Does pandemic exhaustion have you uninspired? As the new year rolls in, it's time for a new you. Get ahead of the trend cycle with our start-of-the-year predictions for the hottest fashion trends.
Joseph’s Predictions:
1. Indie sleaze
The ten-year fashion cycle has returned yet again — let’s take a quick trip back in time, shall we? Picture this: the year is 2012; you throw on a pair of skinny jeans, black converse, a faded band tee, a plaid overshirt shirt and a scarf — you’re going for a grungy look but not too rough as you want to perfect the careless hipster vibe. This could be you later this year.
Indie sleaze is coming back in full force. I’m predicting the biggest part of this trend will be the return of dark denim, dark bases and the mixing of unconventional patterns and colors. If you need a refresher on 2012 fashion, take a look at this street style compilation from Milan Fashion week, or this one of New York Fashion Week.
2. Up-cycled electronics
Bella Swan’s circa 2008 headphones have entered the chat and your AirPods are not going to be saved by Edward Cullen. You may have to dig through the back of your closet for this one, but know that wired headphones are continuing their comeback in 2022.
Throughout this year, I’m predicting that wired headphones will develop into strong jewelry-like statement pieces. Wired headphones will be decorated and bedazzled to lavish extents. Their use in this year’s fashion trends will be built around the leading lines from the droop of the cords. Old tech being up-cycled into new jewelry and accessories is an ingenious idea, one that I’m extremely excited to see play out this year.
3. Maximalist personal style
Fashion has always been a medium focused on rule breaking and, in 2022, I predict that our current rule breaking will be against the fast paced cycle of social media fashion trends. Later this year, fast fashion trends will implode on themselves for the incoming reign of maximalist personal style.
The push toward bold personal style is being exemplified through TikTok accounts like @myramagdalen, @saracampz and @tinyjewishgirl. The style these accounts showcase is intense and inspiring. This reintroduction of camp-styling and blending of maximalist style into fashion is extremely refreshing. It’s fun, it’s exciting and, most importantly, ideas are flowing and risks are being taken. Take note readers, the standards of fashion are breaking and being reformed this year.
Zara’s Predictions:
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1. (Thrifted) fur
Highly thriftable and practical, I predict that more and more people will rush to fill out their closets with fur, a durable winter staple. Big fur coats play into an almost Soviet sensibility, which we are already witnessing a resurgence in with the recent balaclava moment we’ve been seeing in high fashion.
Even still, fur coats can be equally dressed down, perfectly suited for an early-2000s alternative look. I think fur hats will be popular as well — those little trapper hats will make perfect winter wear once everybody grows tired of their balaclavas.
2. Higher hemlines
As people get more antsy to get out of the thick of it with the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m predicting a big push for mini and micro-mini length skirts and dresses. Miniskirts are a fashion herald of a hopeful attitude for the economy and renewed obsession with youth culture.
A miniskirt/patterned tight combo is perfect for the 2000s-does-1960s look that is on trend right now. Miu Miu’s extreme micro-minis from their Spring/Summer 2022 collection have already begun making waves, if your tastes are more McBling than Mod.
3. Dystopian hellscape-core
I think we are already starting to see a decidedly less cheerful take on the rampant retro-futurism of the 1960s. While ’60s designers imagined a future of space-age PVC clothing and metallic bonnets, 2022 is all subversive cutouts and militaristic utility garments. Subversive basics, consisting of torn-up stockings turned to gauzy tops, have been making their rounds for a little while now. Acne Studios has gone an interesting route with this aesthetic.
Call it pandemic exhaustion, worker alienation or climate nihilism — this morbid turn on fashion seems to pull from nostalgic grunge roots as well as fantastical imaginations of the future in sci-fi. Distressed or gauzy fabrics, funky sunglasses and dynamic layering are all hallmarks of the look.
Whether you go in the direction of cyberpunk fantasy or blast-from-the-past, we hope we have given you the inspiration to challenge societal expectations and style yourself in a way that’s true to you.
Joseph McKee is the design director at the Daily Lobo. They can be contacted at designdirector@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @j_mckee_
Zara Roy is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @zarazzledazzle
