The other day I came across an interview with Natalie Kingham, the buying director at matchesfashion.com. Natalie, 40, was the one who picked up Alexander McQueen’s 3rd collection for Joseph. She buys for 14 boutiques and the Matches online store too. The woman can apparently look at a bag and know that if it fastens in a certain way it will sell. In other words; a buying prodigy.
Anyway, in this interview they ask her about what she thinks will be a key trend this fall. Her answer?
“Normcore.”
Excuse my ignorance if you’re familiar with the term ‘normcore,’ I applaud your fashion savviness. But I came home and did a little bit of research. Turns out, normcore is a unisex trend, characterized by unpretentious, average-looking clothing. The term combines the words “normal” and “hardcore”, and was coined by K-Hole, a trend forecasting group. Source? Wikipedia. Seriously.
It goes on to say that “normcore wearers are people who do not wish to distinguish themselves from others by their clothing. This is not to mean that they are unfashionable people who wear whatever comes to hand, but that they consciously choose clothes that are undistinguished – except, frequently, for a highly visible label to impart prestige. The “normcore” trend has been interpreted as a reaction to a fashion oversaturation resulting from ever faster-changing fashion trends.”
It occured to me quite suddenly, that I actually have witnessed this trend, and have been witnessing it over the past few years. I just didn’t know what it was coined. With birkenstocks coming back into fashion, Adidas slippers, knits, knits, knits, and rucksacks by every single living designer in the world. Basically a return to normality. Casualness. I think it’s more of an attitude than a look really. A plain attitude. Jeremy Lewis, the founder of Garmento, calls normcore “one facet of a growing anti-fashion sentiment.”
It’s clear as day now when I scroll through my Instagram and tumblr and find bloggers and fashion it girls following this trend. Throwing on a nike snapback with some anonymous denim and disappearing into the crowd headphones in ear listening to their Alt-J playlist. Personally, I do think everyone in this world has a particular sense of style and an interpretation of how they perceive it too. I have never worn Birkenstocks, or the Celine version there of for that matter. So why would I go out and buy a pair now?
I think my style has been pretty consistent over the years. I do like to try new things, but I’m not comfortable changing the way I dress to to follow a certain trend. However, the anonymity of the normcore trend is what appeals to me. “I wonder who that blazer is by?” and “that leather skirt is divine”. I’m attracted to hardware, which is why you can always tell what bag I’m carrying. The Vivienne bag by Louis Vuitton, the Cassandre by Saint Laurent, and even the Natalia bag by Tomford, all have massive statement hardware. It’s chunky. It’s hardcore. I like buckles, chains, and statement hardware. With clothing, the more understated the better. I’m very monochrome, and quite plain. So I’m a little norm with a little core myself, but you won’t find me in birks and sweatpants, ever. It’s quite ironic that this trend is meant to be quite effortless, but it’s actually far from. People are consciously going out of there way to be anti-fashion. Oh well, there it is. Normcore everybody!
