The ‘The Layered Model’ layering editorial is one of our online ISSUE segments, head to THE GLACIAL ISSUE for the complete editorial and the complete set of images
A New Spin on Winter Fashion: Extreme Layering is Hot
It’s the time of year when you don’t want to leave your bed in the morning because everything around you seems frozen. The cold is ready to devour you the moment you set foot outside your house. The only solution: wear everything you own to survive the cold, but how do you make this fashionable? Let’s break the news, extreme layering is hot right now.
It’s true, dressing up during winter can be a challenging task. Assembling a cute outfit while struggling to find anything relatively warm can be very limiting, leaving us bored of the same monotonous winter uniform. Fashion creativity should not be extinguished during the winter. One can survive the cold and look stylish while doing it. Brands have moved on from conventional styling and its silhouettes. They have embraced a new spin on winter clothes, bringing a breath of fresh air to the fashion world.
Layering is the solution to all our problems. It keeps us warm, allowing us to utilise our closet to the fullest. The trick is to layer your clothes smartly and efficiently, combining textures, styles, and materials to create a warm stylish bundle. Volume and layers are our allies. They transform us into chic cocoons ready to conquer any wintertime day as our most fashionable selves.
clothing, Puffers are personal archive
Inspiration from Runway Looks: Surviving the Cold and Looking Cute
Most people picturing cold weather, immediately think of puffer jackets overshadowing their outfits, making a practical coat the only necessary piece of their daily life. However, taking inspiration from runway looks, a distinct pattern arises. Designers have tried to embrace a futuristic approach to the classic puffer or fur jacket, striving for voluminous and contemporary ensembles. Ottolinger RTW Fall 2022, focused on extreme puffer designs layered on top of each other, pulled into place and tied asymmetrically to create stylish protective armours against the cold. Layers of faux fur accessories—a staple for every winter closet—are an unconventional twist creating an edgier character to classic winter outfits. Heliot Emil, through his Paris debut for Fall 2022 proposed a futuristic take on winter fashion, marrying industrial elegance with the classic puffer jacket. The Danish brand gave the winter essentials an interesting twist, mixing futurism with a medieval aesthetic by using extreme layers and volumes. Similarly, Rick Owens’ runway inspiration combines the medieval aesthetic with an alien-like look, using extreme layers and volume. The brand achieves an unconventional approach to winter fashion through incorporating sweaters with different cuts layered on top of each other and coats so big you can survive the frostiest of days, always keeping the brand’s cool and unique vibe.
The movement away from conventional styling is contemporary. It allows for creativity to thrive, creating a blank canvas for the imagination. We are witnessing the rise of voluminous silhouettes and eccentric layering that not only give a twist to the repetitious winter outfits but also satisfies the need to stay warm. The outfits are honestly very cool, so why not get inspiration from them?
LOAD Fashion Editorial: An Homage to Extreme Layering and Unconventional Styling
LOAD Magazine gives life to the ‘layered’ look on this issue’s fashion editorial. This particular look aims to mimic the layers of an onion: multiple layers that are complementary to each other.
The models presented in this editorial pose in a simple way, to display the coolness that unconventional styling possesses. Using winter essentials, like faux fur coats, puffer jackets and sweaters, the LOAD team creates unique artwork, drawing outside the lines. The use of multiple layers of different materials accentuates the volume on top, leaving the legs exposed and mimicking the layers of an onion and those of fashion.
Fashion is not unidimensional. The deeper you dig into your imagination the greater it becomes. Creativity should allow for the rawest of thoughts and ideas to thrive and mainstream shapes should not restrain it. The ‘layered’ look allows the imagination to thrive and this is evident in the eccentricity of this fashion editorial. The models conjure confidence and power dressed up in extreme figures acting as a source of inspiration for anyone daring enough to layer unconventional pieces together. Ones that give a playful character to our attire, unleashing the inner layers of our psyche.
The styling of this editorial allows our imagination to delve into unsurpassed territories of fashionable perception. The understanding that clothes must complement the exact shape of our physique is deemed amiss; weather conditions shouldn’t wither our expressiveness, and neither should conservative silhouettes. This LOAD fashion editorial acts as an ode to the unorthodox verifying once again the support for anything original and controversial. It reveals a new angle on winter basics, warming our imagination for the icy months to come. Winter is coming and our layers are out—we love that!
Unleashing your Inner Layers
This fashion editorial acts as a source of inspiration for those who struggle to express their inner fashion thoughts during the glacial months. Dressing up during the hibernation period should not be a choice between looking cute and freezing or staying warm and looking boring. Fashion has multiple layers and we love incorporating all of them in one outfit. Playing with volume and materials is so much fun. Do not be afraid to embrace the layered look, it is both practical and classy. Allow yourselves to rebel away from commercial silhouettes and participate in the new era of eccentricity, letting your inner layers shine through the conventional.
Written by Errika Moniou
Visit the THE GLACIAL ISSUE for the complete editorial and images
Team:
Photographer Maria Chatziathanasiadis @chatziathanasiadis
Styling Ioannis Andreou @vinyl_face
In Frame Maria Basta @bluejava_, Bozhen Chen @_bozhen_
Makeup Elena Karatsoki @elena_karatsoki
Hair Stylist Alexandros Metaxoulis @alexmethair
Art Direction Filippos Vogdanis @philip.vogdanis
Assistant Art Director Konstantinos Tsagkaris @konstantinos.tsagkaris, Elektra Avgouli @godblessdrama
Studio Busy Bee
Article by Errika Moniou @emoniou