2018 Fashion Trend: A New Generation of Power Suits

Power suits, aka pantsuits, have been a favorite of designers and street stylers for some time now. Still, this past fashion month, the trend managed to pick up even more steam. (Yep, even with its fuel tank already full to bursting.) In the early days of the trend, many drew inspiration from the wardrobe of one Hillary Clinton. (She’s worn pantsuits in just about every color, from sunshine yellow to bright red to deep purple.) Notably, in July 2016, Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination for the presidency in a crisp white pantsuit that paid homage to the women’s suffrage movement and females within and without the fashion world followed, ahem, suit. Two years later, the allure of the pantsuit — its ability to combine power and style — hasn’t faded. However, with time, the suits on offer have gotten progressively wackier. (No complaints here.) On the Fall 2018 runways, we saw a slew of seriously wild, office-unfriendly options. Marc Jacobs gave a hard nod to the early 80s when women charged the corporate world in wide-cut, concealing, double-breasted, shoulder-padded suits designed to disguise their femininity. Loewe gave us sliced-open jacket sleeves and pockets big enough to hold all of our daily essentials. Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain army marched in a wide range of suits, some of them shimmery and metallic, others holographic and PVC (read: totally see-through). Suffice it to say, this latest batch of runway suits is not for the faint of heart. So, will you do it? Do you dare to wear ’em? (We’ve already gotten a resounding “YES!” from Zendaya, who was recently spotted out in Jacobs’ kooky, colorblocked zoot suit.) Check out Fall 2018’s standout suits in the slideshow above, then cast your vote.