Bal Harbour

The Return of PERSONAL STYLE F all 2021 may have been the least cohesive fashion season ever as far as trends are concerned, but it makes sense. This year has obliterated short-lived trends and prioritized personal style, as many traded offi ce jobs for working at home and found themselves dressing more expressively than ever before. Think about it this way: if sweatpants were the fashion hallmark of 2020, this year's latest pièce de résistance is more of a mindset—wear what you want, how you want. Gone are the rules that once defi ned dressing up and here, now, is a way of self- styling that puts the wearer fi rst. It's about staying true to your own personality— layering the unexpected and claiming a new freedom when it comes to accessories and shoes. Look at Rihanna wearing vintage Tom Ford-era Gucci jeans with an over-the-top faux fur hat, or Dua Lipa and Kylie Jenner trading out mainstream basics like leggings and tees for emerging labels like ERL and Chet Lo. When it all comes down to it, the eclecticism that's bringing forward this newfound sense of personal style goes back to the catwalk. The runway spoke volumes with Prada and Miu Miu specifi cally showing a mixed-up aesthetic in which each look seemed to be wholly individualistic, suiting distinct personal style archetypes rather than one cohesive approach. Prada mingled prints in an artistic way that seemed to be a backlash against anything plain and minimal. Miu Miu's art of layering piled together textures from crochet to puffer. Balenciaga, too, focused on personal expression rather than one aesthetic, and seemed to keep dressing for dressing up's sake in mind. Given that most designers were creating the Fall 2021 collections while still in lockdown, it makes sense that many of them were thinking about what we'd all be wearing once we reemerged into a world with less restrictions. For most, that meant expressive, liberating clothes. Francesco Rizzo of Marni, for instance, took inspiration from craft and all things handmade, in response to the digital overload of the past year and a half. "It's about narrowing things down and not wasting time and not making bullshit clothes," he says. "It's about being more focused." And speaking of digital infl uence, many are pushing back against the blanketing of trends that social media has been responsible for perpetuating. "Social media changed the way people dress," says Yu Masui, a street-style favorite known for his outlandish looks. "More and more people style themselves from trendy ideas seen on TikTok, or via fashion infl uencers. However, this ended up making people dress the same—safe. That's why I feel an individualistic style, acutely creating one's own world without copy and paste, is really valuable for our time." In other words, there's never been a better time to push back against the norm and wear something different. THE STATEMENT SEASON IS BACK, AND THIS TIME IT'S ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY. By Kristen Bateman IMAGES COURTESY OF MARNI, PRADA The eclecticism that's bringing forward a new found sense of personal style goes back to the runway. And this year's latest pièce de résistance is more of a mindset—wear what you want, how you want. Top, a look from Marni's Fall collection, which took inspiration from craft and all things handmade; at left, there was nothing minimal about Prada's Fall collection, as evidenced by this outsized coat. BAL HARBOUR 79

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