We’re living in the age of micro-trends. It seems every week, TikTokers experiment with something new and then suddenly everyone scrambles to report, legitimize, and assign meaning to what would normally be something ephemeral. No one could be blamed for thinking that if everything’s a trend then nothing is a trend; and yet looking back at the year, some objects did indeed emerge into a state of semi-permanent inescapability.
At the spring 2025 shows in September, it seemed that designers were eager to shed the quiet luxury blanket that has been covering the industry for the past few years. At Bottega Veneta, Matthieu Blazy called for a sense of childlike wonder when getting dressed, while at Prada, Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada proposed we break free from the algorithm and dress in whatever’s in our closets, sending out recreations of old season-pieces. Off the runways, the world appears to also be moving in a more playful direction. How else to explain the rise of little plush toys and colorful bead embellishments that began appearing on handbags and shoes? Or the jelly shoes that immediately transport the wearer to their youth?
And since it is indeed our job to report, legitimize, and assign meaning to these trends; here are the 15 objects that defined our year.
Jelly Flats Make a Comeback
The Row’s jelly sandals on the runway.
Photo: Courtesy of The Row
At The Row’s pre-fall 2024 runway presentation, the last one where Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen allowed guests to take pictures, the first model walked out wearing a pair of red scalloped jelly flats. It was a real throwback to many an important childhood fashion moment (if you grew up in Latin America surely you remember the Xuxandalia), and it had everyone asking: Would you wear The Row’s $900 jelly flats? The answer was a resounding “Yes!” And soon The Row’s luxury price point gave rise to a different jelly style; the Iro ballet flat by Ancient Greek Sandals which retailed for a fraction of The Row’s price, at $125. No matter where you traveled this summer, you were bound to see someone wearing a pair, whether beachside or on the city sidewalks, slippery feet and blisters be damned.
Everybody in Gap’s Sk8er Denim
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Style arbiters have been talking up an indie sleaze revival—the early ’00s era when asymmetrical haircuts, band tees, and cheap leggings ruled. But at least where jeans are concerned, the year belonged to wide-leg baggies—the kind of jeans favored by the sk8er bois and girls of the ’90s. It’s been hard to escape their allure, especially as worn by Troye Sivan, who starred in a dance-filled commercial that harked back to the days when Gap was responsible for ushering in the swing music revival. In a white tee and baggy jeans (likely sized up at least once or twice), Sivan and a cadre of beautiful young people moved and grooved to Thundercat’s “Funny Thing,” creating an indelible moment—and a defining style.
Samba Samba Samba
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It all started with Grace Wales Bonner’s take on the Adidas Samba, but it didn’t take long for people to decide to go straight to the original source. Nowm the style has become completely ubiquitous—and with good reason; it looks just as good with jeans as it does with feminine dresses and skirts. It’s reached a point where it seems that no matter where you are, there will always be at least one person wearing a pair. That’s how you know it’s a classic.
The Barn Jacket: A Farm-to-Runway Special
An oversized barn jacket on the Prada Spring 2024 runway.
Like all good things, the barn jacket’s ascent to the top of the fashion pyramid was a slow one. But first things first—the style is a classic, meaning it was never either in style or out of style, it simply was. Our story technically begins at the Loewe spring 2023 collection, when Jonathan Anderson screwed around with the proportion, turned it into an A-line jacket and layered it over micro mini dresses. At Prada’s spring 2024 show Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons sent out slightly masculine, oversized versions over superfluously flouncy fringed and whisper-thin silk chiffon shirts and skirts. These were all the encouragement people needed to go and get a barn jacket of their own. And why not? It’s one of the few instances when fashion actually conspires to get you to buy a sturdy, practical item. The fun part is decoding what it means if you bought the high-fashion version, one of the many great high street options, or went to the original source like LL Bean or Barbour. There are no wrong answers here! And that’s beautiful.
The Rhode Phone Case—Beauty and Brains on the go
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Not since Lâncome’s Juicy Tubes, has a lip gloss completely crossed over from beauty must-have to It-item like Rhode’s Peptide Lip Tints have. One random Sunday back in February, Hailey Bieber unleashed a secret weapon when she posted a selfie wearing a cotton pajama short set, her phone crucially enveloped in a rubber phone case into which a Lip Tint perfectly slid. It was a product so genius and so obvious in its simplicity—of course your lip gloss should attach to your phone!—creatives across the industry must have been cursing the fact they didn’t come up with it first. The case went on sale a few weeks later and immediately sold out, and for those who had managed to snag one, it became a de facto status symbol. It’s since been restocked many times; most recently in Holiday-inspired hues—Cinnamon Rolls anyone?
Everyone Loves Sports—and Ellie the Elephant
Fabulous Ellie, mascot for the New York Liberty WNBA team.
Photo: Peter Fisher for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Sports paraphernalia has been gaining traction within the fashion industry for years. In 2022, it was Wales Bonner’s Adidas collaboration, and last year it was Messi’s bubblegum pink Inter Miami jersey. Soccer seemed to be fashion’s game of choice (it’s what made David Beckham famous, after all), but this year, two new sports items have entered the chat. On one side, led by the joint effort of Swifties and All-American football fans, is Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chief jersey. On the other, inspired by Ellie the Elephant’s smooth dance moves and penchant for accessorizing (including carrying Telfar bags on the court), is the New York Liberty jersey. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the WNBA team, led by Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones, secured the team’s victory in this year’s championship.
Alaïa Strikes Again
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Last year there was no shoe more important than the Alaïa ballet flat. This year, designer Pieter Mulier upped the ante with the introduction of the Teckel bag, a sleek extra-long “east/west” bag that comes in at least 12 delicious candy-colors and even more embellishments. Studded suede? Mais oui. The bag, named after the French word for Daschund (yes, like a hot dog) was inspired by Azzedine Alaïa’s love of dogs. How could we resist?
