Designers Have Declared Umbrella, -Ella, -Ellas a Thing of the Past
Though there would've been so many paths to enter this article via pun, I couldn't get past the corniness of actually employing one to succeed a title that's already milked the opportunity.
Nonsense aside, upon my thorough revisit of what's bound to soon hit stores, raincoats and windbreakers have protruded as a lightweight, hot-ticket highlight of the season ahead.
An entry-level but perfectly effective demonstration of said dominance could be witnessed at Miu Miu: One saw minimalist anoraks in beiges, blues, and maroons – a mix of nostalgic American sportiness, and the European soccer fan's sideline uniform, fit for time- and genderless wardrobes.
But let Louis Vuitton's embossed jelly jacket and Auralee's trapezoid trench coat stand as two polar examples of just how diverse a species the fashion-savvy rain cloak truly is.
Both borrow from traditional outdoor clothing's characteristics, but are pressed to have you really reconsider what you thought you knew about water-resistant apparel.
Now, you can dumb this down to the already-on-my-nerves, micro-trendy fisherman aesthetic if you want, though it'd be a shameful waste of potential. Because rather than reducing it to a cable-knit-covering constituent of a Pinterest-by-way-of-TikTok costume, you could understand the raincoat and windbreaker as outfit-lynchpins that can be as provocative as they are protective.
MSGM and Dsquared2, for instance, imbued theirs with an almost erotic air; latex and rubbery red patent leather iterations of what happens when dorky bad-weather ponchos go full fetish.
Aside from its banana yellow maybe, Prada's is not actually that remarkable on its own, but it reads as quite jarring in juxtaposition with the embellished gown and straw headpiece.
This near-absurd composition infuses the item with a slightly surreal, space-claiming quality that'd otherwise been missing, proving its unexpected yet undeniable competence as a main character product.
Equally as interested in shedding its utilitarian reputation, Fendi's checked trench-plus-cap combo offers a retro preppy, patterned POV on the theme – perhaps, by some standards, more easily compatible with a day-to-day mode of dress, but keen on attention no less.
Chop off the below-waist section, add a dash of vintage après ski, sprinkles of blokecore, or eliminate everything altogether, and you'll have yourself something in the vein of Vivienne Westwood, Martine Rose, or Neil Barrett, respectively.
So, come spring, be they hooded or high-collared, bombers or floor-length, striking or subdued: It's raining men raincoats! Every specimen! (I'll see myself out.)
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