Spring ‘22 Fashion Week in Review
By Martina Colzi
Web Design by Hugh Ferguson
This season’s fashion week can be best characterized by a celebration of uniqueness through the use of innovative fabrics, techniques, materials and designs. From more classic, edgy, and sophisticated designs—like Khaite’s NYFW FW22 show, inspired by “the New York woman”— to the reinvention of Y2K and the ‘90s—through Diesel’s MFW FW22, with acid wash and space-age inspired pieces—this year’s fashion week had range, diversity, and exciting fresh new takes on past trends. A common theme throughout was the modernization of fashion’s most influential decades, particularly the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s. Featuring denim-on-denim pieces, cropped shearling jackets, fitted flared pants, and oversized blazer and pants sets, 2022’s Fashion Week saw designers take their brands in new and exciting directions.
Here are some of New York, London, and Milan’s Fashion Week standout shows, designers, and collections:
New York Fashion Week
For this collection, Dion Lee explored the architectural and structural realm of design. The collection played with the idea of selective concealment created by strong shapes, cutouts, knit and lace. The pairing of long fuzzy coats with opened toed shoes, corsets revealing the arms, shoulders, chest and midriff but covering the hands with gloves, built on the idea of what is revealed and what is hidden. Additionally, the concept of freedom to reveal, or conceal, whatever one desires is highlighted with removable sleeves from coats and tops through hooks, adjustable blazers with harness like attachments, and multiway knit pieces. This idea, although structural and influenced by architecture, also celebrates sexuality. Both female and male models wore pieces showing different parts of their bodies and celebrating the relationship between fabric and skin. The most interesting pieces were ones made of layered lace head to toe. These pieces gave a sense of wearable lingerie without feeling oversexualized. The focus was more on form, texture, fabric, and shape rather than what lace traditionally represents. With neutral tones and pops of blue and red, Dion Lee’s collection makes the abstract and architectural wearable.
Khaite is a New York-based womenswear brand, founded by Catherine Holstein. This year's FW22 show encompassed the essence of a New York woman in a city that is forever changing. With transitional night to day looks, the edgy collection included a full leather jacket and mini skirt set, an oversized boxy blazer and pants set, a fringe see-through dress that flowed as the model walked, and a beautifully crocheted dress embroidered with diamonds. This collection is incredibly wearable thanks to its neutral color palette and is likely to be spotted on models and fashion enthusiasts alikeThe power the collection radiates in the way the models confidently strutted down the runway will also contribute to its fast adoption. The beauty of how the fabrics—leather, metallics, sheer organza, and embellished material—were used, highlighted the modernity and femininity which is typically exuded by the New York woman. Khaite’s usual look and feel is a lot softer and often incorporates minimal silhouettes, however, this show was Catherine Holstein’s personal dedication to the city of New York itself as she notes, “It’s our most New York show [yet].”
London Fashion Week
Richard Malone’s FW22 Ready-To-Wear collection encompassed the beauty of duality— a balance between the elegance of draped satin pieces and the bold color and silhouette choices. This intersection allowed Malone to experiment with his brand, tailoring it to the audience he creates his pieces for. According to Malone, this season “is where... I produce clothes for people I identify with. I kind of identify with all the characters who buy my clothes. There’s a sort of outsiderness [to it].” What appeared abstract was tied together in the way one piece flowed into the next as well as the way the color palette, hues of rust, purple, baby blues and neon greens, complemented the entire collection throughout. Featuring various mismatched layered pieces, ruffled tights sewed to ruched satin pants, circle cut dresses, architectural knits, and armor like details adorning perfectly tailored suit pants and jackets, Malone’s collection is reminiscent of wearable art. Although unconventional, his collection is made to embrace otherness and celebrate strangeness.
Like many of his past collections, his fall pieces are entirely zero-waste. By using deadstock and responsibly sourced material, his RTW collection will have a made-to-order feel and heavily influenced by the availability of certain fabrics.
Best known for his politically charged collections, with commentary on Brexit and Boris Johnson’s Britain, Daniel W Fletcher’s FW22 collection took a more personal tone, to his father who recently passed away. According to Fletcher, “it wasn’t until he’d gone... that I realized how much of an influence he’d been on my relationship with fashion throughout my life.”
With subtle details of the ‘70s, featuring patent leather jackets, wide hemmed pants, striped high neck shirts and mid-thigh shorts, Fletcher celebrated his late father. Highlighting his memory, pieces such as ‘70s Manchester United soccer inspired jerseys and knit scarves bring a sentimental twist to an already emotionally charged collection. Beautifully tailored silhouettes, created by leather blazers, satin tops/dresses and flowy suit inspired pants, bring out the textures of the fabrics. The collection overall truly communicated the essence of a father figure in the way that it encapsulated various items anyone’s father would have in their closet. Although heavily influenced by menswear, Fletcher’s collection featured both menswear and womenswear. All of Fletcher’s designs were also sustainably created by sourcing deadstock fabric, scraps and sustainably sourced materials.
Milan Fashion Week
Yoon Ahn’s FW22 show was a celebration of material and innovative technique of which Ahn often incorporates into her work. Ahn’s passion for technology, having just sold her first limited edition NFT, resonated throughout the show. This passion was highlighted in the way materials were used, from the creation of a chainmail top to a dress made of metal laser cut A’s to a head-to-toe crochet jumpsuit with a heart-shaped chest piece. However, much of this collection was also a reinvention and modernization of the ‘80s, which was a common theme scene throughout fashion weeks alike.
Big fluffy hats, biker inspired leather sets (including a mini skirt and bralette set), fur lined leather trench coats paired with beaded skirts, cropped blazer and suit sets, and fluffy fitted shearling jackets were reminiscent of those times, all while remaining relevant and modern. The color palette shifted from blacks, neutrals and silvers to blues and greens, adhering to the seasonal colors of fall and winter with splashes of mixed prints and color blocking which gave a fresh touch to rather traditional hues. Due to the combination of craft, fabric, material and innovation, this collection truly stood out due to its unique take on futurism and the ‘80s.
For his first ever Diesel show as creative director, Glen Martens delivered a complex and daring FW22 show that hit all the marks. Reminiscent of Y2K and the ‘90s, Martens generated quite a buzz on social media, during and after fashion week. Experimenting with fabrics, textures, and silhouettes, he essentially reinvented Diesel as a brand and appealed to a new generation of fashion enthusiasts and consumers. Denim, which is what Diesel has always been known for, was scattered throughout the collection creating a link between the new and old brand vision.. Acid wash oversized jeans paired with frayed denim trenches, black denim jumpsuits paired with leather thigh high boots, and head-to-toe denim jacket, shirt, glove, pants, and boot sets were a modern take on Diesel’s roots. The most fascinating pieces were leather micro-mini skirts featuring the Diesel logo, pink, blue and bronze extraterrestrial inspired minidresses and skirts, graphic tee inspired halter tops and repurposed denim, hoodies, and waterproof jackets, made into tops, skirts and pants. The creative direction Martens took for this show catapulted Diesel into a new era, distancing the brand from the straightforward minimalist glamor of the early ‘00s, and propelling it forward into modernity.
