Ding ding! Let Fashion Month, and the race for this season’s coolest clothes, commence. We’re just a couple of days into New York Fashion Week and my head has completely switched into autumn mode. The weather in the city has been cheery enough to still warrant sundresses and sandals, but that has not deterred the stylish throngs of street stylers and A-listers from delving into a world of new ideas.
A few trends are being spotted more frequently than others. There’s an influx of saturated colours, and they’re most commonly cropping up in simple dress shapes for easy wear—if anything can lure you out of black, navy and grey this winter, it’ll be the bright day dress. There are trouser suits that put loungewear firmly in the shade, a slew of Y2K throwbacks and boots so tempting, we don’t even feel the need for the temperature to drop before packing our chunky-soled sandals away for another year. Olivia Palermo, Katie Holmes, the Hadid sisters and many more celebrities have been attending the shows and doing their utmost to showcase autumn’s topline trends for you. So without further ado, let’s see how New York’s fashion crowd are doing the new season.
The runways for autumn 2021 may have been chock full with wild ideas, but many also offered a range of very simple, easy to chuck on dresses, like this turquoise Kate Spade NY one here. They are the perfect base for trending accessories, like Katie’s leopard print pumps and a little ’90s-inspired shoulder bag, also from Kate Spade.
Olivia Palermo is no stranger to wearing bright colours but she’s historically more of a print clash girl. However, this double shocking pink combo is really something to behold. She’s even matched her eyeshadow—now that’s dedication.
So Emily Ratajkowski’s LRD (Little Red Dress) from Peter Dundas isn’t exactly the most throw-on of day dresses, but minis are back, so you may as well get used to it. Side note: How great does Ciara look here in military green?
Trouser suits are making a comeback after a few seasons at the bottom of the pile thanks to so many people working from home. A looser fit is preferred for autumn, and if you want to take things up a notch, go sans top. Katie is pictured here wearing Christian Siriano.
Actress Tommy Dorfman knows the power of a great black suit—keep it simple, look for a perfect fit and it will do all the hard work for you.
For a more deconstructed look, take a leaf out of Gigi Hadid’s book and wear an oversized blazer with printed trousers and a tee.
Naomi Watts looks every inch the superstar in this velvet trouser suit. Note how she carefully modernised a retro look with a simple cami top.
The trend for extreme cut-outs started last summer and have proven to be such a hit that they’re even going into autumn—a season rather closely connected to covering up!
Katie gives this slashed-to-there Christopher Esber dress a laid-back spin with adidas sneakers and an overshirt. Smart.
Cutouts don’t have to be all va-va-voom; they can be cute too. As proven by Olivia Palermo at the PatBO show.
Bella Hadid went full ’00s with her cutout look, layering a handkerchief-hem dress over smart pants.
Corsetry is back in full force and you can blame it entirely on Y2K. The look is pure nostalgia, like Gigi’s bodiced tube dress here.
Taking things up to a notch previously inhabited by girl bands in the ’00s, Irina Shayk is not messing around with this fierce corset and cargo pant formula.
It would appear this is a new pairing to be aware of then—here is Ciara in a corset and cargo trousers from LaQuan Smith.
An autumnal favourite, knee boots are doing the rounds yet again. We particularly liked Emily’s ultra-autumnal palette here.
Aerospace scientist and all-round cool girl, Sara Adewumi, bridges the gap between summer and autumn by wearing her knee boots with bare legs.
