TREND
N
ext month marks one year since
the passing of the late, great
Bill Cunningham, an industry
legend and much-loved pioneer
of street-style photography. The
American lensman reported to The New
York Times for close to four decades,
moving among the highest levels of
society to capture the essence of personal
style. You could say he’d seen it all. So
when he stated, in his
unassuming way, that
ultimately “fashion is the
armour to survive the reality
of everyday life”, we know it
was a hard-won observation,
and as it turns out, one
that has never been more
relevant than today.
Fashion has always been
a barometer of our changing
times. Like the arts, the stock
markets and the amount of
digits in our bank balance,
clothing is the sartorial canary in the
coalmine, so to speak. In our politically
ǰ Ȃ ę
certainty, and that’s that designers will
respond, usually with more insight
and vision than some would give them
credit for. Take the SS17 collections,
rolling out in the months leading up to
the US election. While the world’s fate
wasn’t yet sealed by an outcome no-one
could have predicted, designers were
¢ Ĵ
a platoon of action-ready looks aimed
at empowering women, if not entirely
with physical protection, then at least
galvanising our state of mind.
It’s those clothes that are now gracing
the rails in store and pages online, andLONG
LIVE THE
The new power dressingfor
womenserving on fashion’s frontlineBoots, $1,850,
Giorgio Armani,
armani.com/auMICHAEL KORS COLLECTIONJacket, $1,350,
Emporio Armani,
armani.com/auPants, $395, Bassike,
bassike.comISABEL MARANTShirt, $89.95,
The Fifth Label,
ęǯBelt bag, $700,
orioArmani,
armani.com/auMARNI38 ELLE AUSTRALIA
Words: Genevra Leek. Photography: Sevak Babakhani and Pablo Martin (still-life); Imaxtree; Jason Lloyd-Evans; Sonny Vandevelde. Styling: Emma Kalfus