Jonathan Anderson Told Ya
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In a post-Barbie world, a movie’s press tour is likely to produce iconic fashion moments to rival the ones in the actual film. There was never a chance that the much-hyped Challengers, starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, wasn’t going to deliver on the fashion front, given that director Luca Guadagnino tapped Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson to do the costumes. But the takeaways weren’t the luxury items one would’ve expected, given the pairing. First it was the Nike plaid shorts worn by O’Connor’s dirtbag boyfriend Patrick Zweig that men wanted to cop, but the real pièce-de-résistance was the t-shirt emblazoned with “I TOLD YA” across the front, worn first by O’Connor’s Zweig and then by Zendaya’s Tashi. Anderson smartly guessed hardcore fans of the movie would be rushing to make bootleg versions of their own, so he had Loewe release the official version. Now that’s savvy marketing.
Semi-Charmed Life
They used to say to take something off before you left the house, but now it’s more like, take one thing off and hang fifty from your cool vintage bag.
Photographed by Acielle / Style du Monde
Technically, this trend was born at Miu Miu’s spring 2024 show, where bags came adorned with little chains and friendship bracelet-like colorful strands, but it was the way it was appropriated off the runway that really made charm decorations take off. It happened first on social media, as many trends are wont to do, with stylish fashion insiders posting pictures of their vintage It-bags festooned with rows of beaded charms, little stuffed animals, and all other manners of tchotkes—the more the merrier. Suddenly, five years of quiet luxury came to an abrupt halt and exploded into a cornucopia of silly little things whose sole purpose was to inspire joy. Independent accessory labels like Don’t Let Disco became the go-to place for beaded trinkets, even hosting craft parties where attendees could make their own charms; while labels like BAG CRAP offered curated bundles of playful vintage miscellany. At the same time, others were busy decorating their shoes: Emily Adams Bode Aujla added sports-inspired charms to her instantly sold-out Bode x Nike collaboration sneakers, and at Bally, Simone Bellotti added charms to a pair of classic leather boat shoes. The rule is simple, if you can hang a little charm from something–do it, and do it many, many times over.
Life Through Phoebe Philo Bombé Glasses
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In late 2023, the long-awaited (like, really long) collection from Phoebe Philo’s namesake brand finally dropped. Scrolling through the website—at the time it was only available online—we couldn’t help but wonder; will we be seeing these clothes in real life? And which pieces will reach the level of It that Philo was known for in her previous lives? The answer came swiftly in the form of a pair of oversized sunglasses named Bombé. Philo has long been a fan of enormous sunglasses that both obscure the wearer and also loudly proclaim “look at me!” and these are no exception. In short, the perfect accessory.
Sustainable Horse Bags for Horse Girls
The Collina Strada x Baggu horse bag.
Photo: Bobby Doherty via Instagram
Last year, Baggu launched a collaboration with Sandy Liang that turned the household staple into a covetable fashion item. This year, the reusable bag brand’s collaboration with fellow NYC stalwart Collina Strada took things to another level, especially the horse-shaped bag in the label’s signature “cargo plaid” print or in all-black. The bag instantly sold out. The timing was right, horse girls were having a bit of a moment; but also, who can resist an animal-shaped bag? (At least not ’90s girls, they’ve been conditioned to love them since the teddy bear backpacks of their youth.)
The Diotima Era
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Diotima’s Rachel Scott staged a presentation in an empty lot in Chinatown for spring 2025. Looking around, it was at first a bit difficult to tell who was an attendee and who was a model, given the sheer number of people who attended wearing her signature crochet pieces, all styled in their own ways. Last year, Scott was named a finalist of the CFDA/VogueFashion Fund and this year she took home the Womenswear Designer of the Year award at the CFDA Fashion Awards, proving the scene was not just a fluke. This list is by no means a shopping list, but if it were, a Diotima crochet top is certainly where you’d need to start.
What Bottega Veneta Bean Bag Animal Are You?
At the spring 2025 Bottega Veneta runway show in Milan, editors were greeted not with the standard ergonomical nightmare that is the long wooden bench, but by hundreds of animal-shaped bean bags. There were fifteen different styles including a chicken, a whale, an elephant, and a bear, all randomly—or not so randomly—assigned to guests. Jacob Elordi, who was photographed for the label’s ad campaign earlier in the year holding his hands against his head like little bunny ears, was seated in a rabbit-shaped chair.) Matthieu Blazy cited childlike wonder as inspiration for the collection—something he also believed in for resort, which includes a capsule collection inspired by Richard Scarry’s beloved characters (Blazy described Lowly Worm’s outfit as “exceptional”). The crown jewel of the capsule wins the award for the funnest, most luxurious item of the year: an intreciatto version of Richard Scarry’s Biggest Word Book Ever!
The Fashion Song of the Year
No, we’re not talking about “Espresso,” or even the “Girl, so confusing” remix with Lorde either. We’re talking about the 40-year-old tune by the Italian pop star Fiordaliso, “Non Voglio Mica La Luna,” that had Gucci models, attendees, and even creative director Sabato De Sarno himself singing along in September at the brand’s spring 2025 show. Last month, the Spanish version, “Yo No Te Pido La Luna,” performed by the Mexican artist Daniela Romo, picked up the feel-good vibes at Carolina Herrera’s Mexico City resort presentation. An English language version—that would be “I Don’t Ask You for the Moon”— doesn’t yet exist, but we could really see Addison Rae turning it into another hit.
Editor
Laia Garcia-FurtadoCredit
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