The collegiate style is among us again
Fashion lives in cycles and revisitations but some styles, collection after collection, still appear timeless evergreens. Indeed, 2025 will still be the year of the collegiate style. After the recent reinterpretations by Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, Thom Browne and Elisabetta Franchi, the catwalks have heralded the return of this enduring classic in the coming season.
The college aesthetic dates back to the beginning of the 20th century when the Ivy Look became very popular, so called because it was inspired by the iconic uniforms of the most prestigious American and British universities. Until the 1950s, this mode of dress defined a high, educated and upwardly mobile social class. The identifying pieces of yesterday are almost the same as those we see on the catwalk today proposed by designers: bomber jackets, varsity jackets, university badges, ties, loafers, blazers, Bermuda shorts or khaki trousers and touches of tartan.
From the 1960s onwards, this look became more transversal and democratic, breaking out of its elitist confines thanks to designers such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, first and foremost, and to decidedly more punkish reinterpretations such as those later proposed by Vivienne Westwood. It was the 1990s and 2000s that decreed its definitive consecration, with films and music videos becoming milestones of pop culture. How can we forget, in fact, the uniforms of the rich Californian cousins in “Willy the Fresh Prince of Bel Air“, the wardrobes of generational films such as “Cruel Intentions” or “Clueless”, Britney Spears‘ mischievous debut in “Baby One More Time” or the glamorous reinterpretations of the stars of “Gossip Girl”?
In Italy, the first to debut this look in his shops was Elio Fiorucci, a genius and trend setter. The new versions of the collegiate style proposed by designers today are less adolescent and more sophisticated. Pharrell Williams once again brings a preppy version to the catwalk this year, JW Anderson for Uniqlo presents a more playful vision, and Prada returns to ride the wave of pastel-coloured logoed sweatshirts reinterpreted in an urban key with wool caps and baseball caps.
Even Bottega Veneta‘s new collection is presented to the public with a commercial that has gone viral to the tune of the iconic “Beverly Hills 90210” theme song, perhaps the first true generational series capable of portraying the teenage world without filters. The new collegiate style skilfully mixes elegance and sportiness without renouncing a pinch of mischief: it re-proposes the classic canons but interprets them with less rigour and more nonchalance. Wearing this aesthetic today actually means appreciating the school look by making it adult and revisiting it with contaminations and personalisations: because the real school, it is now clear, is not only that of the desks but is also, and above all, that of the street.