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Fashion
From Meghan Markle's transformation to Kamala Harris's winning pant suit, here are the major headlines that had fashion folks talking this year
2020 has proved to be a disruptive year for fashion, as red carpets got rolled back and highly-touted social events, from the annual Met Gala to the Cannes Film Festival, went off the calendar. However, as the world adapts to the new normal, there has been plenty to celebrate as well with celebrities continuing to look to fashion as a symbol of hope and joy in unprecedented times. From first-time celebrity moms revelling in maternity fashion to Harry Styles’ non-binary cover shoot for Vogue, here are all the fashion moments that the year will be remembered by.
It’s a good year to be Zendaya. After receiving rave reviews from critics and audiences alike for her role as Rave in Euphoria, the 24-year-old shut down the Critics’ Choice Awards red carpet in January. While other names on the red carpet gravitated towards voluminous ballgowns and pouffy sleeves, the actor went the sleek route in an asymmetrical fuchsia breastplate by Tom Ford—moulded specifically for the star’s figure through a 3D body scan—and paired with a maxi skirt and boxer braids.
...and he did it while breaking free from the binary of gendered dressing. Having previously made his Met Gala debut in a lacy jumpsuit, the One Direction frontman posed for US Vogue in a periwinkle blue dress layered under a tailored tuxedo jacket, both from Gucci. He said, “When you take away ‘There’s clothes for men and there’s clothes for women,’ once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play. I’ll go in shops sometimes, and I just find myself looking at the women’s clothes thinking they’re amazing. It’s like anything—anytime you’re putting barriers up in your own life, you’re just limiting yourself. There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes.” It was also a step forward in normalising an aesthetic that members of the trans-femme community have been persecuted for in the past.
After making history as the first Black and South Asian Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris took to the stage to make her acceptance speech in an ensemble laden with historic symbolism. Dressed in an all-white pantsuit and a coordinated blouse with a pussybow collar from the woman-founded New York brand Carolina Herrera, her outfit served as a nod to the women’s suffrage movement. The ensemble is also considered as an ode to Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968, who wore all-white when accepting her role as Walter Mondale's running mate in his 1984 presidential campaign. Harris said in her victory speech, “I’m thinking the generations of women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment tonight. Tonight, I stand on their shoulders.”
All that glitters may not be gold, but it likely has Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s name on it. In a year of many firsts, the pop legends took to the stage for the Super Bowl 2020 halftime show, becoming the first Latina headliners to share the stage in its 54-year history. The blistering performance offered several of the icons’ cult-favourite tracks, however, it was the parade of showstopper outfits that will be remembered in the pages of history. The 14-minute performance featured tricked-out leather numbers, bedazzled nude bodysuits and one custom feather flag draped over Lopez’s envy-inducing figure that proved age is but a number.
As one of the most-watched women in the world, Kate Middleton is well-versed with the power of making a statement with her wardrobe choices—and with the enduring value of repeating a prized piece or go-to silhouette. Indeed, the Duchess of Cambridge’s lockdown wardrobe has played host to a slew of looks repeated from previous official engagements. Her cobalt blue Stella McCartney dress makes for an easily recognisable number, as she has worn it six times since she was first photographed in it at the National Portrait Gallery in 2012. Other candidates include the yellow Rokshanda sheath dress, a fiery red number from LK Bennett and another leafy green affair from Diane von Furstenberg. The common denominator in the looks being recycled appears to be her choice of Zoom-friendly vibrant colours, considered by many as an ode to the healthcare workers and the rainbow-hued flag of the NHS.
During her time in the Kensington Palace, Meghan Markle was known to bend the rules every once in a while with her dressing choices. Having announced her stepping back from duties as a royal, the Duchess chose to allow her sartorial flair to shine through brightly, in a statement blue number from Victoria Beckham. The finishing touches came in the form of a deep berry lip and darkly lined eyes—both considered off-limits for the royals.
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While 2020 hasn’t turned out to be the year we expected it to be, there’s plenty of good news to be found as well, with Anushka Sharma, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Gigi Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski, among others, announcing a welcome addition to their families. The result has been a slew of maternity-approved looks to be added to our collective moodboards. Sharma’s lineup featured her usual flair for trend-proof looks, moving from ruffled black maillots to pastel dungarees with ease. Having previously made headlines with her style choices during her first pregnancy, Kapoor Khan continued to offer up noteworthy looks, discovering a newfound affinity for kaftans during the lockdown. Elsewhere, Hadid sheltered in place in relaxed silhouettes while Ratajkowski’s signature bold aesthetic extended to cutout dresses and cropped numbers.
While 2020 may have deprived Priyanka Chopra of her natural habitat—the red carpet—the star has been making up for it with her digital commitments. The star concluded the year with her announcement as the new ambassador of positive change for the British Fashion Council. “Fashion has always been the pulse of pop culture and can be a powerful force with the ability to connect cultures and bring people together. Through my role, I look forward to celebrating the incredible diversity and creativity of the industry, while working to champion budding and iconic designers doing their part to make an indelible impact on people and our planet," she said in a statement. For the virtual edition of the recently concluded Fashion Awards 2020, she stepped into her new role by choosing an outfit from Bengaluru-born and London-based designer Kaushik Velendra. Reminiscent of armour, the shoulder-enhancing power suit was tailored to perfection with heat-reacting felt to guarantee the enviable second-skin fit that the star often favours.
With an unforeseen lockdown announced within the first qucarter of the year, the unscheduled timeout is believed to have offered the world of fashion the opportunity for some long overdue introspection. Facilitated by Business of Fashion, the Rewiring Fashion movement aims to tip the scales back in balance. “We find ourselves facing a fashion system that is less and less conducive to genuine creativity and ultimately serves the interests of nobody: not designers, not retailers, not customers—and not even our planet. It’s time to slow down and rediscover the storytelling and magic of fashion,” reads a statement on the initiative’s website. The founding signatories include Oscar de la Renta, Philip Lim, Rodarte, Altuzarra and Lane Crawford, among others, with an open call to reset the fashion calendar and optimise the format of fashion shows for a digital future.
Digital has always been considered as fashion’s final destination, the only question was when it would meet its destiny. With runways shuttered and the conventional fashion week calendar thrown into disarray, the tenacious world of fashion took to the virtual world to deliver innovative workarounds. Jacquemus paved the way for the industry with supermodel Bella Hadid featuring in its first-ever campaign coordinated entirely over FaceTime. Elsewhere, couture heavyweights, like Dior and Valentino, offered immersive fashion films and live-streamed performances that matched the grandeur of their previous runway offerings. More recently, Balenciaga pushed the envelope further by launching its new dystopian autumn/winter collection with a video game titled ‘Afterworld: The Age Of Tomorrow’. Once reserved for fashion insiders and runway watchers, the digital adaptation of these couture spectacles is notable for the fact that they are now available to the public at large. Despite all the shake-ups that the industry has endured this year, 2020 will be remembered in the pages of history as the year that fashion was truly democratised.
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