When it comes to the fashion trends that shaped the 2010s, dad jeans, sneakers, and heavy logos strike several heartstrings.
The craze of the 2010s was marked by a number of subcultures that hit the global stage, from normcore to Gen Z web culture (VSCO Girls, anyone?). On another, much more formal level, the popularity of the circle of British royal relatives has reached an apotheosis not seen since the time of the late Princess Diana, when Kate and Meghan assumed the prestige of fashion icon from their longtime mother-in-law.
But while logomania, athleisure and casual fascinators dominated the decade in terms of style, the fashion industry itself has undergone profound cultural changes in the last 10 years that have led to marked changes in terms of broader issues, adding inclusivity , diversity and sustainability. in all areas.
As the 2010s come to a close, WWD takes a look at the seven fashion trends that explained the decade.
1. Goodbye nightwear, hello leisure
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Fashion went casual in the 2010s. From the wellness movement to 24/7 peak service for everyone to Instagram and Snapchat, a comfortable culture emerged that ushered in the most comfortable fashion trend of the decade: athleisure.
In the gym, as boutique fitness culture proliferated throughout the decade, so did the demand for more stylish activewear. Hyper-styled workout gear, from the ubiquitous yoga pants to sports bras, has evolved with higher-quality fabrics and bright colors. and graphic patterns, which extend from the turning categories to the streets.
The demand for athletics has fueled the growth of successful brands, such as Outdoor Voices (founded in 2014), Vuori Clothing (founded in 2013), and Bandier (founded in 2014), as well as the status quo of traditional brands such as Lululemon. , Sweaty Betty and Athleta, among others, as key players in the market.
Athletics is just a matter of fashion. The trend made its way into the good looking industry in 2018, when several brands emerged with skincare products that provided pre- and post-workout benefits.
The athleisure fashion trend has seen steady expansion throughout the decade, with the category expected to grow approximately $21 billion over the next 4 years, reaching a total of over $138 billion.
2. The actual effect
The 2010s saw the arrival of a number of high-profile arrivals to the British royal family, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, each of whom had their own influence on fashion.
Like the late Princess Diana, the two duchesses proved they had the magic touch when it came to influencing customers’ purchases, with pieces they wear at royal engagements being advertised almost minutes after their photographs were posted online.
Since her royal wedding to Prince William in 2011, Middleton’s taste has been explained through traditional British designers, with her favorite brands being Alexander McQueen, Emilia Wickstead and Jenny Packham. She largely adheres to royal dress codes, preferring structured coats, knee-length and long-sleeved dresses, high-waisted pants, and closed-toe heels.
Markle, despite officially being part of the royal circle since her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry, has had a marked effect on fashion and designer outcomes. The Duchess is known for championing smaller, up-and-coming designers, such as Mackage and Greta Constantine, as well as more affordable features from brands such as Aritzia, Club Monaco, and Reformation. Markle, who was born in California, also has a comfortable place for American fashion designers, dressed in the looks of her close friend Misha Nonoo, as well as designers such as Jason Wu, Brandon Maxwell and Veronica Beard.
Before the royal wedding, the net bid value of the logos Markle wore was estimated at 150 million pounds (about $212. 1 million), according to David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance. In an example where Markle was wearing a Mackage coat, the logo revealed that it garnered 1. 6 billion media impressions in 24 hours.
Both duchesses also made an impact on the bridal market with their royal wedding dresses: Middleton in her Alexander McQueen long-sleeved lace robe and Markle in her Givenchy robe with a covered collar, spawning a series of duplicate wedding dresses.
3. A star of street taste is born
Urban taste photography has long been a component of fashion week, however, the phenomenon gained prestige and ubiquity in the 2010s thanks to the proliferation of social media. These photographs of street tastes circulated on fashion blogs, websites, and Instagram more than on the actual catwalk. looks, giving rise to a nascent elegance of influencers who are now industry powerhouses.
The dawn of the “street taste star” can be largely attributed to the late New York Times photographer (and WWD alumnus) Bill Cunningham. For decades, Cunningham has been a fixture on the streets of New York City, but he became a celebrity in his own right with a documentary about his work, released in 2011. The decade also saw the rise of other photographers of street tastes. , like Scott. Schuman and Tommy Ton, who gave a platform to self-proclaimed fashion bloggers and showcased their widely acclaimed original taste.
