This is a strange Spring fashion edit to write. The Spring 2020 collections were shown last September, designed in the year before, and produced through the winter. They are arriving in stores the same week the country is shutting down. We are going to do this differently than we usually do — instead of “the looks worth chasing,” we are going to talk about the pieces we still genuinely want to buy, and how the brands behind them are showing up in this moment.
The wide-leg trouser is the hero piece of the season
Across Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, and Proenza Schouler, the wide-leg trouser was the dominant lower-half silhouette of Spring 2020. The pleat is back, the rise is high, and the leg falls in a clean column to the floor. This is the piece you can wear on the rare occasion you leave the house in the next three months and continue to wear when normal life resumes. Marc Jacobs has the most precise version. Tory Burch has the most accessible.
The shirtdress is having a quiet moment
The Spring 2020 shirtdress — relaxed at the waist, knee-length, in cotton or linen — is everywhere this season. Tory Burch has built half a collection around it. Brandon Maxwell has elevated it for evening with silk and a tie waist. The piece reads as polished without trying, which is the exact register that the next several months are going to call for. We bought one in January and it is the single most-worn piece in our closet.
Knitwear is the new investment piece
We have been saying for two years that knit basics are underrated, and Spring 2020 finally agrees. Tory Burch‘s cashmere short-sleeve and Brandon Maxwell‘s lightweight crewneck are the two pieces we expect to keep in rotation through spring and summer. Coach has continued to expand its knitwear category and the prices remain quietly reasonable.
Calvin Klein has settled into its new identity
One year after the 205W39NYC label was wound down, Calvin Klein has settled into a clean, minimalist mainline. The Spring 2020 lineup is denim-forward, ribbed-knit-heavy, and quietly excellent. There is no runway story to chase. The clothes are there to be worn. We expect this is roughly where the brand will live for the next several seasons.
The bag conversation has gone quiet
For the first time in a decade, the “It bag” conversation has effectively stopped. Nobody is leaving the house. The bags that will earn their way into closets in 2020 are the ones we already own — and the new ones we want are the small, easy, cross-body styles, not the architectural statement pieces. Coach has the strongest cross-body lineup at accessible prestige prices.
What the houses are doing in the moment
The American houses are responding meaningfully. Marc Jacobs has paused all marketing campaigns. Tory Burch Foundation announced a small-business grant program for women-owned businesses. LVMH retooled its perfume factories for hand sanitizer. We are going to keep tracking the actions through the year, because the brands that show up now will earn long memory.
What we are wearing this Spring
One Tory Burch shirtdress, one Marc Jacobs wide-leg trouser, one Coach cross-body bag, and one Calvin Klein ribbed knit. That is the Spring 2020 starter pack. It is also more or less the lockdown spring uniform. We will see you in June for the summer jewellery edit. Stay home, stay safe.