2020 wasn’t your average fashion year. While fashion has always been and will always be about change, it was a challenging year for many brands, designers and organizations. Creativity, resilience and self expression have never been more important. Let’s take a look which moments, style icons and items played a main role in shaping 2020’s fashion industry.
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Fashion highlights of 2020
Activism has never been so ubiquitous to many designers. From highlighting the importance to vote to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement: most fashion brands haven’t been quiet.
Besides this wokeness many brands and individuals wish to relate themselves to, the rise of loungewear has been booming. Let’s say that the past and current events have entirely shaped fashion, like never before. But there were some other major sources of influence as well. Discover 2020’s most important fashion highlights below.
Surprising style icons
The influence of style icons has never been bigger that the past year. Collabs between celebrities and brands were booming and Harry Styles created a true crochet movement after wearing one of the hottest items of the year: a colorful JW Anderson cardigan. His influence became even clearer right after the release of ‘Golden’, when searches for blue and turquoise blazers went up with 104% (The Lyst). His recent Vogue US cover depicts the crowning glory of Styles as a style icon.
Other huge style icons include Travis Scott, Paul Mescal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Beyoncé. The latter drew attention with her diverse range of outfits in Black is King. After its release sales of Marine Serre’s catsuit got through the roof.
Must read: How 2020 has changed greenwashing habits
Hottest fashion items
2020 has been the year of the face mask – an accessory no one would have expected to become this big at the start of the year. However, looking back at a turbulent year, it comes at no surprise that Off-White’s face mask has been one of the most sold fashion items worldwide. Furthermore, Telfar made its uprise as well, with an iconic bag available ‘for everyone’.
Since it has been a year of slowing down and spending more time at home than ever, other popular fashion items are quite straightforward. Classic Crocs made their revival, just as the Birkenstock Arizona model, after a successful collaboration with Proenza Schouler.
Biggest fashion moments
Despite many lockdowns, there were a couple of fashion moments that shaped the year. At January 19, for example, Jennifer Aniston wore a vintage Dior by John Galliano dress to the SAG Awards. In the following days, search volumes for vintage dresses went through the roof. Something similar happened at the Grammy Awards later that month, when icon Billie Eilish were head-to-toe Gucci.
In April, after a couple of weeks of staying at home, the #PillowChallenge went viral. Influencers and celebrities used their time off to get creative with something everyone owns: a pillow.
Also read: The complete list of 2021 fashion week schedules, dates and other events
