Ashley Williams Knows What Millenials Actually Want To Wear

The designer had to ditch technology to discover it

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by Lucy Morris |
Updated on

Hi. If you’re reading this then you want to know what millennials actually want to wear. And, London’s cult cool girl brand Ashley Williams knows the answer. But, to find out she had to ditch her phone and take a Megabus road-trip around the UK to find out. TBH sounds fun.

‘On New Year's Eve, the Ashley Williams girl made a pact to ditch technology and set about exploring the UK and all its monolithic marvels,’ says the press release. This explains why the runway was dotted with Stone Henge-ish blocks.

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We have an inkling that this jolly included an '80s soundtrack. Why? Well for one the make-up. Boy George style day-glo eyeshadow was brushed from tear-duct to cheekbone. Plus the hair - if the model had any - was kneaded into poodle curls or slicked into a mullet. And, the clothes of course. Ra-Ra skirts, cycling shorts, polka dots and power suits were Williams AW18 calling card.

In these changing times, one thing is for certain: millennials value comfort. Whether this means buying avo on toast rather than saving until they die for a property that may forever remain out of feasible financial reach, or ditching heels for athleisure fashion and sneakers. Comfort is king to this generation. Knowing this, Williams showed fluffy pool-slides (adorned with her famous hair slides for a double entendre), suits with hoodies and baggy fit dungarees. When going out-out looks did appear they were worn with mom jeans or were unabashed in their purpose, for instance, a pair of sheer black pieces were inscribed with the word ‘sex’.

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Usually, Ashley Williams’ London Fashion Fashion Week show reports are filled with name-dropping her famous friends, like Pixie Geldof, Nicholas Grimshaw and Alexa Chung (oops, looks like we just did that). But, her autumn-winter 2018 catwalk wasn’t about the guest list at all. While mainstays of the Williams look still stalked the catwalk, like those delectable slogan hair slides (this season reading: ‘Error’, ‘Sorry’, ‘Free’ and ‘Heaven’), hoodies and printed t-shirts, her AW18 collection was her savviest yet.

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Ashley William's collection

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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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