Whilst you may be stuck indoors self-isolating, there are still plenty of virtual occasions to dress up for. From Zoom to House Party and FaceTime, what will you wear to your next lockdown social event? After all, spring is underway and the days are getting longer, the temperatures are creeping up, and so it’s time to shed those thermals, and serve some fresh new looks. The season’s trends feel unapologetically bold with anti-fashion sentiments creeping into many collections. From aloof all-black looks to subversive see-through garments and liberating footwear, these shifts reflect a nonconformist attitude arising from society’s political and practical realities. So while you lounge at home and contemplate your place in the world, scroll down to discover Nazanin Shahnavaz’s guide to what’s in now.

PASTELS

Do you fantasize about dressing like Tyler, The Creator’s platinum blond alter ego IGOR? Or find beauty in a tub of Neapolitan ice cream? Have you pledged allegiance to the delicate blush of millennial pink? If yes, then this may be the latest trend for you. Whilst we can appreciate that pastels for spring aren’t exactly groundbreaking, this season’s saccharine palette promises calm, renewal and algorithmic popularity on your Instagram feed. Whether it’s Telfar’s viral baby blue, pink and yellow mini-shoppers, Craig Green’s quilted skin jacket in lemonade or Comme Des Garçons Shirt’s pistachio green joggers, SS20 collections are awash with lighter hues tapping into our desire to feel a bit of spring.

FULL TRANSPARENCY

In the era of over-sharing, transparent clothing is trending and leaves very little to the imagination. Over the past few seasons we’ve seen clear PVC shoes at Yeezy, lucite briefcases at Helmut Lang and ultra-fine organza, tulle and satin garments on a multitude of runways. SS20 is all about gauzy mesh and netted textures, on the runway designers like Dries Van Noten played the game of conceal- reveal: looks felt soft and sensual via sheer netted vests, long sleeve printed tops and buttoned down shirts. Off the runway we’ve seen an abundance of mesh-wearers with some of the best looks served by Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer and her 90s-style tops, Billie Eilish’s translucent layers and Lil Nas X’s nipple bearing string vests – it seems wearing hardly any clothing is so hot right now.

EXTRA ORTHOPEDIC

Thanks to the enduring longevity of the athleisure trend, we can forget about gendered shoes, blisters and sprained ankles in favour of practicality. From dad sneakers to clogs, Birkenstocks and trekking shoes, your SS20 footwear should be sensible, chunky, strapped up and exude comfort. Step into a pair of ALYX’S heavy-soled heel-hugging sneakers, take on any terrain in Off-White’s trekking sandals or plant your feet firmly flat on the ground in low-platformed Rick Owens Dark Shadow sneakers. Finally fashion is taking advice from its more practical, albeit somewhat orthopaedic, cousins.

Joe Exotic’s unforeseen rise to fashion icon status couldn’t have been more timely with this season’s animal print trend. The problematic Tiger King burst onto our screens with his peroxide-blonde mullet and flamboyant array of sequinned animal prints providing us with tons of styling inspiration for this season’s collections. Throw on a sheer leopard print shirt by Dries Van Noten (preferably with the first three buttons undone), a pair of stone washed jeans and a dad cap for a look that screams Joe-chic. For something a bit more casual, you could style Sacai’s matching zebra set with a pair of Oakleys and chunky harness biker boots or Junya Watanabe’s camo-tiger mashup shorts with a plaid shirt and fringed leather jacket, optional accessories include a beaded choker and a quad-bike.

Wearing black suggests an indifference to the insatiable appetite of fashion. It’s an aesthetic void of trendiness, eclipsing the stream of colour-click-bait from millennial pink to gen-z yellow and acid green. Contrary to our unprecedented hunger for newness, it’s a colour that will always be in style and serves as a palette cleanser. An all black wardrobe functions as a uniform, it’s reliable and consistent, and you can wear it almost anywhere. Some of the greatest designers of our time have dedicated their entire careers to the colour both on the runway and in their personal style such as Rei Kawakubo, Rick Owens and Yohji Yamamoto who once said: “Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy – but mysterious. But above all black says this: I don’t bother you – don’t bother me.”