Interlude: Getting Dressed Yesterday And Tomorrow

When the FWf20 collections were conceived, designers couldn’t have predicted that they would hit the market at a time when masks and sweats prevail over bubble hems and capes. Elle singapore speaks to three industry insiders on fw’20’s commerciality, and venture what we might glimpse in the ss’21 collections — fashion’s first in a new normal

- Andrea Sim

I couldn’t have foreseen my descent into pastel-hued Nike sweatsuits. But it turns out that they don’t just put me at ease with their 100 per cent cotton fabric, but offer me an inexplicable pleasure that comes from encasing myself top-to-toe in such enthusiastic colours. Could soft purple be a Band-Aid for the thoughts about fashion publishing’s future that keep me up at night? Is its viscerally childlike aesthetic emotional liberation from all the triple-hatting we’ve had to grow into over the past few months? I’ve even bought some Essentials sweatpants, Jerry Lorenzo’s sub line to Fear Of God, which I’d previously always steered clear of, attributing its viral appeal to oversimplified colour theory, the concept and comfort of uniformity, and some nifty marketing. My Comme des Garçons Homme Plus and Yohji Yamamoto suits haven’t been given the time of day for more than a hot minute — even when I step out of the house. I’m about to cart out a cozy Jacquemus mohair-blend fitted cardigan and bralette as we speak. Placebo or not, it feels like it’s working; this shift in outward appearances as a support system for navigating a new world. I call them my bubble-wrap ensembles.