Writing a trend report for a vintage and consignment shop is an interesting exercise. Shops like VSP used to be perceived as a graveyard for trends, a place where old clothes go to die. Of course, this hasn't been true for a long time now—fashion people have always looked to the past for inspiration, and brands revamp and reuse house codes as part of their branding and identity regularly. However, the popularity of resale, consignment, and vintage is constantly growing and contexts are rapidly shifting.

I saw someone say that because of social media, it's everything all the time now—there aren't hard markers for mass trends of a decade (think 80's big hair and neon) and the way we used to think about the trend cycle just doesn't exist in the same way it used to. It feels odd when fashion writers claim it's all about this thing but not that thing this season—most people just don't think or shop or dress that way. And at the end of the day, who knows why someone got rid of something?

Taking a long view, I tend to see larger aesthetics as following personality types rather than trends. There are item-based trends for sure (recently, wedge sneakers, capri pants, big jorts, tiny shorts) but the larger trends don't actually shift that much. Timing, styling, and a clever mix are key for how we dress today.

 

 

The resurgence of interest in Margiela started around a decade ago, with Demna's early Vetements collections. His avant garde meets streetwear outlook felt fresh after seasons of men in classic dark blue suits and hipster lumberjack styling, and women in ladylike peplums and fit-n-flare dresses. His design work also stood out from the big fashion brands of the time. The collections felt irreverent, youthful, attainable and fell in-step with where streetwear was at the time (remember dark athleisure and "health goth"?) and the following years brought a mass casualization of fashion.

The avant garde has matured to the point where there are now classics. I always thought the Tabi would be a forever shoe style, but I don't think I would have ever imagined that Tabis would be the desired footwear that they are now. Alas, the diversification and merchandising of the style and surging prices alongside the data shows a clear trend. 

 

SHOP THE EDIT - AVANT GARDE

 

Modern Minimalism & Luxe Bohemian

Quiet luxury and bohemianism are two sides of the same coin—the minimalist and the maximalist. What they have in common is clothes that are easy to wear—these folks are essentially after the same thing in a different style of garment. Maybe the proportions, styling and bags change but the key items stay consistent—shirting, blazers, trousers, a classic coat and a luxe bag for the minimalist, a flowing dress, a print, a boot, and piles of jewellery for the maximalist.

Yves Saint Laurent mastered this duality and Anthony Vacarello's Spring 2025 collection is a reflection of that design heritage.

 

L-R: Yves Saint Laurent with his muses, Loulou De La Falaise and Betty Catroux in the 70's, Saint Laurent's Spring 2025 runway.

It's easy to see the key ideas played out in the hands of different designers. Some of the touchstones of minimalism and quiet luxury are YSL's 1960's Le Smoking and Mod looks, Courrèges space-age chic, and Halston and Elsa Peretti's devastatingly glam, slinky 70's.

 

L-R: Marlene Dietrich in 1940, 1960's Yves Saint Laurent Mondrian look, 1970's Yves Saint Laurent Le Smoking look, 1960's Andre Courreges look, Elsa Peretti in the 1970's.

Minimalism was reimagined throughout the 80's in Armani's roomy suits, the 90's and early 2000's in Prada's tech nylon, Helmut Lang's street smart tailoring and Marc Jacobs first Louis Vuitton collection, and through the late aughts and beyond in the neutrality and purity of The Row and Phoebe Philo's Celine. 

 

L-R: Early 90's Armani look, a Prada campaign from 1995, Helmut Lang 1990's runway, Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton 1998 runway.

Philo's pupils—Matthieu Blazy, Peter Do, and Daniel Lee—continue to bring fresh perspectives to the style.

 

L-R: Phoebe Philo for Celine 2018, The Row 2024 runway, Bottega Veneta spring 2025 runway, Saint Laurent spring 2025 runway.

And on the flipside, YSL's maximalist bohemian tendencies played out throughout the late 60's and 70's.

 

L-R: Yves Saint Laurent looks from the 1970's.

The 80's aren't strongly associated with this aesthetic, but the feel came through in pop culture with thrifted and vintage looks from style icons like Lisa Bonet and the L.A. music scene's Paisley Underground, as well as the hippie festival vibe of UK rave's Second Summer of Love. The 90's saw a massive resurgence of late 60's and 70's aesthetics as grunge was essentially a throwback—Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, Dolce & Gabbana, and Gucci all showed upscale vintage-inspired looks throughout the 90's.

 

L-R: Lisa Bonet in the late 1980's, Madonna in 1992, Anna Sui 1993 runway, Tom Ford's Gucci campaign from 1996, Kate Moss in the early 2000's.

Boho came into its own in the aughts with Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo's Chloe and then-emerging designers like Isabel Marant and Ulla Johnson, as well as the massive popularity of festival culture. 

 

L-R: Chloe by Stella McCartney & Phoebe Philo 2003 runway, Chloe by Phoebe Philo 2006 runway, Isabel Marant 2008 and 2010 runway.

SHOP THE EDIT - MODERN MINIMALISM

SHOP THE EDIT - LUXE BOHEMIAN


Vintage

Earlier this year we spoke about vintage on the red carpet and how it's evolved to reflect current attitudes towards fashion and celebrity. Mostly, archival for celebrities means the rarest and most impossible to attain pieces of clothing. Distilled down, I think that what we yearn for when we shop for vintage is a feeling—a personal touch, a find, something novel and special or even surprising in a landscape of fast fashion throwaways and algorithms that feed us more of the same easy-to-attain microtrends.

Some favourites that have passed through my hands at VSP this year have included Galliano-era Dior (of course), an 80's Valentino blouse with major shoulder pads, an Issey Miyake draped dress (dying to know if it's recent or older), 90's Prada and Miu Miu, a highly sought after Phoebe Philo Celine lace tank, and Chanel from the 70's through the 90's. As for 2025: while putting this report together I was thinking that Christopher Kane's early work was due for a re-evaluation, and then his Self Portrait collab dropped in December (would have loved to see Dua or Charli in one of his original circa 2007 concoctions beforehand). And I'm feeling strains of 80's eccentricity (asymmetry, unusual volumes, draping, gathering and slouching, ruffles and poufs), a somewhat untapped aspect of 2000's avant gardism seen in the designs of As Four, early Jeremy Scott, Hussein Chalayan and Imitation of Christ, now reflected in the work of JW Anderson's Loewe, Nicklas Skovgaard, Lou de Betoly and ALL-IN.

SHOP THE EDIT - VINTAGE, RARE & COLLECTABLE COLLECTION

 

Research, Text & Styling - Jaime Sin

Photography - Sam Pierre