Flickering glows begin to dance onto Melania Zilo’s hands while she adjusts her delicate gold chain as it catches light from her phone screen.

Wearing a multicolored pastel pullover, Zilo, the editor-in-chief of FAU’s Strike Magazine, begins telling me about her first in-person meeting on Aug. 23.

“Things are going good. I’m excited to go back and have a real college experience again. We have our first [Strike Magazine] meeting next week, in-person finally,” said Zilo.

“After 2020, I think we’re seeing a rise of the rebellion of style. When things began to open people were really focused on their personal taste as opposed to what influencers were wearing on their [Instagram] timeline,” Zilo said.

Recently, trends that had been advertised on Instagram and TikTok are athleisure sets for women, gender-neutral sweater vests, exposed cut-out dresses, and straight-legged trousers.

Fast fashion brands like Shein, PrettyLittleThing, and Fashion Nova have ripped off runway pieces like the vintage “Thierry Mugler” long cut-out gown from their Spring/Summer 98 collection.

“Not only do we have trends of what’s in right now, that are actually supposed to last a few years, but now we have to keep up with these micro-trends that pop up on our timeline. It trickles down from influencers to make us buy it and then it disappears,” said Zilo.

Pastels, lively prints, and pops of color are the current state of fashion, but as the fall season approaches, the runway has predicted that the cheeriness of these colors and patterns will carry through.

“I think people don’t want to get rid of those happy colors. Lilac was a moment on the runway. I think it’s fun to add life in these cold months and we saw that all over the runway with Chanel, Raf Simons, and Versace,” said Zilo.

Two unsuspecting trends that we’ll be seeing more of are knitwear, clogs, and the return of mid-rise straight pants.

While the heavy shoe draws romanticism from simpler times, knitwear has been taking new forms from what was constructed in the past.

“On the runway, we saw it played with different shapes, silhouettes and cuts. Like oversized knitwear is a total vibe and it’s really attainable even if you try to replicate this trend with a co-ord set because it’s easy to put together and it works for fall,” Zilo said.

While womenswear will evolve into the fall and winter season, menswear will continue the use of layering jewelry and clothing, leather, deconstructed denim, and combat boots and focus more on accessories.

The nail polish trend may not have taken off in 2016 when Marc Jacobs tried to revolutionize it, but rapper Lil Yatchy has begun a unisex nail polish line called “CRETE.”

Frankie Nappi, the merchandise assistant at Strike Magazine, said, “Marc Jacobs is an influential designer, but he is nothing near Tyler, the Creator or ASAP Rocky who have genuine fans who follow him and dress like him.”

Crossbody bags and over-the-shoulder bags will emerge as a staple in men’s day-to-day uniform.

Showcased in Raf Simons Fall/Winter 2021 fashion show, models not only donned layered oversized pieces and had a staple color that tied up the outfit entirely, but sported oversized bags and a single dangling silver earring.

Simons is one of many designers who are structuring their portfolio to look more gender-neutral and gender nonconforming.

The timing of more gender-neutral clothing has dominated menswear in the past few years. This is shown in this year’s accessories and the conversational sphere in fashion.

For menswear, Nappi said, “What I do love [about womenswear] is the craftsmanship, stitching, design. I can definitely see that being captured in menswear as well, like highlighting everyone’s figure. Everything fits well and looks good on everyone’s body.”

Zilo shared the same sentiment when referring to the “less-is-more trend” when she said she’d like women to dress “as close as naked as you can be. I’m talking about transparent shapes and slim, thin, silky silhouettes.”
Menswear may be reaching neutrality, the 70s trend is also having a comeback for menswear.

In his recent “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Jacob Elordi wore a big collared shirt and rusty orange suit that resembled iconic outfits that Mick Jagger from The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin wore during their heydays in the late 60s’/early 70s’.

If you’re interested in developing your personal style and don’t know where to go, Zilo advised to avoid copying influencers and try to gather inspiration from “every day and finding things you’re attracted to like colors, or while watching a movie and seeing something that speaks to you.”

Welcoming in a new season and school year, Zilo and Nappie said these five staple pieces are a must-have for any closet: cowboy boots, tailored blazers of any color and size, a gold chain, a basic crewneck sweatshirt, and the classic vintage Levi’s 501.

Kizzy Azcarate is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, tweet her @Kizzy_kinz or [email protected]

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