Fashion in the Covid era: function and comfort rules

Futurists and forecasters are having a field day right now. But fashion speaks volumes about the global mood.

Futurists and forecasters are having a field day right now, peering into the months and years ahead, mapping how our world and lives might be permanently changed by this pandemic. There is little certainty in any of it, but in fashion we’ve had strong early pointers with a global (and very welcome) shift towards function and comfort.

As fashion editor Glynis Traill-Nash writes, labels that specialise in activewear and leisure wear are among the few big winners in retail. Those of us who have returned to offices have noticed a more casual vibe, partly because once you’ve adapted to trackies and runners, anything more structured and fitted feels all wrong. I can’t speak for the other ladies out there, but the sight of stilettos, for instance, now brings thoughts of ­torture implements from a completely different world.