Big, hulking, embroidered skirts in all fabrications and forms are back, and they’ve never looked better. One only has to look to the spring/summer 2027 runways to see that the easy garment (that effortlessly makes a statement and takes up space) is back. Marni, Etro, Dior, and Prada each released its own form of the out-there skirt, whether covered in cascades of crystals or accented with buttons, buckles, or ruffles; take your pick. But things start to get really interesting when these aforementioned over-the-top skirts are combined with another rising trend: technical jackets. Together, the duo creates fashion harmony.
The contrasting concept was seen on the spring/summer 2027 runways at Prada, Burberry (where hyper-embellished dresses were completely obscured with tech-y jackets up top and ended up mirroring skirts), and Altuzarra, to name a few. For Prada, the skirt was the major focus of the collection and a major draw for Prada-lites who have long admired the brand and Mrs. Prada for her own personal dedication to wearing and making standout skirts throughout the years. Prada’s show notes also acknowledged the juxtaposed rustic leather jackets and utilitarian, technical toppings that so perfectly curated the look.
Burberry spring/summer 2027.
“Equally, our perception of a garment may be changed through its friction with other,” Prada’s show notes read. “A skirt may be abstracted, a fragment of a whole with a mutating rapport with the pieces it juxtaposes: a sweater, a shirt, a bra top can each suggest alternate readings of a whole. Here, there is inherent beauty found in the survey of the familiar—in asking how many forms a known thing might assume, how many different possibilities may exist within.”
Altuzarra spring/summer 2027.
It has more to do with styling than shopping. The skirt offers a ladylike hint of formality, while the jacket (an anorak, barn jacket, or track jacket: choose any one of them) gives you that down-to-earth realness and rawness that is often associated with the best kinds of outfits that feel truly personal.
“I love pairing contrasting pieces together,” says the maximalist content creator Anna Golka, who frequently selects tutus and ruffled skirts with technically inspired jackets and tops. “Playing with that tension between practical and impractical, pretty and a little strange, is what I think makes a look feel unique and inspired.” She also sometimes layers her statement skirts over pants.
When in doubt, replace your jeans with a statement skirt and go from there. Think: function on the top and party on the bottom.