The Top Fashion Trends of the Fall 2021 Season

Designers worked in exceedingly unusual circumstances, in a vacuum, catering to an audience whose lives are forever changed—and ultimately showed their collections virtually or in very intimate settings. And yet, creativity reigned.

For fall 2021, the collections fell in line with the times by embracing that new outdoor après-ski life, prepping for a new-wave Roaring ’20s, finding stability in LBDs, and keeping comfort key in elevated knitwear. See what’s in store for next season in 13 trend stories and shop key piece to add to your wardrobe now. There’s a Saint Laurent dress we’ll be dreaming about until it makes its way home to us and a Bottega Veneta puffer coat we simply can’t enter colder weather without.

She’s a Rich Girl

What do you get when you layer sequins on sequins on sequins? The kind of 1920s-meets-1980s opulence that just puts a girl in a good mood. The look is glimmering but covered up (these aren’t club dresses; they’re a statement on a mood)—think: long trousers, high necks, jackets, and voluminous dresses. Dries Van Noten, Paco Rabanne, Valentino, Loewe, and more skipped the minimalism in favor of something optimistic and grand with a clear message: Let your light shine, ladies, the future is looking bright.

A Little Off Color

Saturated shades have entered the conversation. The color play is off-kilter, slightly skewed, and unexpected—a little like life itself. It’s mustard meets lemon at Jil Sander, bubblegum pink and marigold at Miu Miu, rust and lavender at Patou—complementary and secondary hues of the color wheel all mixed up and topsy-turvy. All the better to make you look twice.