Labu-who?
There are 2 kinds of fashion lovers in 2025, those who know what a Labubu is and those who don’t, For those who don’t its likely you won’t care even once I enlighten you, this is because Labubu Dolls are bag charms, bag charms are divisive anyway and this particular bag charm is in the shape of a little furry monster, designed by Artist Kasing Lung and made viral by Korean Pop band Black Pink who, if they too are new to you, have a combined social media following of 400 million, making them pretty influential world wide and part of the reason these pointy eared, spiky toothed little gremlins are sold out everywhere.
Labubu dolls aren’t the only divisive trend this season, let’s talk through a few of the others that will either have you adding to basket or rolling your eyes to the back of your head. Jelly shoes, if you are picturing the Ju-Ju jellies you wore in the 80s and 90s, you’re on the right track, the under 5s have had the monopoly on this water friendly shoe for the past 2 decades, now we adults have officially reclaimed it. Designers aren’t reinventing the wheel, the retro cage design is leading the way, for a full hit of nostalgia choose a translucent pair and head to the beach, for a more modern approach choose a thong sandal, red seems to be the most popular colour, you can blow your budget on a pair from Ancient Greek Sandals or save by heading to River Island. My worry with this trend is the volume of plastic shoes heading straight to landfill as soon as its no longer in fashion, so maybe only buy them if its something you’ll take on holiday for years to come.
If you follow the catwalk shows then this next trend won’t come as a surprise to you, if you don’t you may be wondering if its a late April fool, at the AW24 Chloe show the models were all wearing Bloomers, voluminous, lace trimmed gathered above the ankle silk bloomers aka pantaloons. On the catwalk they made sense among the whimsical layers and ruffles, how they translate in real life is yet to be decided, Free People were hot off the mark in releasing their version the “forever young” pants which retail for £88, a snip less than Chloe which start at £1800, and that’s not for the silk.
If Victorian inspired bloomers miss the mark with you then I will reign it back in for the last one and give you a trend that gives you 2-4-1. Bandana prints are back in the shops at French brands Isabel Marant and Sandro and they have inspired H&M, ASOS and Urban Outfitters, but the real trend is to wear the bandana print on a scarf, the obvious way is as a neckerchief but that’s not ideal for warm weather so try it around the top of your jeans, knotted at your waist or if the scarf is big enough, as a bandeau top for holidays, you aren’t limited to bandana print, any print works, tile print, stripes, florals, geometrics, which is great as you probably already own one.
This is my kind of trend, the kind you can road test for free, no strings attached.
