The labels showing you how to wear knitwear all-year round
Knitwear has made it to the all-year round fashion list. Here’s a guide to help navigate everything from beachbound crochet to mohair– backed by fashion week goers and globetrotting trendsetters.
Photographer
Missoni, Peter Do, Gabriela Hearst
When it comes to fashion, if last year taught us something it’s that knitwear is not just granny-knits anymore. It’s where loungewear meets dressy, perhaps the biggest transformation of a seemingly uncool item that has turned into a trend –after crocs of course. Designers have come up with genre-defying knitwear for every season and every mood. In the current fashion scene, it is championed by names like Collina Strada, Missoni and Proenza Schouler for their S/S22 offerings at New York Fashion Week.
From knit bras and cropped cardigan sets to the crochet knit wide-leg pants that everyone wants to wear on the beach now, the want for this textured ephemera is ever increasing. As the last quarter of the year kicks in, librarian-style schlumpy cardigans have been kicked out for more considered options that are far more complex and experimental. We’ve found the knitted styles that check all the boxes. Check them out below –
Matchmaker
The easiest combination to opt for when you’re in a hurry to get out and still want to feel confident about your outfit is probably owning a few matched knit sets. Missoni’s patterned knit pants and long-sleeved top sets from their S/S22 collection perfectly exemplify how simple colour harmony can make a lasting impression. Style icon Anaa Saber was spotted at New York Fashion Week in a deep olive-green turtleneck sweater and long skirt combination by Proenza Schouler, further proving that opting for an all-over dominant tone has merit. Yet, if you’d rather not commit to a head-to-toe monotone look, Y2K inspired cardigan and bra duos in fruity colours have also become a success story with millennials.
Fluid Forms
Knit dresses are hardly a recent discovery, and yet their popularity is only rising. Peter Do’s ultra-modern runway looks from S/S22 included floor-length soft-knit dresses with side slits. Add on minimal accessories to the feminine silhouette to keep it current. Further proving its appeal, Bottega Venetta included knit dresses worn under their widely popular lug-soled boots for their new trunk show format, Salon 02. Elsewhere, trendsetters like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Leonie Hanne have shown a preference for knit dresses with cut-out backs, or a snug full-sleeved version bringing the body-hugging sexy silhouette for colder weather. The key to finding the knit dress that defines the present rather than a year back is to look for details like slits, tailored details and surface embellishments that make it stand out.
Ibiza-Inspired
Surprisingly, trans-seasonal pieces are dominating the buying cycle this year as the traditional work calendar was replaced by workation. Techniques like crochet, knit and macrame found their way to runways and were championed by fashion insiders who migrated to ocean-view locations around the world. Portugal-based brand Béhen presented their resort collection in the first quarter of the year with upcycled crochet bib tops and tanks on models with a beach setting as their runway.
Beachy locations have been a regular feature on social media, whether as a runway backdrop or holiday Instagram post, where crochet pants, dresses and cover-ups have become an absolute essential. For French It-girl Camille Charriere, the beach-inspired holiday look was LVMH prize-winner Nensi Dojaka’s black dress, whose light knit construction added a sheer quality to her signature aesthetic of delicate and form-defining silhouettes.
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