Under the radar

MANILA, Philippines - Trends — they’re the lifeblood of fashion and the capitalist mechanism that propel it. Still, that’s never stopped us from pandering to our consumer instincts, and so here we are, willing ourselves to update our look every six months. YStyle has listed down 10 trends skipped by the reports, and while those in authority have confirmed it, no, we don’t mean health goth.

1 Hearing Aid

They say three’s a trend, but sometimes it only really takes one. For Nicolas Ghesquiere’s debut as Louis Vuitton’s new creative director, he pulled out his V-card — the most photographed earring on rotation this season, the Essential V. What made it essential, really, besides the fact that the dangling earring has already trickled over other shows for spring 2015, is its one-sidedness: you don’t get a pair, but a single accessory to address just how forward you are. Though no other designer did this for this season, the Essential V is strong enough of a statement to hold its ground. One earring? No problem.

2 The Fray

You may have heard of Marques Almeida, and in case you haven’t — Topshop certainly has. While the High Street brand rations some of their designs for their current collab, you may have also seen some of the Brit pair’s stuff being worn by FKA Twigs, Rihanna, and more recently, the queen — Beyoncé (who else did you think it was?). A few Tommy Ton traipsing-from-behind shots (nonchalance is easier to fake than a smile these days) later, and Marques Almeida quickly ascended to street style bait with frayed denim. It’s effortless, it’s easy, and rendered in several different washes. And it’s the perfect worn-out, properly disheveled piece that will go with your also properly disheveled Bumble & Bumble surf-sprayed hair (just ask Kylie Jenner). As Topshop won’t be carrying the collab line here, YStyle has spotted a cute frayed denim dress over at Bleach, Greenbelt 5 — a great alternative, if we may say so.

3 String Theory

Prada tugs at our heartstrings this season with slyly sexy dresses. And it must credit the colored piping that surrounded it, grazing over the shoulders and down the neckline, a shy frock — though hardly for a wallflower. The stringed harnessing (a.k.a. the spaghetti strap) continues at Altuzarra, where a pink number is punctuated by slim lines over the clavicle. The new sexy is like old money: hush-hush, and distinctly low-profile.

4 Knot Again

It started as a styling technique — perhaps in finding a way to wear a sweater without tying it around the waist, stylists and editors getting creative and asymmetrical with it. Recently, the trick has spilled over to Derek Lam and Stella McCartney, with knots fastened somewhere around the shoulders. And more recently at the Ellery press presentation, where jackets were deliberately half-worn with the sleeves tied around each other. For real life validation, model Arizona Muse is a fan too; she was spotted sporting the look during Fashion Week.

5 Brownoser

While hardly the new neutral, camel seemed to be the hue of choice for all the slouchy, giant knits designers have put out this season. From Sonia Rykiel, Celine, JW Anderson and The Row, the light shade offsets the terror of cold. #teamcozy, yes.

6 Re-boot

Aw, you can now rest those Birks easy. Those who grumbled over how normcore was too yaya can now look down on from a higher altitude, as boots have started to weasel their way back to the styling vernacular — a fitting aftermath to the high-heeled sandal fatigue. From Saint Laurent, Miu Miu, Carven to Alexander Wang, Christopher Kane and Phillip Lim, click your heels and say goodbye to your toes. It was a nice run.

7 Easy A

It started with the culottes. Yeah you’ve seen them on Leandra Medine in varying lengths (the hems are probably stitched with acute self-awareness, shh). She even has a blog entry titled “Consider the Culottes.” And once a blogger has set their hearts on it, know that a trend/look is never “yours” anymore. It’s out there.

But this is a transition piece. Culottes were meant to adjust your eye, rather, re-adjust it — to a newish but really just reworked silhouette: the A-line. It’s now gotten shorter, thanks to the blooming ‘60s trend, and houses like Gucci, Valentino, Delpozo and Vuitton have all picked it up.

8 Go the extra pile

A renewed consciousness surrounds the approach to layering, and it’s fairly straightforward — but you gotta be inventive. You can pile it on light, by repurposing a crop top or camisole worn over a T-shirt, a turtleneck, or a crisp button-down as in Paco Rabanne. Or you can lay it on thick, as they do in Rodarte. Either way, reach for your inner Cher Horrowitz. She knows this look best.

9 Wanna be on top?

While this is less of a trend now and more of a fearless forecast, start stocking up on these and thank us later. Since the release of Prada’s stunning Resort campaign, which featured a dark, twisted, linear fantasy, YStyle have been obsessing over the topstitch. Proving how simple and exact executions bring the most impact, you may keep a lookout for this detail at Chloe, Vuitton, and Burberry next season. You’re welcome.

10 Cover, girl

The most obvious trend of all, turtlenecks, started to creep in a couple of seasons ago, but it’s now a Fashion Week-wide epidemic. The higher neckline ushers in the look and mood of now — a general aversion to peacocking (but VSCO will allow us to dazzle — in utter normalcy anyway). And for that we must thank the High Street brands, for making deliberate blandness accessible to us.