Over the past year, we’ve all seen our shopping habits change. Not just in terms of the type of clothes we’re buying, but how we’re selecting them. Bar the moments of stir-crazed boredom that lead to impulsive online shopping, we now have all the time in the world to consider our purchases before we make them. Along with the financial uncertainties created by the pandemic, in many cases it’s drawn our sensibilities to wardrobe staples: ideal essentials.
“If you’re staying at home in your pajamas, you don’t want any pajamas, you want your exact pajamas,” Isabel Marant said on a video call from Paris. She was painting a picture of a collection that wasn’t specifically about the comfortwear we’ve all embraced in lockdown, but about the feelings we attach to our favorite clothes. “What I was always interested in was, ‘What do I wear today?’ From a pile of clothes, I will always pick the most comfortable ones. They make me feel secure, at ease.”
She employed that methodology to create an offering of elevated basics imbued with the look of age and comfort that gives a garment soul. “I love to study what people wear in the street. Sometimes I’m wondering why I’m a designer, because when you see people in the street, nine out of 10 people are wearing T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. When I look at myself, that’s what I’m wearing most of the time too,” Marant admitted. “So, it’s about how to make it more interesting through twists and styling.”
She gave her idea of wardrobe staples direction by way of an early-to-mid ’90s awareness expressed in retro sportswear influences and grungy granddad plaids, “aged” knits, flared check trousers, and oversized coats rendered in the humble colors of the classic men’s wardrobe. Floral motifs on the odd trouser—or tucked away in the lining of a coat—provided the playful personality we often associate with our favorite pieces. While made for a time when we’ll hopefully be released from confinement, they did reflect the comfort we’ve become accustomed to. “Once you put your foot in a sneaker, it’s very hard to get back in stilettos,” Marant quipped.
What was on her mind was this: “Why do we need more clothes when we have so many in our wardrobe? What’s going to make a difference? Why would you buy one sweater over another? For me, it’s important to understand why people are more attracted to certain things than others when we don’t really need other things.” Her study had the desired effect: well-thought-out staples that few of us would decline.
