The micro mini first came into our periphery in the 1960s with designer, Mary Quant, credited with having helped to invent the design. But it wasn’t until the late 90s and early 00s that the trend picked up steam, becoming the garment of the moment within pop culture. Beloved by A-listers such as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, the mini skirt was sported in a range of different iterations including distressed denim, low slung waistlines and ruffled hems.

The party-ready piece is now bursting onto the runways of Miu Miu and Blumarine, with the designers of the moment reimagining the skirt with embellished sequins, schoolgirl pleats and butterfly motifs galore. Just like back in the day, it’s the fashion It-Girls who are taking the trend and running with it, stars like Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa can often be found frolicking about in their shortest short skirts, of course in line with the rest of their vintage-inspired uniform! Generation Z has followed suit, taking note from high fashion labels and experimenting with the trend via social media platforms like Tiktok and Instagram.

As its popularity soars, is it comfort over style for this controversial trend? When it comes to the micro-mini we think otherwise, as its impracticality becomes ever more apparent. Appearing not much lengthier than your average wide waist belt, exposed midriffs and barely-there bottoms are just some of the risqué attributes the micro-mini presents … one gust of wind and all will be revealed, but do you really care? While the above may be true, we, for one, are not too fussed and quite frankly, nothing is going to stop us from jumping on the bandwagon of this style revival.

There is one major difference, though, from the micro-mini we saw two decades ago compared to the one we face as of late. Noughties fashion was notoriously exclusive and represented a real lack of diversity among those who wore it. The sexual connotations that the revealing style triggered only helped to exaggerate this problem. However, these days the power has been given back to the people and we are taking fashion and its meanings into our own hands. A style that once was created purely for the pleasing of a man, has now been recreated with a completely new agenda. The micro mini symbolises female empowerment, celebrating your body and dressing for yourself and that is exactly what we want to see in 2022. Girl power unlocked!

Love it or hate it there is no doubt that the micro mini is back and it’s better than ever. Just in case you needed some more inspiration to get on board with this trend, here are some of our favourite iterations of this style!

£ 445

AGR Brushed Cotton-Blend Mini Skirt

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£ 29

UO Y2K Wrap Mini Skirt

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£ 89

Miaou Elektra Mini Skirt

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£ 3936.29

Miu Miu Bead Embellished Mini Skirt

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£ 39

BDG Washed Brown 00s Corduroy Kilt

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Words By Ella Citron-Thompkins

_{Photo Credit: Dua Lipa Instagram}

The post The Micro-Mini Is Making A Comeback appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Japan has been a hub for pop culture for a couple of decades now: with the influx of anime reaching a large western audience, Japanese music such as J-pop and J-rock again being widely received in the West. The fashion however has made the strongest impact.

Tokyo street style, and the fashions of those who walk through Harajuku, one of Tokyo’s most stylish places, has graced the West with some of the coolest, freshest and wonderfully strangest looks we’ve seen so far. Big brands have adopted Japanese characters into their stores, their designs and even the language has been adopted into western fashion.

Most recently Primark have been pioneers for making lovable Japanese cartoons into cute and wearable items. Pusheen made a huge debut in Primark and has been received extremely well, with new themed garments coming out each season, including one of the most recent additions, that’s right, Pusheen themed Halloween socks. Primark has also embraced Gudetama, a lazy egg Sanrio character which I’m sure we can all relate to, donning phrases like ‘reasons to get out of bed..none’.

Whilst a lot of brands have adopted Hello Kitty possibly the most famous Sanrio character into their designs, brands like Forever 21 are taking the Japanese aesthetic to a whole new level. Forever 21 have recently released a range of T-shirts with logos from Jurassic park and other bright graphic prints complete with Japanese writing. The appeal of Japanese writing meant it has made its way to fashion in the West no problem, as many people love the illustrative styles it’s been presented in.

In 2017 Akira did a collaboration with Supreme. Akira is a post-apocalyptic Japanese animated movie from 1988 which paved the way for Japanese pop culture’s growth in the West. The collection featured art from the creator Katsuhiro Otomo, and gave street style a Japanese edge, a great collection for fans of the movie also.

Japanese style art has made its way into high fashion time and time again, most recently with the Ben Frost X Moschino collaboration for Moschino’s Fall/Winter 2018 capsule collection. Among pop art inspired illustrations there was a couple of designs that resembled Anime characters, bringing Japanese culture into high fashion in a fun and colourful way.

It’s safe to say that Japan’s cultural influence on the West will continue to grow and be received well, as brands and designers continue to be inspired by its bright and colourful culture. Now, let Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo begin!

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The post Japan And The West: Fashion’s Tokyo Turn appeared first on Voir Fashion.