2018 Fashion Trends: Athleisure, Virgil Abloh, Rei Kawakubo, and More

The article reviews major fashion trends of 2018, highlighting the rise of athleisure, where sportswear and high fashion merge, with sneakers becoming everyday footwear. Virgil Abloh is named designer of the year for his work at Louis Vuitton Men's and Off-White, including collaborations with Rimowa, Chrome Hearts, Takashi Murakami (at Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills), and Nike (Football, Mon Amour capsule for the World Cup in Russia). Clare Waight Keller, creative director of Givenchy, is noted for reviving haute couture under LVMH, presenting her first couture collection in January 2018. The article discusses the intersection of fashion and politics, citing the sale of Versace to a US group and Christopher Wylie's revelations about Cambridge Analytica using fashion preference data for political targeting (Trump campaign, Brexit). Rei Kawakubo is celebrated for her MoMA retrospective "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between," challenging fashion conventions, and her influence on protégés like Chitose Abe, Junya Watanabe, and Jun Takahashi. The TV adaptation of Elena Ferrante's "My Brilliant Friend" by Saverio Costanzo is praised for its costume design, set in 1950s-60s Naples. Steve McQueen's film "Widows" is noted for its Hollywood glamour costumes, particularly on actresses Cynthia Erivo and Elizabeth Debicki. Hypebeast Limited, founded by Kevin Ma, is highlighted as a top media and e-commerce company focusing on athleisure, streetwear, and hip-hop culture.