Wardrobe staples are usually just a blip on our radar when we are trend spotting. But something interesting happened on the Spring/Summer 2020 runways that had us rethinking the propositions in dressing up in today’s day and age. Enter the causal tank tops, or singlets depending on who you speak too, which will become the hero piece of next season.
As Seen On The Runways
At Coach 1941, Stuart Vevers sent out a parade of New Wave-inspired tank tops featuring the illustrations of artist Richard Bernstein who was behind the iconic covers of Interview magazine in the ’70s and ’80s. Acne Studio’s rustic rendition featured a crinkled tank top with a slit. Meanwhile, brands like Salvatore Ferragamo and Helmut Lang took a more newfangled approach with this casual piece – the former featured one in leather while the latter showed a piece beautifully draped in tulle and trimmed with feathers.
The message from the shows is that comfort and ease are valued as a precious commodity in fashion today. It also points to how dress codes have been rewritten today. Wearing a tank top used to be something for slacking in at home, for working out in the gym or when you do that quick grocery run on weekends. If anything, Dries Van Noten and Saint Laurent have proven that you can wear it as an evening staple – heck even under a wedding gown if the last look in the former’s show was anything to go by. So the next time someone tells you “no singlets allowed”, tell them it’s fashion.
