11 Reasons to Be Excited About the Year in Fashion

Let’s start the year on a positive note. Rather than delve into the changes afoot in the business just yet, Vogue Runway is focusing on 11 signs that 2019 is going to be a great one for the fashion industry at large. It’s not just rose-colored optimism—although there’s some of that as we ask: Will Rihanna finally release a new album? According to reports, 2018 was fashion’s most inclusive and sustainable year ever, signaling a broader change within the industry toward social, political, and environmental awareness that is sure to continue in 2019.

This year will also bring plenty of designer debuts, sophomore efforts from buzzy designers, one very OTT Met Gala, and what we’re predicting to be a major red carpet season. If those aren’t enough reasons to be amped about the year in fashion, well, keep reading.

1. The Unstoppable Rise of Menswear

For the first time since the dawn of formalized runway shows, interest in menswear equals that of womenswear—and if things continue apace, it might outshine the women’s market in the not-so-distant future. Designers like Virgil Abloh, Kim Jones, Raf Simons, and Hedi Slimane—all of whom have had pretty high-profile job changes the past year—are in part to thank for their willingness to mine both high culture and pop culture for inspiration, creating clothing with broad appeal that still advances ideas of design, authorship, and craftsmanship. Gucci and Balenciaga have also had a hand in reshaping the way men dress, with haute logo tracksuits (the former) and surreal send-ups of normcore essentials (the latter). It’s not just graphics and streetwear, though, even if that’s what menswear buyers agree remain hot trends in the men’s market.

Male celebrities have taken a renewed interest in style over the past 18 months, resulting in the canonization of Jeff Goldblum, Jonah Hill, John Mayer, Odell Beckham Jr., and LeBron James as style icons on par with the ladies. Thom Browne is now dressing an entire sports team, FC Barcelona; Ezra Miller is wearing Givenchy Haute Couture; Craig Green is dressing Pusha T; Pharrell Williams designed a collection for Chanel; Timothée Chalamet is BFFs with Haider Ackermann . . . the list goes on and on, making the buzz around womenswear seem more like a distant din. Expect 2019 to be the year of the dude on the runways and red carpets.

2. An Actually Interesting Red Carpet Season

This awards season promises the most exciting red carpet in years. Two words: Lady Gaga. The A Star Is Born star has been nominated for a Golden Globe and is a shoe-in at the Academy Awards, where she is expected to be nominated for best actress and best original song. Gaga’s press tour for the film has been a fashion tour de force; she’s turned up in Valentino Haute Couture, archival Alexander McQueen, bold Marc Jacobs suits, and slinky Alaïa dresses, all of which bodes well for what she might deliver during awards season.

With Gaga upping the ante, one has to expect her fellow nominees will feel some pressure to take similar fashion risks—not that they need much of a push. Constance Wu, a Golden Globe nominee for Crazy Rich Asians, has already made a name for herself as a fashion star, as has Lupita Nyong’o, who will be making the circuit in support of Black Panther. The Favourite’s Emma Stone has a newly inked contract with Louis Vuitton that is sure to make for some memorable red carpet looks, while Mary Queen of Scots stars Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie are still in the running for Oscar noms.

The larger red carpet picture is changing in exciting ways, too. Brands like Clare Waight Keller’s Givenchy and Hedi Slimane’s Celine are becoming increasingly popular, while the menswear game has been elevated by (the aforementioned) Chalamet, Mahershala Ali, and Chadwick Boseman. All in all, there’s a lot to watch for when the season kicks off with the Globes on January 6.

3. A Number of Debuts This Womenswear Season and a Few Absences . . .

As it stands, the Fall 2019 womenswear season promises many sophomore collections and debuts. The biggest act, of course, will be Hedi Slimane’s second womenswear show for Celine. After a divisive start that had the world talking—some in favor of his youth-centric vision, others vehemently against it—the stakes are high for his Fall 2019 collection. Riccardo Tisci will also be showing a second collection at Burberry; expect a natural evolution of the ladylike and punk themes he established at his debut.

As for what’s new, Daniel Lee, the Celine alum, will present his first runway show at Bottega Veneta after a well-regarded Pre-Fall collection was released in December. Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh will debut their first collection as creative directors of Nina Ricci, while Ricci’s onetime guy Guillaume Henry will revive the house of Jean Patou. There’s also the matter of Calvin Klein, which was confirmed to show during NYFW, but now, following Raf Simons’s departure, is absent from the schedule. Also absent is Rodarte, which will show its Fall 2019 collection in California in the days preceding New York Fashion Week.

4. . . . Which Means Plenty of Good Front Row Chatter, Like What Will Happen at Calvin Klein? And What’s Raf Up to Next?

