The Year In Fashion 2015

FORGET discreet, stealth, or nondescript: 2015 was a year of showing off. Normcore was replaced by glamcore; the impenetrable, imperturbable Joan Didion fronted a campaign for Céline and promptly became a veritable cult leader-cum-meme; Instagram and Snapchat launched many a business and a career (and the aforementioned cult); and everyone went mad for Gucci. So, will you be reining it in in 2016? Or are you having too much fun?

The Return of Show-Off Fashion

If normcore was the decisive (and derided) trend of 2014, this year was all about glamcore. Colour, sequins, glitter, print - fashion was on a hiatus from playing it safe. And no one summed up the trend more emphatically than Rihanna at the Met Ball, in a bespoke 25kg Guo Pei dress and cloak. Within minutes of her arrival, the dress had blown up on social media and inspired numerous omelette memes. Did she care? Not a jot. 

 

Gucci Coup

It took Alessandro Michele just six months to single-handedly effect Gucci's astonishing reinvention. "It's unprecedented," says Sarah Rutson, president of global buying at Net-A-Porter.com, of the brand's success - it is now the second best-selling brand on their site, behind Saint Laurent. Furry slip-on loafers, the Dionysus bag, the Bamboo bag, the floral suits, the double G belts - the fashion press were enthralled, and Michele's star shows no signs of waning. 

 

The New Model-Off-Duty Uniform

The model-off-duty uniform (slubby Alexander Wang T-shirt, Acne biker jacket and skinny jeans) got a glamorous update thanks to thigh-high boots. Just try and name a Victoria's Secret model who doesn't own a pair. Just try. 

 

Pace Race

With Raf Simons leaving Dior and Alber Elbaz being pushed out at Lanvin, the fashion world was left scratching its collective head. The villain of the piece? Time. "There's never enough time," Simons told System Magazine, describing a punishing schedule. "I'm not the kind of person who likes to do things so fast." Are designers being asked to take on too much? Has fashion lost its way? Discuss. 

 

Fashion's New G Force

Versace - A model not afraid to show her personality or stand up to her critics, Gigi Hadid has had quite a year. 2015 saw her conquer the catwalk, walking for Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Balmain, and Giambattista Valli in the spring 2016 shows; nab a coveted spot in the Victoria's Secret show; front campaigns for Topshop, Max Mara and Tom Ford - and promptly land her first British Vogue cover. 

 

Va Va Vetements

This floral day dress was the piece every fashion editor wanted to wear this year - and thanks to a stellar spring 2016 show in a Chinese restaurant in Paris, Vetements has more hit pieces on its hands. It's one to watch - not least because designer Demna Gvasalia was named Balenciaga creative director in October. 

 

Puzzle Solved

Loewe - JW Anderson spent 2014 figuring out how to turn Loewe from an unpronounceable Spanish label to a fashion force with which to be reckoned. Consider that mission accomplished: his Puzzle bag hung off the arm of many a fashion editor in 2015; meanwhile his own-name label went from strength to strength. The proof? In November he became the first designer to win both men's and womenswear designer of the year awards in one swoop. 

 

Slouching Towards Stardom

The most talked-about ad campaign of 2015? Undoubtedly, Joan Didion, 81, for Céline. Fashion blogs raved about the novelist's unfussy glamour; magazines and newspapers feted her froideur in the face of the hype. "I don't have any clue," she remarked, when told of the frenzy she had created. Presumably she did, however, note that the London Review Of Books - not a habitual commentator on the world of fashion - had noted her modelling stint: "Old fashionistas are suddenly all the rage." Quite right. 

 

Ghillie Conquest

It's rare that one shoe dominates an entire summer, but Aquazzura's lace up Christy flats did just that - and spawned a thousand high street imitations. 

 

The Margot Tenen-boom

Even if you haven't seen Wes Anderson's 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, you'll know all about Margot. How could you not? The gnomic playwright is a touchstone for the eccentric new Gucci girl, with the fashion crowd copying her look from her bobby pins down to her pink gloves and Birkin bag.

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