Fashion-related events during the 2010s
The 2010s were defined by hipster fashion, athleisure, a revival of austerity-era period pieces and alternative fashions, swag-inspired outfits, 1980s-style neon streetwear, and unisex 1990s-style elements influenced by grunge and skater fashions. The later years of the decade witnessed the growing importance in the western world of social media influencers paid to promote fast fashion brands on Pinterest and Instagram.
Popular global fashion brands of the decade included Abercrombie and Fitch, Adidas, Balenciaga, Ben Sherman, Burberry, Christian Dior, Coach, DSquared2, Dorothy Perkins, Fashion Nova, Forever 21, Gucci, H&amp;M, Hollister, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Louis Vuitton, Marks and Spencer, Michael Kors, Monsoon Accessorize, Nike, Nine West, Off-White, River Island, Supreme, Topman, Topshop, Uniqlo, Under Armour, and Vans.
Designers and models.
The leading European and American designers of the early 2010s included Nicolas Ghesquière, Miuccia Prada, Frida Giannini, Marc Jacobs, Phoebe Philo, and Karl Lagerfeld. Notable Asian fashion designers include Louie Mamengo and Michael Cinco.
Top female international models include Gisele Bündchen, Lara Stone, Raquel Zimmermann, Karlie Kloss, Kaia Gerber, Adut Akech, Adriana Lima, Joan Smalls, Natasha Poly, Liu Wen, Anja Rubik, Freja Beha Erichsen, Mariacarla Boscono, Suki Waterhouse, Lindsey Wixson, Arizona Muse, Saskia de Brauw, Behati Prinsloo, Lily Aldridge, Lais Ribeiro, Irina Shayk, Elsa Hosk, Martha Hunt, Constance Jablonski, Catherine McNeil, Monika Jagaciak, Emily DiDonato, Jessica Hart, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Karmen Pedaru, Mica Argañaraz, Candice Swanepoel, Cara Delevingne, Vanessa Axente, Cameron Russell, Amanda Murphy, Julia Nobis, Edie Campbell, Lexi Boling, Imaan Hammam, Binx Walton, Edita Vilkeviciute, Andreea Diaconu, Aymeline Valade, Fei Fei Sun, Iselin Steiro, Anais Mali, Anne Vyalitsyna, Jourdan Dunn, Toni Garrn, Jamie Bochert, Daphne Groeneveld, Rianne van Rompaey, and Anna Ewers.
Top male international models include Sean O'Pry, David Gandy, Clément Chabernaud, Baptiste Giabiconi, Garrett Neff, Arthur Kulkov, Noah Mills, Will Chalker, Evandro Soldati, Adam Senn, Francisco Lachowski, Andrés Velencoso, Simon Nessman, Mathias Lauridsen, Marlon Teixeira, and younger men like Lucky Blue Smith or Brooklyn Beckham.
Women's clothing.
Early 2010s (2010–2012).
1980s influences.
The early 2010s saw many recycled fashions from the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s as designers from stores like Topshop replicated original vintage clothing. In the United States, it was popular to wear Gucci, Chanel, or Versace designer clothing, and neon colors such as pink, green, teal, black, purple, magenta, and yellow.
Popular tops for American, British, and Australian women aged 20–50 included tunics, 1980s style baseball jackets, oversized cardigans, western shirts, 2fer and layered shirts and tees, dresses and shirts worn with belts, Abercrombie and Fitch hoodies until 2012, Perfecto motorcycle jackets customized with studs, floral camisoles worn with matching boyshorts, and sundresses. European women wore sparkly dresses, baggy one-size-fits-all Empire line skirts, blouses and dresses, and lace, figure-hugging white organza maxi dresses inspired by Pippa Middleton.
From 2010 to 2012 many late 2000s fashion trends remained popular in Europe, the United States, East Asia and South America, especially acid wash skinny jeans, geometric or galaxy printed crew neck sweatshirts and leggings, "trouser-dresses", romper suits, preppy pastel colored skinny jeans, metallic dresses, and capri pants cropped at the ankle. Several other fashion trends popular in the 2000s, while perhaps not as popular as in years past, were also visible in the early 2010s including crop tops, low-rise pants, thong underwear, and whale tails. Possibly due to the poor economy in the early years, the midi skirt and the maxi skirt were the most common skirt and dress styles, with the hemline standards being the longest they had been since The Great Depression.
Tribal fashions and 1990s revival.
