If there’s one message we’ve taken home from all the collections we’ve seen over the past few months, it’s this: come September, the days of cosy lockdown dressing are O-V-E-R! “I think we’re all done with staying in and wearing our comfy clothes,” Stella McCartney concurs. “We all deserve a good night out!” Amen to that! Of course, the return to long carefree evenings spent with friends may be a while off, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start manifesting our most ambitious fashion fantasies. For her namesake house’s Winter 2021 collection, that’s exactly what Stella McCartney has done, proposing clothes that exude refinement, glamour and glee — perfect for when you emerge from your lockdown cocoon.
As ever with Stella, this is a collection anchored in effortless wearability. Grungy oversized MA-1 bombers and reassuringly roomy tailoring — a house signature — offer a sense of sturdiness, particularly the military jackets and cocoon coats in an enlarged houndstooth check. Notes of eccentricity come through in trippy checkerboard printed wool and elegantly flared trousers, counterposed by panelled regenerated nylon utility pants and boxy zipped trousers in lustrous forest green and blue plaid.
Where the party-ready spirit of the collection really comes into itself is in the palette. “This season is full of pops of bold colours,” says Stella, “and we wanted to experiment with light and texture.” Indeed, there’s vibrancy and tactility aplenty here: ruched fishtail dresses in fuchsia, bright burgundy and apple green forest-friendly viscose slink around the body, trousers in a royal blue engineered ‘popcorn’ knit puddle around the foot, and boots in turquoise and ochre lurex lurch up to the hip. Sinuous single-sleeved dresses and a PVC-free sequinned aquamarine jumpsuit hammer the message home — this a collection that’s waiting for you as soon as you’re ready to go out-out, to don your gladdest rags for even gladder times. Looking for the perfect post-pandemic Christmas party lewk? Reader, lewk no further.
