A couple of the Who What Wear editors and I were discussing the high street’s A/W 21 trends the other day, and the main thing we noted was how similar they were to last year’s offering. And you know what? It really is a breath of fresh air. Scroll through any new-in category right now, and you’ll see plenty of cold-weather heroes starting to trickle in: puffer coats, chunky boots, crew-neck knits and clean-lined tailoring. The emphasis seems to be on classics over gimmicks and versatility over novelty. Has the concept of trends taken a bit of a bashing over the last 12 months? Undoubtedly, and it shows.
So what does this mean for our relationship with the new season? Well, it simply means that there’s less of a chance that you’ll be craving large quantities of newness as, most likely, you’ll already have many of the items sitting in your wardrobe. We recommend that you use our high-street edit as a way to curate your capsule and inspire your autumnal outfit pairings, whether it’s reaching for those knee-high boots or layering up collared knits and quilted coats. However, if you do discover a gap, then we think that the below pieces will tick both the form and function boxes now and for many years to come. Ready to go? Scroll down to see and shop our high-street A/W 21 edit.
Up Next: I’ve Created the Perfect Autumn Capsule, and It’s Made Up of These 11 Pieces