From late 2011 onward, 1990s inspired fashion began to make a comeback in the UK, US, Philippines, India, and Australasia among teen girls and young women aged 15–30. Popular upper apparel included Christmas sweaters, T-shirts with blazers, plaid, oversized flannel shirts worn or tied around the waist, oversized T-shirts, padded gilets, Penshoppe skater skirts (in the Philippines), skorts, crew neck sweaters, T-shirts bearing the word Nerd or Geek, destroyed acid wash Balmain jeans, and crop tops. In the UK and the US, popular bottom apparel includes skinny jeans, leggings, parachute pants, railroad stripe pants or skirts, boyfriend jeans. High-waisted bottoms, such as pants, shorts, skirts, and bathing suits also became the standard for women's fashion in the 2010s, as opposed to the low rise trend that was popular throughout the 2000s.
Desirable footwear from 2012 to 2015 included flat sandals, black, white or multicolored Vans, Keds as worn in ads by Mischa Barton, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, TOMS Shoes, Chucks, Sperry top-siders boat shoes, flat knee high riding boots, Uggs, moccasins, Hunter boots brand rain boots, one strap sandals, furry slip-on Puma sandals, Ballerina flats, cavalier boots, gladiator sandals, wedge heel-style sneakers, flip-flops, combat boots, Doc Martens, and The Timberland Company hiking boots.
Other popular trends of the early and mid 2010s included Aztec and Navajo inspired patterns featuring diamonds and triangles, especially on T-shirts, socks, handbags, panties, pullovers, and other knitwear. In addition, young American women began wearing feather earrings, beaded bracelets, sneakers resembling moccasins, ponchos, vests and jackets made from striped Mexican blanket material, despite the connotations of cultural appropriation. These tribal inspired garments, made popular by Urban Outfitters and Ralph Lauren, typically came in bright colors like red, yellow, turquoise, blue, and orange.
Middle Eastern fashions and carry-over styles.
In the UK, modestwear combined with elements of fashion in the west became popular among many young Middle Eastern women, colourful floral hijabs, black satin gowns worn with a long shawl collar overcoat, with retro inspired zigzag patterns.
Continuing from the late 2000s, Fashion in India moved in favor of a more Westernized style that incorporated navy pants, T shirts, tank tops and blouses were paired with traditional silk pajamas or shorts, and the large hoop earrings declined in popularity in favor of smaller minimalist gold jewelry.
Mid 2010s (2013–2016).
Monochromatic and printed clothing.
By the mid-2010s, neon colors were out of style in Europe, America, and Australia. More subdued colors became popular such as burgundy, mustard yellow, olive green, mauve, and blush pink. Bright colors were also replaced by black, white, various shades of gray, and charcoal first on the catwalk, and later as street fashion. Black and white Polka dot dresses underwent a revival in China and North Korea. This trend had spread to Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Iran and the United Arab Emirates by 2016, with Italian brand Dolce and Gabbana launching a range of black and white hijabs and abayas decorated with lace daisies, roses and lemons.
Monochromatic clothing trends from 2013 to 2017 included black and white lace dresses, lace blouses, jackets and dresses with peter pan collars, white Adidas Superstar sneakers with black or gold stripes, houndstooth or geometric patterned blazers, black or nude slip dresses, T-shirt dresses, white babydoll dresses, bodycon midi dresses, black and white striped "Beetlejuice" style slim-fit pants, long black velvet blazers decorated with silver braid, tuxedo jackets (often having contrasting black velvet or satin lapels), crop tops, oversized coats, striped culottes, loose Capri pants and palazzo pants, patent leather gladiator sandals, romper suits, sheer black tops worn over bralettes, puffer jackets and vests, knee-length skirts, pencil skirts, black and white geometric printed leggings, and cuffed boyfriend jeans. Denim declined in popularity in the US. From 2013, small bucket backpacks in colorful prints such as aztec, polka dot, and floral were popular, mirroring the small backpack trend in the 1990s, but by 2015, these small backpacks were largely replaced by Herschel zip-up backpacks with brown diamond patches on the front.
Costume jewelry and onesies.
Loom bands, bracelets woven from brightly colored rubber bands, were seen as both a global fashion statement and a children's fad. In France, Ireland and America, 1990s-inspired Choker necklaces featuring colored glass beads, silver chain link, artificial diamonds, Swarovski crystals, lace, velvet, and black or red leather had returned to popularity. By 2016, Chokers were also worn as an attachment to dresses and shirts, as a high-neck style and with shoulders exposed also known as "cold shoulder". Small and dainty jewelry replaced the large amounts of bracelets and statement necklaces that were popular at the beginning of the decade.
