2014: The Year in Fashion
It’s time to take stock: What was 2014 all about? Years hence, will we remember “normcore” or Rihanna’s nudecore look at the CFDAs? The Apple Watch or the Chanel supermarché? Time will tell. Meanwhile, as the year draws to a close, here’s our cheat sheet of 2014’s dozen hottest topics.
Photo: Look Magazine1/12Meet the New Face of Normcore
Normcore was the fashion word on everyone s lips this year. Still not sure what the hell it is? Well, it turns out I m an expert on the subject. Around the time trend forecasters K-Hole sent out a report introducing the concept, I was at JFK airport, waiting to get on a flight to London for fashion week. My plane was six hours delayed—blizzard—and then, once it was in the air, it couldn t land at Heathrow due to gale-force winds. We were diverted to Newcastle, where, after a meal of vending-machine coffee and a Kit Kat, I boarded one of the overnight coaches hired to take me, a few dozen models, and sundry other fashion types down to London. I arrived at my hotel at 9 a.m., stuck my bags in my room, brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face, and then sprinted to my first show, clad in the same ripped-up baggy jeans, turtleneck sweater, and slouchy coat I d been wearing for a good 36 hours by that point. While I was waiting outside the Somerset House for a friend, a street-style photographer snapped me. I didn t think about it again until a few weeks later, when the same friend happened to pick up a copy of the tabloid-ish English-style rag Look and discovered a page-sized photo of me, the very one taken that hard, hard morning. Readers, I am the face of normcore in England. Wondering how to get the look? Now you know.
Photos: Monica Feudi / Feudiguaineri.com; Benjamin Lozovsky / BFAnyc.com; Courtesy of Time Magazine2/12Trans Transcendent
First things first: Transgender rights are not a trend; transgender people are not a fad. Now that we ve gotten that out of the way, can we acknowledge that 2014 was the year that "trans"-ness went mainstream? The fashion industry has done its part to encourage openness: Witness Givenchy muse Lea T, who starred in her first campaign for the house in 2010, or the darling status of Hood by Air, a brand dedicated to erasing gender categories altogether. This year we celebrated Andrej Pejic s re-emergence as the lissome Andreja Pejic, the launch of the all-transgender Barneys New York campaign lensed by Bruce Weber, and Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox s anointing as a fashion icon. Lena Dunham, meanwhile, has signed up to make a documentary about Bindle Keep, a bespoke tailoring outfit that caters to members of the transgender community.
Photos: Yannis Vlamos / Indigitalimages.com; Tommy Ton; Courtesy of Anya Hindmarch; Pierpaolo Ferrari / Style.com/Print3/12Fashion Goes POP
"Less is more," the saying goes. But then again, says who? Not Jeremy Scott, who kicked off his tenure at Moschino with a maximal bang. His Fall 14 dresses and Chanel-esque suits referencing good ol Mickey D s may have been the most Instagrammed runway looks of the year. Meanwhile, over at the actual house of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld was going the other way, making haute tracksuits for models to wear as they shopped the Chanel supermarché. Fast food: Check. Supermarket sweep: Check. Tony the Tiger: Check, courtesy of Anya Hindmarch s Fall 14 breakfast-cereal-inspired handbags, a major favorite among the street-style set.
Photos: Getty Images; Joe Schildhorn / BFAnyc.com; Getty Images4/12Lupita!
Lupita Nyong o rules. That is all.
Addenda: Lupita is an amazing actress; Lupita has paid her dues; Lupita is smart and gracious; Lupita is, like, Audrey Hepburn-level chic; Lupita has a contract with Lancôme; and Lupita has been on about a million magazine covers this year, and in 2015 she ought by rights to be on a million more.
That is all.
Photos: Yannis Vlamos / Indigitalimages.com; Marcus Tondo / Indigitalimages.com; Courtesy of Maison Martin Margiela; Marcus Tondo / Indigitalimages.com5/12Comings and Goings and Comings…
Shacking up and breaking up are the bread and butter of tabloids everywhere. This year, fashion rags read much the same way. The big news in 2014 was Nicolas Ghesquière s debut at Louis Vuitton; elsewhere, Jason Wu got cozy with Boss, and Jeremy Scott, as mentioned already, found true love with Moschino. After the Spring 15 shows in Paris, Peter Copping left Nina Ricci for Oscar de la Renta and Guillaume Henry confirmed that he d split with Carven and was going to Nina Ricci, news that was quickly overshadowed by the announcement that John Galliano (!) was moving into Maison Martin Margiela (!!) and indeed had already been issued his de rigueur white lab coat. That was controversial, but apparently Margiela himself has "let it be known" that he s pleased with the assignment. But no conscious coupling and uncoupling of designer and fashion house was more head-spinning than Marco Zanini s lickety-split entrée and exit at the recently relaunched Schiaparelli. Zanini designed a mere two couture collections for the house, which is owned by Diego Della Valle, and it was widely reported that all parties were unhappy. And as any reader of dating guides knows: If you have to ask, "Is this working?" then it s not.
