Fashion Month 2021 – How You Can Incorporate the SS22 Trends into Your Office Wardrobe Right Now
It is that time of the year – the fashion world celebrates Fashion Month. This year, the Fashion Weeks slowly moved towards some kind of normality since the start of the pandemic. The shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris were hosted as a hybrid-concept which was partially online and partially in-person. (New York Fashion week took place entirely online.)
Runway outfits are many things – exciting, innovative, opulent, sexy, special. This also means that they are usually far from office-appropriate. I did an experiment and wanted to see how feasible it is to make runway trends office-adequate. Below I share my verdict by putting together some options (complete outfits or signature pieces) to inspire you to incorporate the major trends of Spring Summer 2022 into your office wardrobe already today.
Candy Colours
Yellow, pink (light as well as bright), mint/turquoise and orange stood out as the major colours of the Spring Summer 2022 fashion shows. From Dior to Versace, from Blumarine to Kenneth Ize, all or some of these four kept popping up during the shows.
These might not be colours which are promoted as office-adequate. But frankly, I am bored of the black and grey combos which women are told to wear. I have worn bold colours in my jobs in diplomacy and at an engineering conglomerate and as an entrepreneur and speaker and never felt unprofessional.
Yellow
Yellow was one of the dominant colours for many designers. It was seen at Jil Sander, Kenneth Ize, Dior, Prada, Blumarine and Chloé, amongst others. The shades of yellow covered the full spectrum – from an intense, bright and sunny yellow to shades of light yellow and almost beige/creme.
I personally really like the idea of incorporating yellow into our fall wardrobe. It may be a typical summer colour at first sight, but it works really well with the typical autumn colours such as orange, brown, rust and even with white and beige. If combined in the right way, it can definitely be office-appropriate.
I have picked my favourite yellow statement items below. I do love the idea of working along the different shades of yellow – for example, pair the interestingly cut blazer by Olympiah with a top in lighter shades and shoes in cognac/brown tones. In case you want to be bold, I even found some nice wool coats in yellow. Who does not need some sun during the dark months of the year? If you want to tone it down a bit, all the items work great with more neutral colours as well.
Pink and Mint
Pastel colours such as light pink and mint may not be the typical autumn/winter colours. But paired with beige and brown colours (or white, if you want to be brave), they are a nice pop of colour in these grey times. The runways (of Dries van Noten and Prada, for example) featured shades from light pink to intense, dark pink and from a minty green to a bright turquoise. Dare to have a bit of fun. (A light mint tone is a good start or accessories in lighter shades of these colours.)
Orange
Nothing screams more autumn than orange. And yes, it is a great colour for the office. Similar to what I said about yellow, orange looks amazing when paired with cognac/dark brown and beige. As you may have noticed by now, I am bold when it comes to colours for work outfits and I found a beautiful combination at Tod’s. For SS22, they combined orange with bright blue and navy. I used this idea for the items I put together below, because I think orange adds a nice pop of colour to blue/navy outfits. The dark base makes orange appropriate for work outfits. I also love the combination of orange and turquoise.
Metallic
Metallic?! For the office?! Yes, you can! I really liked the metallic outfits on the SS22 Missoni and Brandon Maxwell runways.
Of course, I would not recommend to show up at the office in a silver catsuit. But it is perfectly OK – and makes your outfit stand out – to add metallic details to your office wardrobe. For the office context, I would keep it to one item, otherwise it is rather “disco” than “office” and can also look messy easily.
I picked two A-line skirts with metallic details and I suggest pairing them with a black jumper and black opaque tights. I think pumps and a bag in burgundy match really well and add just the right amount of contrast colour. I also stumbled upon the metallic top in beige which looks really smart with high rise pants and an interesting blazer in chocolate brown tones.
Red Lace
One of my favourite pieces of this year’s Fashion Month was Erdem’s red lace dress with a black bow. Prada also featured dresses with red lace. Red is bold and lace may not be the first choice for the office context. I think it is a great option for formal evening events.
I have put together two evening outfits featuring red lace paired with black: one is a beautiful Marchesa Notte dress – a great eye-catcher for evening galas. The second option is a red lace skirt and can be styled for dinner meetings.
Summing up, I do think that runway trends can indeed work in the office context as well. It just takes some toning down and combining the pieces in the right way. I hope you have found some inspiration in this article on how to add some of the SS22 trends of this year’s Fashion Month to your office wardrobe. What do you think? Would you try them?
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Picture Source: Instagram accounts of the respective brands.
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