The frenzy around street taste stars has catapulted the careers of influencers such as Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine, Blonde Salad’s Chiara Ferragni, Song of Style’s Aimee Song, Something Navy’s Arielle Charnas, Style Bubble’s Susie Lau, Nicole Warne via Gary Pepper. Girl. Array Tamu McPherson of All the Pretty Birds and many other bloggers, influencers, fashion editors, etc.
Today, fashion influencers are a regular fixture of fashion week and sit in the front row alongside celebrities and fashion editors. Its ubiquity, influence, and importance have also reshaped the logo marketing landscape, with major corporations eschewing the typical celebrity spokesperson in favor of an influencer’s logo ambassador. Many of today’s top influencers have been cast in those ambassador roles, such as Charnas for Tresemmé and Ferragni for Lancôme.
4. Subcultures are more widespread
Ironically, anti-trend was one of the most prevalent fashion trends of the 2010s. Fashion subcultures, the direct antithesis of ubiquitous and over-stylized trends, have proven to be even more popular than the original trends themselves, passing from communities from niche to mainstream fashion. walkways. Within the decade, several of those subcultures incorporated the widely spread cultural lexicon, adding normcore, streetwear, and Gen-Z web culture.
Regulatory core:
Normcore was intended to be the antidote to catwalks and overly ornate, stylized designer products. Instead, the trend has focused on mundane and casual looks that were traditionally interpreted as anything that was still in fashion.
The term was coined by New York-based trend forecaster K-Hole in his 2013 report “Youth Mode: A Report on Freedom. ” The report defines normcore as “the abandonment of a freshness that is based on difference for a post-authenticity freshness that opts for similarity. “
Normcore in fashion translates into white, beige, gray and black color palettes, with virtually no logos or prints. The main icons of the trend taste were Jerry Seinfeld, his “Seinfeld” TV years of the 90s, replete with dad jeans and chunky sneakers, and Steve Jobs’ uniform with black turtlenecks from Issey Miyake, from Levi’s and gray sneakers from New Balance.
Another quintessential normative element included white sweatpants with sandals, Birkenstocks, baseball caps, jackets, and tracksuits.
Street clothes:
Streetwear is not new in the 2010s. The movement has origins dating back to the surfing, skateboarding, and hip-hop cultures of the late ’70s and early ’80s in Los Angeles and New York City.
But in the 2010s, brands like Stüssy, Supreme, A Swimming Ape, Off-White, and Hood By Air revitalized the look and developed a cult following. Major brands, luxury houses and stores took note and, soon after, products inspired by urban fashion made the impression. on the catwalks, especially when it comes to footwear. For his Chanel spring 2014 haute couture show, the late Karl Lagerfeld broke with the culture and dressed all his models in monochromatic shoes, creating a sporty atmosphere enhanced with accessories such as knee pads, elbow pads and fanny packs. Lagerfeld continued this technique at Chanel’s fall 2014 ready-to-wear show, where she dressed models in technicolor shoes as they walked through the show’s supermarket-themed décor.
The streetwear trend has also become popular with many designer houses participating with cult streetwear brands. Former Louis Vuitton artistic director Kim Jones teamed up with Supreme for his fall 2017 collection, which included co-branded pieces like denim jackets and shirts. fusing both brands’ logos and bright red leather goods with Supreme’s famous box logo. Industry resources say the sought-after collaboration has increased sales for both brands of up to €100 million.
Generation Z Internet Culture:
While most are still in top school, Gen Z teens have already given birth to some fashion trends that define their generation, namely E-Girl or E-Boy and VSCO Girl.
These trends stem from the generation’s hyperconnectivity with social media and their inclination towards the new social media platform, the video-sharing app TikTok.
E-Girls can be described as the evolution of the ’80s “kids scene. ” It is a widespread trend on social media where teenagers post photos and videos of themselves wearing pastel-colored wigs and graphic makeup consisting of eyeliner. black, rainbow eye shadow and hearts drawn on the cheeks.
VSCO Girls, on the other hand, is a meme and a fashion trend among teen women. The trend has similar origins to TikTok, however, its appeal comes from the photo editing and sharing app VSCO. The trend is a combination of preppy vintage taste with a beachy aesthetic, with women in oversized t-shirts covering their shorts, Birkenstock sandals, puka shell chokers, Pura Vida beaded bracelets, colorful scrunchies, and Fjällräven backpacks. The VSCO Girls are also known for being environmentally conscious, with their essential accessory being a sticker-covered Hydro Flask water bottle.
