5 TRENDS FROM SS18 SHOWS

The relentless rise of dadcore is showing no sign of slowing down, as across the board in the SS18 shows, ‘dressing ugly’ featured prevalently. It was almost post-normcore here, with the focus less on key pieces and more on the overall vibe.

In London, Martine Rose’s layered looks saw quarter-zips and shirts combine brilliantly, while, in Paris, Demna Gvasalia’s Balençiaga line dedicated its whole show to fathers – even using actual families to model boxy suiting, classic blue jeans and pinstriped shirting.

Summery floral prints are also on the comeback, but not solely on the dad-favourite Hawaiian shirt, as we’ve seen in recent seasons. Next summer, it’s all about showing off the pattern on a range of pieces, from shirts to shorts.

Ami decided on keeping the classic blueprint, but to display the pattern in a range of saturated hues for a trippy feel. In Milan, MGSM gave waterproofs a more arty spattering of florals, instead of focusing on a repetitive, all-over print.

Utilitarian threads continue to have a moment, with designers channelling everything from janitors to carpenters, heroing the functional features of their uniforms.

Prada produced a range of overalls that don’t require you to be of a certain stature to pull off, with short sleeves, rolled cuffs and zip-fastening. Elsewhere, Junya Watanabe’s latest line collaborated with workwear experts Carhartt to produced pocket-heavy shackets and more fashion-forward takes on the brand’s classic cuts.

Since Gosha Rubchinskiy introduced short shorts to its collaborative SS17 line, hems have been gradually creeping higher. For SS18, we’ve hit peak shortness, but designers have still managed to make the cuts wearable.

Dior Homme did so by neatly colour-coordinating, so the clash of lengths didn’t create a too drastic a difference. Dries Van Noten, however, kept things simple with inoffensive pastel hues to neatly bring together the preppy pairings above.

The catwalk shows of the past two seasons have teased the return of anoraks to our regular sartorial arsenal. It may not be the first piece that springs to mind when you think summer, but the waterproof mac provides perfect lightweight layering during transitional months or at festivals.

This season’s offerings came with throwback feel, with Balençiaga’s baggy, overhead piece carrying an air of classic outerwear, while Fendi focused on layering its 'business dad' looks with bold hues and retro designs.