Winter fashion trends 2021: the five trends to wear all season

Written by Naomi May
From bold colours to tailored two-pieces, these are the trends that promise to spark joy in your winter wardrobes.
Hark the heralds, deck the halls, somehow – although it feels like yesterday was only 2020, the blustery winds of winter are finally upon us again, which means one thing: the resurrection of the winter wardrobe.
Whether you stow yours away under your bed or keep it packed in vacuum-packed bags inside your wardrobe, the chunkiness of our knits and the bulkiness of our layers in winter mean that often the pieces that act as the glue in our outfits get lost in the fray.
The solution to this-time-of-the-year dilemma is to head back to the drawing board. To head back to basics, which will both clad you out appropriately for this time of year.
Luckily for we fashion-lovers then that the autumn/winter 2021 collections were awash with all manner of wares, which managed to be both cosy and cool (with none of the bulkiness in sight). In fact, post-lockdown, designers made a case for the return of dressing up purely for the fun of dressing up, which trickled into everything, from the length of hems to tailored two-pieces.
So before you whip your annual buffet of winter warmers out from retirement, take a quick glance over this quintet of trend ideas to breathe some life into your winter line-up. Frumpy festive fashions, begone! Happy holidays and, more importantly, happy dressing.
The denim directive for winter is the darker, the better. Now that skinny jeans have been marred with the dreaded label of being cheugy, it’s the turn of the wide-legged puddle jean to make a return to the arena of desire. Most notably, dark, indigo-hued denim. The sort that’s just shy of black, but too inky to be blue.
At Schiaparelli, darker denim days were heralded in the form of tailored jumpsuits, while at Hermes, the new colourway du jour was interpreted into skirt suits and tapered trousers.
While it’s no surprise that Lady Gaga’s more-is-more Gucci get-ups in House of Gucci has caused searches for vintage logo-clad pieces from the Italian brand to spike, the news will come as no surprise to eagle-eyed fashion fans, as the autumn/winter 2021 collections were awash with all manner of loud and proud logos.
Once viewed through the lens of tack and gauche, logos have undergone something of a makeover in recent months with all manner of legacy and lesser-known labels endorsing logo-laden dressing. From double Cs to Gs, putting your money – and, indeed, logo – where your mouth is has never been more en vogue.
While the sensibility virtues of the humble puffer jacket have been extolled at large over the years, it’s only woven into the autumn/winter 2021 collections that we saw its status rejuvenated.
Crafted in punchy patterns that ran the gamut from fiery feline prints to highlighter-hued shades sure enough to brighten even the darkest days, the punchy puffer was a common theme for designers.
The best part? The decree has been issued to clash them with as many fun and flashy pieces as you can possibly fit on your body at any one given time. The more, the absolute merrier.
Proof that all that glitters is absolutely gold, the autumn/winter 2021 collections were sprinkled with a healthy helping of high-shine metallics across the board.
From a metallic, starry-eyed trim at Area’s debut couture show – modelled by the one and only Precious Lee, no less – to Paco Robanne’s party centric pieces, the message was clear: cast off the casualwear and step into disco-ready, dancefloor-appropriate metallics.
As Julien Dossena, Robanne’s creative director, said of the shimmering collection: “It’s just about girls enjoying themselves, releasing that vibration of genuine pleasure.” Shine on.
Once referred to as the era fashion forgot, the pervasive trends of the 00s have made a grand return this season for the credit they didn’t receive the first time around. Unsure as to what the 00s trends included? Think ab-flashing, low-waisted Juicy Couture tracksuits, Von Dutch caps and Ugg boots and you’re very much on your way to grappling with the ghost of the 00s past.
The directive from the autumn/winter 2021 collections was clear: to revisit the trends of the turn of the millennium, embrace tight tops and trousers, chintzy glitz, kitsch accessories and – shock! – logos, which, as we’ve confirmed are back with a vengeance.
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