Another brief fad of the mid-2010s included the unisex onesie suit (like One-piece). Originally envisioned as pajamas, onesies were often purchased as a gag gift, and worn as casual streetwear by some younger women in the UK, Australia, and the US, including Amy Childs, Kourtney Kardashian, and Holly Carpenter.
Hippie and grunge influences.
The early to mid 2010s witnessed a revival of grunge fashion in America with more of an "edgy" interest of denim ripped jeans and ripped jackets, flannels, animal print coats, printed t-shirts which were frequently color or stone faded, black combat boots, biker boots, and leather motorbike jackets.
Beginning in 2013, there was a revival of late 1960s and early 70s bohemian fashions in the US, UK, India, and France, notably of bell bottom style pants, Birkenstocks, gypsy blouses, palazzo pants, dresses with cutouts, lace-up tops, crocheted crop tops, sweaters and halternecks, and Bardot off the shoulder tops. The lace up trend was also highly popular with footwear, largely because of Tunisian shoe designer Azzedine Alaia. In America, women favored white, black, camel, warm grey, or blush sweater dresses, thin turtlenecks popularized by The Kardashians, catsuits, jumpsuits, playsuits or rompers, high necked Victorian inspired lace dresses, and leather, tan, or olive green duster coats. Solid wedge heels, Stuart Weitzman knee boots, platform shoes and perspex heels, also known as the "nothing shoe" became a popular trend in 2016.
Late 2010s (2017–2019).
1970s revival.
From 2017 to 2021, brightly colored beige, red, green, brown and orange 1970s revival fashions began to replace drab, monochromatic 1990s inspired streetwear in Britain, India, North America and France. Particularly popular were sheepskin coats, moon boots, flared double breasted trouser suits in black, purple, pink, cream, grey, and navy blue tartan, baggy floral maxi dresses, blue gingham dresses, applique cropped wide leg jeans, denim jackets with embroidered red roses, multicolored tie dye skirts, baby blue and China print dresses worn with black tights, pale denim shirt dresses worn unbuttoned over blouses and light wash jeans, white sneakers, leopardskin coats, Marks and Spencer gold dresses with bows, distressed jeans, peacoats, brown granny boots, neon green, tangerine, or pale dusky pink midi-dresses, white peplum dresses reminiscent of those worn by Princess Leia, leather jackets in red, purple, green, blue, tan or black, slightly flared jeans, white and blue floral print shirt dresses, loosely woven plaid blouses, pleats, ruffles, stripes, mismatched earrings popularised by Kate Moss, mandarin collar tops, purple dresses with puffball sleeves, leather or PVC miniskirts, translucent yellow or orange cold shoulder blouses, oversized paisley, suede or black vinyl handbags, embroidered long sleeve T-shirts, throws, Cowichan sweaters, fringed shift dresses, wraps, gold brocade blazers, ponchos, fur lined parkas, silver sequined cocktail dresses, denim skirts, geometric print blouses, floral Brigitte Bardot minidresses and blouses with flouncy sleeves, kimono jackets made from the same brightly colored silk as aloha shirts, leather safari blazers, jumper dresses, slim fitting capri pants, babydoll dresses, knee boots, flat ankle boots with tights, or crew or knee socks slouched down over tights, leggings, jeggings, or skinny jeans. Also seen are snakeskin or sequinned pants, cold shoulder tops, peasant blouses, oversized hoop earrings, velvet blazers and dresses in pink, cobalt blue, red, navy, gold, and forest green, fur vests, Jeremy Corbyn caps, camel wool coats, hot pants, tunics, army green parkas, rainbow striped sweaters, sunflower print maxi dresses, PVC jackets, black velvet Nehru jackets with gold braid, ghillies, Grecian sandals, red, white, salmon, lavender or orange crocheted jumpers, and Swedish Fjällräven Kånken rucksacks in colors such as mustard, navy, forest green, and dusty pink. Although shirt collars remained relatively small, by 2019 these began to be replaced in the UK by overized Revere collars reminiscent of disco fashion. The pantywaist tops previously fashionable as sportswear in the late 1970s and early 1980s, started to commonly replace T-shirts in the UK, US and South Africa, especially among pop stars and models like Candice Swanepoel, Emily Ratajkowski, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé, whose one-off bodysuits were modified from vintage Adidas and Chicago Bulls jerseys. By way of Alessandro Michele of Gucci's creative direction, flat mule shoes, clear shoes, sandals and orange, brown or pink mule heels reminiscent of those worn by Barbie dolls started making a resurgence in Italy and Americas from early 2017 onwards, sometimes featuring tiger embroidery, florals, beadwork, or furry lining.
Another emerging trend of 2018–19, popularized by