Simons’s abbreviated tenure at Calvin Klein is likely to be all anyone talks about at the upcoming round of shows, and for good reason. The beloved Belgian designer arrived stateside at a tough time for American fashion (and America in general), offering a beacon of hope. The relationship got off to a smooth start with two collections that revisited classic American staples before things are said to have gone awry. The breakup, taking place in the final minutes before the Christmas holiday, left room for plenty of speculation. Most say Simons won’t be taking up a new creative directorship anytime soon. Some have started to bandy about the names of esteemed designers currently without commitments—Phoebe Philo, Alber Elbaz, Stefano Pilati, Christopher Bailey—in regards to the vacant seat at the head of the CK empire. Others are sure the brand will capitalize on its jeans and underwear businesses and leave runway fashion in its past. Here’s what we say: Simons’s eponymous brand thrives when his time is not split between two ventures—could his singular focus catapult the menswear world to new places?

5. Fashion Has Never Been More Inclusive—And That Needs to Continue

The Spring 2019 season was the most diverse ever at New York Fashion Week in terms of race, age, gender, and size. Brands like Chromat, Pyer Moss, Christian Siriano, Gypsy Sport, and Eckhaus Latta have led the way in inclusivity, creating runway shows that reflect the real world around them, but they now are far from alone. From Opening Ceremony to Versace to Vivienne Westwood, labels around the world have become a more welcoming place for models of all ethnic backgrounds, sizes, and gender identifications—but there are still plenty of improvements to be made.

6. Fashion Is Finally Starting to Get Serious About Environmentalism

Everlane will eliminate virgin plastic from its business by 2021, and Stella McCartney has engineered a chic sneaker that doesn’t use any toxic glue. That’s great news from those two behemoth brands, but 2019 promises plenty of sustainable achievements for smaller labels, too. New Zealander Maggie Marilyn has adopted sustainable, plant-based packaging. Public School got schooled in upcycling by Eileen Fisher. The used water bottles in Flint, Michigan, are even being made into eyewear! All this is to say, there is really no excuse for not making efforts to rethink production and products in more sustainable ways. If brands don’t do it now, there won’t be a fashion market in 2050.

7. A Campy Met Gala Hosted by Gucci, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, and Serena Williams

With Gaga, Styles, and Williams as hosts and Gucci as the official sponsor, this year’s Met Gala will be everything. Drawing from Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay, “Notes on Camp,” Andrew Bolton’s  “Camp: Notes on Fashion” exhibition will explore the relationship between irony, luxury, and artifice through the work of Franco Moschino, Virgil Abloh, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Thom Browne, and many more. What that means for the red carpet is: trompe l’oeil, sequins, feathers, teddy-bear coats, and—we hope—at least one John Waters–inspired mustache.

8. Virgil Abloh Opens His First Retrospective This June in Chicago

Following a performance at Coachella, making him the first fashion designer to ever preside over Indio, California, Abloh will open a retrospective exhibition at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art this June. Tentatively titled “Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech,” the show is expected to cover everything from Abloh’s entrée into the worlds of fashion and music through his work with Kanye West, Pyrex Vision, and Been Trill all the way through to his artistic directorship at Louis Vuitton menswear; his collaborations with Takashi Murakami; and his own brand, Off-White. Expect a lot of museum merch, a bunch of celebrity guests and collaborators, and lines snaking around the museum to enter.

9. Dapper Dan’s Memoir Is Coming Out—Followed by a Biopic

Few have a had a more interesting career in fashion than Dapper Dan, whose Harlem store was situated at the intersection of luxury, rap, and bootleg cultures. After a partnership with Gucci that began in 2017 and saw the designer reopen an atelier in New York, Dap, né Daniel Day, is telling his story in a memoir that will be released by Random House on July 9. You’ll have the rest of 2019 to breeze through its pages before a biopic based on the book arrives in theaters in 2020 or 2021 from Jerrod Carmichael and Sony. If you just can’t wait, Dapper Dan also features on a segment of CNN’s new series, American Style, debuting January 13 at 9 p.m.

10. New Music From Fashion’s Favorite Women

The Coachella lineup was announced last night, and it promises plenty of fashion moments courtesy of Janelle Monáe, Solange Knowles, Kacey Musgraves, Jaden Smith, and Virgil Abloh, though it won’t be the only fashion-music link-up of the year. If her Instagram comments are to be believed, Rihanna will have a new album out in 2019, giving the Bad Gal plenty of opportunities to turn out a look. In Las Vegas, Lady Gaga has just started her Enigma show, already sporting Tom Ford and Versace, while Björk will take over the Shed in New York this April to debut new music and presumably some new looks from Gucci, Iris van Herpen, and As Four.

11. Martin Margiela Is Maybe, Kind of, Could Be, Sorta Back—We Hope

All signs point to more Margiela-isms in 2019—not just homages but work from the man himself. In 2018, the most reclusive designer of them all accepted an award (rare), created a new artwork for Garage magazine (rarer), and curated a retrospective of his work at the Palais Galliera (rarest of all). He’s on a roll. What will he do next? Surely something. Right? Yes? Please?!