The Capsule Wardrobe Is Dead. Here’s How To Shop Now

I’ve long been perplexed by the concept (and appeal) of the capsule wardrobe. Sure, it’s nice to find the perfect pair of vintage Levi’s 501s, or a Sea Island Cotton T-shirt that’s as soft as the skin of a newborn baby, but I’m sorry Donna Karan, with your Seven Easy Pieces, and Joan Didion, with your streamlined packing list. Versatile staples don’t turn me on!

Beige separates, cashmere layers and black trousers are all considered prerequisites for a classic wardrobe that will stand the test of time, regardless of shifting trends, but wardrobe basics – the fundamentals of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy-coded chic – are not the reason I became interested in clothes. When I look at the autumnal purchases of industry friends – traditionally sensible navy jumpers or weatherproof basics – it seems that, this season, they are ditching the conventionally “tasteful” in favour of all things eclectic and individual.

At a recent Tiffany & Co. lunch in honour of Frieze’s Artist to Artist programme, Elizabeth Paton, fashion editor of the Financial Times, was wearing a new season Dries Van Noten white shirt with ornamented golden sleeves, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle UK fashion director Avril Mair’s hands were weighed down by cocktail rings she’d snapped up at the Navigli flea market on the morning of the Armani show in Milan, and Wallpaper*’s watches and jewellery editor Felix Bischof was intermittedly distracted by Vinted, where he was hunting for weathered slogan tees.

The spring/summer 2027 runways revealed a distinct focus on you-do-you dressing and personality-led pieces. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons sent 63 skirts down the Prada runway, embellished variously with floral chainmail, abstract squiggle prints and quirky velcro inserts. Chanel jackets were festooned with buttons, firework-like beads and corsages, and Dior’s signature Bar jackets were imagined as wispy chiffon separates designed to be layered over everything from check miniskirts to metallic trousers to fluid dresses.

Dries Van Noten wunderkind Julian Klausner presented one of the most warmly received collections of the season, which also looked like something you could recreate at home with a little imagination: paperbag skirts paired with striped polo shirts, and cardigans cinched with brooches, alongside vintage-looking tees that peeked from under plunging floral dresses. Bras, meanwhile, were styled in a multitude of ways, over and under clothing or entirely alone. “You can style it in a way that works for you… I’d wear one under a sheer top or I’d wear it over a distressed tee,” said British Vogue’s head of editorial content, Chioma Nnadi, after the shows.

Celine’s Michael Rider is the man leading the charge when it comes to individuality-focused dressing, where experimental styling is key to what Nnadi has dubbed “the modern magpie” look. Phoebe Philo (whose own fabled tenure at Céline is often incorrectly referenced as minimalist), who is often looked to for the perfect tailored trouser, ribbed tank or crewneck sweater, recently unveiled her eponymous brand’s collection F, populated with defiantly anti-capsule wardrobe pieces. Among the utility pants, silk shirting and trenches, a tailored jacket exploded with couture-inspired taffeta ruffles that trailed dramatically to the ground.

Finally, The Row, a brand long associated with stealth wealth dressing, and invested in by those women who have a capsule wardrobe in all of their many homes, (the brand’s Dera cotton and cashmere-blend jersey T-shirt will set you back £810), leaned into a subtly bohemian, layered mood. Talismanic pendants were hidden beneath transparent, embellished blouses, trousers were secured with lengths of DIY ribbon, and overcoats were layered with scarves that resembled lace tablecloths.

“I’m not a big believer in the capsule wardrobe or the investment piece,” vintage obsessive Camille Charrière told British Vogue back in August. She was referring to her splurge on a key piece from Dario Vitale’s cult first and last collection for Versace, a colourful face print skirt, that also captured the hearts of fellow fashion insiders Alexa Chung and Julia Sarr-Jamois. Charrière wasn’t shopping according to what her wardrobe needed. “This was just love,” she said.

“People are fatigued by the idea of capsule wardrobes, quiet luxury and conventionally good taste,” chimes in British Vogue contributing editor Osman Ahmed. “I hate the term investment piece. Ultimately, a lot of these phrases make shopping feel like painting by numbers and like you’re buying a navy sweater or the perfect white tee because someone has said you need to. Fashion isn’t just about luxury, it’s about being open to new ideas. The spring/summer 2027 season really felt like a call to arms to make clothes your own.”