Fashion is taking a more modular approach for Spring/Summer 2027. The recent fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris show designers breaking down the complete look into pieces that can be mixed, matched and made personal.
From versatile separates and the return of the skirt to soothing colours and voluminous silhouettes, the runways are putting the building blocks of a wardrobe centre stage.
Fashion in kit form
Instead of outfits conceived as complete looks, designers have this season largely begun breaking them down into independent pieces that can be mixed and matched by buyers.
"The emergence of separates has become a key theme of this season, as we took our signature silhouettes, gowns, necklines, and reimagined them as tops and bottoms," Schiaparelli designer Daniel Roseberry said in his show notes.
Clashing patterns and mixed-up styles and shapes were a key theme of the Paris shows, as well as those seen at the fashion weeks in Milan, London and New York in the preceding weeks.
"Styling and mix-and-match are becoming almost as important as the product itself," said Victoria Dartigues, director of women's ready-to-wear and leather goods buying at the luxury Galeries Lafayette chain in Paris.
"It is a form of fashion that encourages you to create your own look rather than adopt a uniform – sophisticated clothes worn instinctively."
Citing the Celine and The Row collections, she added: "We are moving away from the idea of a total look or a single trend towards a wardrobe that feels built up over time, where each piece brings an extra touch of character."
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The skirt
The skirt is everywhere on the runways "with plenty of fluidity and movement, in a range of shapes and lengths", according to Elodie Abrial, commercial director of Le Bon Marche department store in Paris.
At Chanel, it returned again and again just below the knee, a length even known as "the Chanel length", considered by Gabrielle Chanel to be the most flattering.
In Milan, Prada focused single-mindedly on what it described as “this unique and universal garment”.
"The skirt is a contemporary object because it is flexible and adaptable. It invites contradiction," Miuccia Prada said in a statement after the show.
"Every skirt can also be completely reinvented by the person wearing it, through combinations and juxtapositions with other pieces. They can transform its meaning," the designer stressed.
Soothing colours
"Colours that soothe and lower cortisol levels – butter, lavender, sage," fashion journalist Pascal K Douglas said of the colours for the season.
"These nature-linked colours are soothing for the body, as at Dries Van Noten, Esther Manas and Gundi Studios, they call for calm and peace in reaction to the current socio-political climate."
There were similarly soft colours at Victoria Beckham, Stella McCartney and Icicle in Paris, and Ashley Williams in London, with shoulder-padded shirts ranging from pale blue to baby pink and yellow.
At Milan Fashion Week, Diesel sweetened the palette with a mint-green skirt and bubblegum-pink jacket, while at Bottega Veneta a comfortable pair of pale-yellow pleated trousers was paired with a Malabar-yellow ruffled blouse.
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High volume
Dreamed up by Christian Lacroix in the mid-1980s, the "pouf" or bubble skirt – an inflated skirt structure – is making a triumphant comeback.
Loewe and Dior made it a key silhouette, while Miu Miu and Zimmermann offered very short versions. Comme Des Garcons made it its centrepiece in denim, a sculpture as puffy as it was comic.
The question is whether the trend will quickly deflate on the streets.
The skirts might look great on the runway or while standing up, but are virtually impossible to wear while sitting down. – AFP
