Trends: What will Spring/Summer 2021 be all about?

With the coronavirus causing disruptions to the first half of 2020, the question of trends for Spring/Summer 2021 may still seem uncertain. Nevertheless, the season will bring its fair share of major silhouettes and key aspects that consumers will look out for. Célina Bailly, head of the Promostyl agency’s “Femme Casual” trend book, detailed the stylistic desires that will be featured in the 2021 summer season.

How will the current crisis and the period of isolation we have just experienced influence consumer desires in the summer of 2021?

Consumers will move towards much more comfortable and creative things. They will buy more colours, natural hues like greens and yellows, something that will bring more joy. We even have a theme called “Joy” [Editor's note: in the Promostyl Spring/Summer 2021 trend book]. So it will be important to combine colours.

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Comfort will therefore continue to be a primary criterion in shopping?

Yes, it’s something that we won’t lose. The lockdown period has made us aware of a certain comfortable way of life. There’s a big trend that’s taking us back to the countryside, back to the bucolic, back to freedom.

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Could you summarize the trendy silhouettes of summer 2021?

I’d say we can expect to see wide bermuda shorts with an XL polo, a little in the spirit of the Jacquemus silhouette. The cyclist will remain but in a shortened version, worn with a long jacket. There will also be tank tops with high waisted shorts. The XXL shirt, like a djellaba with more collar, is another silhouette that we’ve seen for several seasons and we can expect to stay. You can wear it in a coordinated silhouette: a big print on the shirt and the same one on the pants. It’s something very fresh and tropical.

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Are there any specific materials trends for summer 2021?

I’m a big believer in very light jeans, bleach-washed, with a touch of pink. There’s a Chanel silhouette [Resort 2020 collection] like this. It’s composed of a pink scarf, an XXL shirt and wide jeans, in the Miami beach spirit.

I also thought of leather, a vegetable leather dyed in many different colours. There’s a lot of full leather looks: at Adeam, Staud, Givenchy’s sleeveless top, at SportMax, Marni, it was everywhere. Bottega Veneta launched the leather craze and everyone followed. At Khaite New York too. It’s a brand that I love.

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And what do you think of the work of Virginie Viard, the creative director of Chanel?

I’m a fan. Her universe is one that speaks to me. She loves pink, and it’s a shade that I particularly like. I’ve put a lot of them in the SS21 trend book: for example, there’s a theme inspired by Miami, very Barbie, which takes up the make-up trend with these very fluo, very Californian eyes. I love what the creative director does and the way she plays with trends and her 80s influences, with which she has modernized the Chanel look. It used to be beautiful, but now she’s modernizing the image and the looks. It’s a breath of fresh air that’s very pleasant.

Are there any particular brands worth keeping an eye on?

Among the brands to follow are Baum und Pferdgarten and Munthe, whose looks are hot, comfortable and trendy, as you want them to be. And then there are the two must-haves: Ganni and Cecilie Bahnsen.

In my opinion, the fashion week that’s very important to follow is Copenhagen. You’re going to wish you had these silhouettes and it’s the fashion week that inspires me the most. I also think that Korean avant-garde is very important. But if I had to go to only one fashion week, I would go to Copenhagen.

Does one brand catalyze the spirit of the moment more than any other?

There was one: it was Bottega Veneta. But personally, it has passed me by. I wanted it so much, and then the desire vanished. I’m now turning more towards new creators like Staud or even Proenza Schouler who’s coming back, I think. Proenza Schouler was very much inspired by Bottega Veneta, but I think the American brand took over at the last show.

Another designer that I like very much is Xiao Li. I think her looks are hypermodern. She modernized the swim-sportswear spirit, a little casual but very feminine and a little futuristic.

Are there any special accessories for Summer 2021?

Flip-flops. The flip-flop shape will be reworked in many different ways. The By Far brand, which is making a comeback, have made small sandals in a 90s style.

In terms of bags, I would say to look out for the small bags of By Far or the slightly round and geometric bags of Coperni or Staud.

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Is Coperni a brand that we should look out for?

Yes. I drew a lot of inspiration from it for the AW21-22 trend book. I definitely think it’s a brand to keep in mind.

At Promostyl, you usually work on four main themes per season. What are the themes for summer?

There is “Joy”: very luxurious and about taking care of yourself. “On Air”: techno, light and emptiness (I included Bottega Veneta and Off-White). “Loud”: where I mixed the Native American cowboy spirit in a kitsch version. I was inspired by the Miu Miu silhouette. I also talked about the Fenty brand, whose silhouette has also been taken over by Chanel. And the last theme, “Raw”: Hispanic focused, Provence, Spain, Rosie Assoulin, big dresses with sunflowers and Spanish folk spirit with crop-tops and big sleeves. And I included a “wild nomad” theme, inspired by Munthe with a total leather look. It’s the last sub-theme that’s very colorful.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.FR, translated and edited.

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Photo credit: STYLEDUMONDE via Copenhagen Fashion Week, Mytheresa-Bottega Veneta, Cecilie Bahnsen SS20