Four Ways to Wear Autumn/Winter 2018’s Utilitarian Uniform

The Autumn/Winter 2018 collections came with renewed purpose, and a simple dictum: clothing should be practical, and made to live in. As such, a proliferance of utilitarian details – pockets, hoods, bumbags and the like – punctuated the season, seeing designers make a case for form and function at once. 

In New York, Calvin Klein 205W39NYC set the paradigm – Raf Simons’ women looked geared not just for the rigours of modern life, but potential post-apocalyptic futures, too. Among two tonnes of popcorn, scattered across the floor like snow, and the backdrop of a simulacra of a burnt-out barn, they strode forth in firefighter’s uniforms, hazmat suits and leather gloves like those one might find in a nuclear-grade facility. Clothing for the elements, indeed. 

From there to the elegant practicality of Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe or the hardy, rock climbing-ready acccessories proposed by Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga, Sam Rock, Agata Belcen and Nell Kalonji explore the season’s new sense of utility, taken from AnOther Magazine Autumn/Winter 2018.

1. Pockets (above)

Go hands-free – a houndstooth jacket by Loewe, with its plethora of pockets, and a Sportmax bumbag, strapped around the waist, provide welcome relief from handbags and other cumbersome accessories.

2. Hi-vis

If it goes in life that one must see and be seen, then a hi-vis jacket is a way to ensure the latter. Indulge in a little light role-play with this distressed jacket by Calvin Klein 205W39NYC, evoking the uniform of a quintessential American firefighter.

3. Camouflage

Temper any suggestion of combat by wearing your camouflage jacket oversized and unzipped – here, layered over a sportswear-inspired hood by Wales Bonner and worn with the off-kilter combination of socks and Loewe sandals, definitive proof that camo is just as well-suited for city streets as far-off expeditions. 

4. Outdoors

The great outdoors can provide challenges to even a well-rehearsed outfit – not least the possibility of rain. A cape in cotton gabardine by Salvatore Ferragamo provides a hardy outer layer for braving the elements – while a carabiner necklace, like those worn on a rock climber’s belt, provides the accordant outdoorsy accessory. 

Hair: Kiyoko Odo at Bryant Artists. Make-up: Nami Yoshida at Bryant Artists using Le Mat de Chanel Apotheosis and Le Lift by Chanel. Model: Veronika Kunz at The Squad Management. Casting: Noah Shelley at AM Casting. Set design: Janina Pedan at The Magnet Agency. Photographic assistants: Jack Symes and Alessandro Tranchini. Styling assistants: Rebecca Perlmutar, Chloe Grace Press, Camila Paiva, Joseph Ecorchard and Kristina Bagdonaite. Set-design assistant: Ksenia Pedan. Production: Carmel Dione Reeves.

This story originally featured in the Autumn/Winter 2018 issue of AnOther Magazine which is on sale internationally now.