With fashion month finally concluded, attention now turns to the dissection of all the myriad of trends presented to us by designers and luxury fashion houses. Remember what Miranda Priestley so wisely taught us! “You’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn’t it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic “casual corner” where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin.” To cut a long story short…trends are promoted by and thrust onto the high street by designer runway shows during the fashion month season.

The Y2K maximalism craze was never to last. Unfortunately, that is the way of the ever-shortening trend cycle these days. It was inevitable that it would be replaced, and it would seem recession-core has done just that. In line with the hemline index theory which posits that skirt lengths rise or fall alongside stock prices, meaning they get longer in periods of economic hardship and shorter in good economic times, it would appear neutral minimalism is the latest fad. But, why?

In our capitalist society, the rich get richer and the poor poorer during any form of an economic slump. During these times it is perceived as garish to flaunt your wealth via the wearing of overly expensive, glitzy and logo-filled items of clothing. Clothing gets more understated. 1940s fashion amongst the upper class is a marvellous example of this. While the rest of the public bought clothing in neutral shades in keeping with army colours with rations, the upper class too sought to tone down their wardrobes, lest they stick out like a sore thumb and cause offence.

Looking back on the recent Fall/Winter 2023 collections, one cannot help but notice the distinct inclusion of natural earthy tones, relaxed silhouettes and a lack of fabric pattern. The utterly useless micro handbag has been traded in for more utilitarian designs. The sartorial response to worsening economic and political climates is impossible to misdiagnose.

Neutrals are once more in vogue. When you get bored of black-and-white tones, what do you turn to? Grey is the new black and showed itself everywhere this season. The Rokh collection in Paris saw varying shades of grey, often with a blue tinge, across multiple skirts and dresses. Nowhere was the colour more prevalent than at Ferragamo. Apart from the odd smattering of red and bold yellow, the entire collection was comprised of black, white, brown and grey.

While recession-core may be the top aesthetic of the day, that is not to say that luxury houses are adjusting their price tags. Only the wealthy will remain able to purchase freely from these collections, however, the more ‘down to earth’ arrangements are more easily re-creatable by the general population. Could one dare say it is unifying?