The FW22
Trend Report

Is it feeling crisp and clean? The thrill of a potential spill? The appeal of dressing up in white is difficult to pinpoint. Maybe because it was the first shade we were swaddled in after the warm yellow of amniotic fluid—connoting beginnings and celebrations, it felt reserved for special occasions. An integral part of the wholesome decorum of “firsts” perpetuated by the fact that the shade is sought after by most brides in the Western world. But if white is for ceremony and standing out, why are designers—from Jacquemus, to The Row, to AREA, to petticoat GOAT Simone Rocha—churning out matrimonious looks for FW22? It’s trad-wife cosplay, it’s a gesture of chastity—if not a refrain from intercourse, an aversion to blending in, or being run-of-the-mill. But it’s also an aversion to being a bride. As marriage rates in North America continue to steadily drop, singles are turning away from the dating apps and toward themselves, celebrating autonomy, celibacy, and dressing in white for other purposes. Marriage might not be for all of us, but our closets in FW22 are bride-pilled. On the other side of the coin are brides like stylist Rachel Rodgers, whose wedding-day wardrobe, while appropriately on point, also served to highlight the porosity of the distinctions between what a bride would and wouldn’t wear. Suffice it to say, wearing all white is a trend we’ll be practicing long after labor day.

We’ve spoken about ugly shoes. We’ve gone through Triple S, New Balance, and UGG waves. A lot has transpired in the past three years and we’re all feeling a bit more weathered now, so to speak. Irreverence still has a role to play in the way we dress, but there’s something more serious in the air these days. The square-toe shoe is bulky, grown up. It’s the logical post-lockdown evolution of the chunky sneaker. Martine Rose is the queen of the square-toe loafer. Moldova-based brand Fidan Novruzova brought us the square-toe boot of the season. It’s a pancaked Frye boot, twisted equestrian, the toe box exaggerated like it’s been stomped on repeatedly by a horse. There’s an unparalleled strength to this silhouette—it’s confident, it’s blunt. Lemaire has the square-toe ballet flat answer, if you’re looking for something a bit more demure. Miista has your heeled square-toe loafer desires covered. Fortify your feet this fall with a variety of square silhouettes, don’t go putting square toes in a box.

You know a meme is good when you wake up thinking about it. “Streets turned us despicable but our money still gru” is perfect nonsense, liable to loop in your thoughts like a song’s hook. On TikTok and Twitter, teenage boys documented their menswear journeys to see the latest Minions movie, accompanied by the hashtag #gentleminions. Donning suits and hard-bottom shoes, the boys occupied movie theaters like they were taking over a suburban basement for a birthday sleepover. It was sick.

What comes after sneakers and streetwear? The old signifiers of wealth and taste are there for the taking. The FW22 menswear collections from Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, and Y/Project, to name some of the most exciting, feature sophisticated tailoring, suits that are elegant and sometimes whimsically sherbert colored. Want to see how much trousers can billow? Or how wide shoulders can appear? Look no further. Gru knows.

Similar to what we've seen in previous seasons with neons, pastels, and tie-dye mania, jewel tones are proving to be the palette of choice for FW22—less accents, more statements. A potent shade of ruby red stands out as a new expression of what we might consider neutral: classic and captivating, with an air of nonchalance.

According to the American Gem Society, "aiding emotions" is the ruby's greatest power. It makes sense, then, that designers are offering head-to-toe looks as a charming reminder. While the color (in slipper form) once famously returned The Wizard of Oz's Dorothy to her grayscale Kansas, this season it's about channeling the allure of a faraway land, at home and beyond. Courtesy of Versace Home at Milan Design Week, we learned the latest pro tip: Paint it red.

A true classic by nature, ruby feels right as the new neutral—it can signify glamour, romance, rage, or red flags, depending on the day. Bottega Veneta sent models down the runway in variations of glossy scarlet trousers that read as off-duty rockstar, but when paired with a matching blazer, became instantly stage-ready. MAC's ever-iconic shade of Ruby Woo remains a more matte approach to developing an attitude—the undeniable effect of sporting a deep red lip. It's easy to imagine The Row's red bags and ballerina flats sprucing up another timeless neutral: blue denim. At Craig Green, we saw bold red jackets, pants, and footwear in silhouettes that redefine the cushion cut. The takeaway? Become your own precious stone.

Things can go from seeming “sick” to “ick” pretty quick when trends veer into recreational sport territory—there’s nothing less skater or surfer than a person who has no idea how to do either yet dresses as if they do. But we’re standing behind the snowboarder trend. Why? Because it’s not about dressing the part, so much as it is about taking some very specific styling cues—tapping into an ethos, if you will. Think about the unconventional layering required to brave the elements without compromising your mobility—a long-sleeved tee over a hoodie, shorts over pants, beanie and ball cap hybrids. A laissez-faire energy that brands like Marni, Dries Van Noten, Collina Strada, and STORY mfg. have all tapped into. The bottom line is, we aren’t letting colder weather stand in our way after the limitations of the last few frosty seasons we’ve had. We also sell snowboards, so…

The past two seasons of fashion have been dominated by the return of the smiley faced, high-hemlined, and candy-colored optimism of the Y2K era. Entire brands have been launched on this wave of nostalgia for the Simple Life, Depop finds, Cobra Snake photos, and the unhinged pop of the aughties. But what do we make of this nostalgia for the seminew?

What’s most striking about the Y2K thing is how similar it is to the period of ‘90s obsession that came right before it—a yearning for the almost-20-years-ago washing over the aesthetic of a generation that was barely old enough to remember it the first time. This led me to create a formula:

Year it Is Now — Time it Takes to Grow Up and Graduate High School = Year of Dominant Strain of Nostalgia

By the logic of this formula, we’re destined to soon enter a period that takes a hard left turn from the headless technicolor of the aughties—a period defined by the similarly optimistic, yet financially doomed and aesthetically austere styling of the early Obama era. What will this look like? Will selvedge denim and other lumberjack-ish buy-for-life menswear go back in Vogue? Will TikTokkers start rocking grails from Nicolas Ghesquière’s Balenciaga? Or, most horrifying, will jeans slowly get skinnier again? We can only wait and see what Obamacore may bring.

When we spoke to Y/Project designer Glenn Martens back in 2018 he shared his definition of relevance: “Clothes are relevant if people own them and are happy in them,” he said. “For Christmas I gave my grandmother a Y/Project coat, which she loves and wears. A friend of mine has a similar coat. When clothes are not connected to gender and age and still work, then fashion is relevant.” Five years later, Martens is more relevant than ever, helming the successful return of legendary ‘90s and early aughts cult denim label Diesel as its new creative director, while continuing to design sought-after collections for Y/Project. Not a fan of following rules, Martens continues to prove that his intuition is his best guide. His emphasis on construction as the first and most important element of the design process, when applied to denim, yields twisted results that fit perfectly within the Y2K grunge spectrum described above. Martens has emerged as the creative director of the year, and he’s just getting started.