Row

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s The Row give us timeless silhouettes made impeccably, collection after collection. Utilizing some of the best materials and constructions, The Row delivers yet another collection of a “forever wardrobe.” The Row has perfected the art of understanding how a fabric should drape and encapsulate the wearer. Every piece understated but exuding pure luxury and class without ever using an ounce of branding or graphics. Expensive they may be but each garment they make is for a lifetime and maybe more.