5. Inclusivity and protagonism
The long-awaited movement for inclusion and diversity had a profound effect on the industry in the 2010s. Designers and brands of all kinds are committed to ensuring that their businesses, shows and designs are represented and available to others of all kinds. races, gender identities, sizes and ages.
Chromat, meanwhile, has championed diversity and inclusion in fashion since its launch in 2010, serving as a beacon for an industry that needed to catch up. Chromat designer Becca McCharen-Tran has a long history of presenting her shows with a varied set of styles, adding plus-size, transgender, pregnant, amputees, and breast cancer survivors. Most recently, McCharen-Tran chose Tess Holliday’s plus-size style in her Spring 2020 collection for her 10th anniversary, where the style was noticed dressed in a dress that says “sample size. “
Christian Siriano is an advocate for the movement towards inclusion and diversity in fashion. The designer is known for creating red carpet looks for actresses who have publicly stated that designers have refused to dress them due to length restrictions.
In 2016, Siriano responded to a tweet from comedian Leslie Jones, who said no designer was willing to dress her for the premiere of her movie “Ghostbusters. ” Jones then attended the premiere in a traditional red off-the-shoulder dress. Dress created through Siriano and since then she has worn many of her looks on the red carpet.
The industry has also made strides in terms of inclusion in terms of ageism. In this decade, Joan Didion, then 80, included the face of Celine’s spring 2015 campaign, Carmen Dell’Orefice, still a highly sought-after style at 88. The old and, more recently, iconic styles of Pat Cleveland, Carol Alt, Patti. Hansen, Christie Brinkley, Carolyn Murphy, and Christy Turlington Burns, return to the runway of New York Fashion Week in the fall of 2019.
The 2010s were full of defining moments, from style and structure activist Ashley Graham, who made history as the first plus-size model to cover the Sports Illustrated factor in 2016, to Halima Aden as the first stick insect dressed in the hijab to be signed. IMG Models and walks the runway at New York Fashion Week. Rihanna, for her part, was widely celebrated for putting on a diverse display of underwear for her second Savage x Fenty collection at the end of the decade. The movement is also prevalent in the world of good looks, with CoverGirl choosing influencer James Charles as its first male spokesperson in 2016, as an example.
6. Proud (and ironic) consumerism
At the normative end of the spectrum, Millennials have developed a penchant for nostalgia: entrance logomania (again).
The second part of the decade is filled with logocentric pieces, adding Vetements’ coveted DHL logo t-shirt; Balenciaga’s fall 2017 menswear collection (which takes inspiration from Bernie Sanders’ presidential crusade logo), right down to the iconic Supreme box logo.
Virgil Abloh, meanwhile, introduced his Off-White fashion logo in 2012, transforming the streetwear and logomania landscape with his tongue-in-cheek use of quotes for his product names and designs.
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Luxury designers jumped on the logomania bandwagon. Gucci artistic director Alessandro Michele has revived logomania at the Italian fashion house, creating modernized, colorful updates to the brand’s bags and expanding the popularity of the brand’s logo belts.
Meanwhile, Dior has noticed new interest in its vintage logo Saddle bag, originally introduced in the brand’s spring 2000 collection. The “It” of the era recreated through Kim Jones for her first Dior spring 2019 men’s collection and Maria Grazia Chiuri for the fall 2018 ready-to-wear collection and has since regained its prestige as “It”.
7. Amplified tracks
Extravagant runway sets have been de rigueur in fashion for a long time, however, in the 2010s, designers took exaggeration to a whole new level. Ffinishi, on the one hand, held his exhibition for his 90th anniversary at the Trevi Fountain in Rome in 2016, Chanel, on the other hand, had a 115-foot-tall rocket, which was presented at the end of the exhibition, at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2017.
Kanye West arguably had one of the most filmed performances of the decade for his Yeezy Season 4 series. Logistical data was scarce until just hours before the exhibition, where West drove editors, critics, and viewers to Roosevelt Island in New York, necessarily holding them captive in the scorching heat. The heat caused several models to collapse on the track and spectators rushed to help them. In the end, the exhibition garnered scathing reviews and backlash on social media.
West’s close collaborator and friend, Virgil Abloh, however, experienced one of the most memorable runway moments of the decade with his first collection as Louis Vuitton artistic director for men. Abloh presented a collection that marked a new era for the brand, merging Louis Vuitton’s luxury is rooted in Abloh’s streetwear sensibility. The exhibition was seen as a watershed moment for the designer house, with Abloh rushing to hug West after his last walk and the two crying shamelessly.
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