The genesis of a trend is often hard to pinpoint.
Did it originate from the collection of a particular designer? The perfect outfit of an influencer? Or even a blockbuster movie or cultural moment of some sort?
But in the case of fashion’s love-in with the collar, the task is simpler.
This time last year, Ganni launched an oversized collar poplin blouse that felt so fresh and fabulously OTT it was instantly added to the wardrobes of Instagram’s most stylish.
The white version totally sold out online and the green and white striped version the brand has dropped pre-Spring is, Ganni tells The Standard, already 65 per cent sold by mid-season, making it another best seller.
Then back in December, new Spanish brand La Veste, launched by Spanish stylist Blanca Miro and designer Maria de la Orden in 2018, dropped the ‘School Shirt’ - a similar silhouette to Ganni’s poplin blouse, this time in green and blue gingham with crafty embroidered collars.
At its AW20 show in Copenhagen in January, Ganni continued the brand's riff on the ruff, this time further elongating the silhouette into a collar so lengthy it felt more akin to a lapel, or perhaps a sailor collar sans-knot. These were styled over baggy suits and leather puff sleeve dresses, while detachable frill-edged leather and denim versions were tied over shirts and jersey dresses.
“We’ve been doing the Peter Pan collar since Pre Spring 2019, so sort of way before the trend really took off. It’s become such a staple shape for us.” Ditte Reffstrup, Creative Director of Ganni tells The Standard. “It’s a great styling piece adding lots of personality to your look. For our latest FW20 we reworked the collar to create a more deep cut v-neck version. And there’s something slightly more sexy to come.”
Miu Miu’s Resort 2020 runway at Paris's Hippodrome d’Auteuil was also chock full of fabulous collar action. From Ganni-esque lacey lapel shapes to squarer shapes in black and white lace. Camille Charriere was spotted on the streets of London Fashion Week this weekend wearing the brand’s exaggerated collar silk blouse in black.
And just as the street style were getting hot about the collar, so too were London’s runways flooded with next-level neck trimmings.
Emilia Wickstead, Erdem and Victoria Beckham’s AW20 shows were punctuated with prim and pointy collars, while Rejina Pyo’s silk shirts came with slouchier shapes that brilliantly offset the proportions of chunky cuffs.
At 16Arlington, the brainchild of young British design duo Marco Capaldo and Federica Cavenati, jumpsuits and leather trench coats were given structural sharpness with collars of a menacing, almost vampiric, pointiness.
Whether a back-to-school vibe or a quick fix sartorial seriousness, if there’s one trend that’s set to stick through its second autumn, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s the collar
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