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It was a year coloured with Barbiecore pink and mourning black, seen through trending wraparound gas station sunglasses.
As we come to the end of a very long 2022, it’s time to look back on some of the most memorable style moments that defined the year – from celebrity looks that went viral to the trends that stood out.
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* The nostalgic fashion trend cycle is out of control
* Are you a ‘coastal grandmother’? The latest viral TikTok trend, explained
* The ‘weird girl’ fashion trend, explained
* Beyoncé’s look book of fashion’s exhaustingly fabulous era
Can I hear a little commotion for the dress
Following two years of very subdued red carpets, events and fashion shows, 2022 saw the comeback of statement looks and moments that got people talking.
The two that I think we can safely declare as dresses of the year involved celebrities that helped shape the fashion conversation, for better or worse.
In May, Kim Kardashian shocked the world by turning up to the Met Gala in Marilyn Monroe’s literal dress, wearing the American icon’s ‘Happy birthday Mr President’ dress borrowed from Ripley’s Believe it or Not.
It was a fitting look – the Gala was opening an exhibition that celebrated American fashion – but the stunt proved controversial, with the reality star accused of damaging the historical dress.
Then in October, a niche fashion moment that also caught the attention of the masses: the spray-on dress worn by model Bella Hadid at Coperni’s Paris Fashion Week show, a showcase of the possibilities of technology in the fashion space
Attack of Gen Z
There is no denying that Gen Z has a huge influence on fashion, and will continue to do so.
According to the Business of Fashion, they are set to account for 40% of the global personal luxury goods market by 2035, and a Bain and Company report said that millennials and Gen Z will contribute 130% of market growth between 2022 and 2025.
This year saw that generation’s favourite social media platform, TikTok, churn out too many fashion-adjacent microtrends to count (indie sleaze, ‘coastal grandmother’, ‘clean girl’ beauty, getting your colours done), while on-screen, the chaotic, trend-driven Gen Z wardrobe of Portia in The White Lotus had fans in a frenzy.
Vintage went mainstream
Vintage is not a trend, but with increasing concerns about the fashion industry’s waste and impact on the environment, its popularity only continues to grow.
This year especially, the secondhand message reached the red carpet, with a large number of celebrities opting for a gown from the archives rather than something new and custom. Think of Zendaya’s divine Bob Mackie gown from 1998 for the Time 100 Gala or Emily Ratajkowski’s Versace dress from 1992 at the Met Gala.
It’s the ultimate insider move; showing that you, or your stylist, has the knowledge, connections and access to get you a deep dive archival piece.
The end of several eras
The fashion world was shocked in November when the news broke that the longtime creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele, would be departing.
The designer had transformed the Italian brand into a powerhouse, with his influence reaching far beyond the elitist world of luxury; dressing the world, and Harry Styles, in fur-lined loafers, logo belts and oversized suiting.
His exit perhaps reflects a shift away from the vintage-inspired maximalist aesthetic he pioneered.
Two days earlier designer Raf Simons signified another shifting of the guard when he announced he was closing his influential namesake menswear line after 27 years, with rumours he was preparing to take over the reigns at Prada when founder Miuccia Prada retired.
Farewelling an icon
A true end of an era, the Queen’s passing in September brought about several tributes to her style influence and how she used clothing to convey things she couldn’t with words.
Her last public appearance, to meet Britain’s new (and doomed) prime minister Liz Truss, saw the monarch dressed in her off-duty style signatures for her final official duty.
The mourning dress at her funeral at Westminster Abbey was full of symbolism too, with the women of the royal family wearing sentimental jewellery, gifted to them by the former Queen, to adorn their black ensembles.
Others in attendance brought elements of their country with them, including prime minister Jacinda Ardern who wore a black dress by Tāmaki Makaurau-based designer Juliette Hogan (one of her regular go-tos), a kākahu by Māori designer Kiri Nathan and a small weaved hat by Pirongia-based milliner Monika Neuhauser.
“It felt to me appropriate to find some way to bring a piece of New Zealand here with me, and I’ve tried to do that simply with what I’m dressed in today,” Ardern told reporters as she left her hotel for the service.
Return of the pop star
Music ruled this year, with so many new albums that it was easy to lose track. Many of the world’s biggest stars returned with albums or songs, from Adele to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
Each used the opportunity to embrace their signature pop star look, whether it be Adele’s old-fashioned elegance, Swift’s on-theme ‘Bejewelled’ dressing, or Beyoncé’s disco glamazon makeover for her Renaissance era.
Rihanna blessed us with one song, as part of the Black Panther soundtrack, but it was her pregnancy reveal in February that was her true style moment for 2022: captured in a paparazzi style photo shoot wearing jeans and a hot pink vintage puffer jacket from Chanel’s fall 1996 collection.
A return to a problematic past?
Throughout the year, an undercurrent of concern permeated some industry insiders, who noted a dark side to the Y2K trend resurgence. The 2000s era felt like it was everywhere – from low-cut jeans, mini skirts and crop tops – but with it came the feeling we were returning to the unhealthy, undiverse representation of the same era.
In May, I wrote a piece for Ensemble headlined, ‘Is fashion sliding backwards when it comes to size inclusivity?’, reflecting on Kim Kardashian and others’ open and public comments about bodies, weight loss and diets. “The moment said a lot about where we’re at with the state of beauty standards right now – how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go.”
Then in November the NY Post shared a piece irresponsibly headlined, “heroin chic is back”, and all hell broke loose. Body types are not trends, but expect this conversation – and the very valid push back – to continue into 2023.
A controversial ending
Luxury brand Balenciaga ended the year on a bum note with their controversial ad campaigns featuring children holding teddy bears in BDSM outfits and another with peeks of inappropriate documents.
The brand quickly blamed creative teams, took legal action, then reversed their response after push back from consumers who know that such images and image making are so tightly controlled that it would have been impossible for someone from the brand not to have been aware before they went public.
The situation said a lot about the fashion industry’s approach to culpability and creative process, the need for brands to constantly be creating ‘content’, and the drawbacks of attention-grabbing marketing stunts.
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