10 New And Improved Ways To Wear Tie Dye

Image: SSENSE

The laws of fashion dictate that if you bide your time long enough, every trend will come around again for a second wind. It’s an excellent motivation to the sustainably minded and any serial hoarders of the sartorial variety. Though, you’d be forgiven for wondering who amongst us could have known to hold onto anything related to this season’s surprising new squeeze: tie dye.  

Up until this year, this surfer-associated trend was dead in the water. Fluid shapes in garish shades solely reserved for costume-esque hippie get-ups and Glastonbury festival. But every trend deserves a second (or third) chance, and tie dye is clutching onto its resurgence with a tight grip as it takes over the retail landscape. Such is fashion, after all.

Designers could scarcely resist the resist-dyeing technique in their SS19 collections; tightly bunching and releasing rings of kaleidoscopic colour across summer satins and cotton, alongside textural wool and leather that could last long into winter. But just where do the rest of us living life off the runway stand on this summer’s unprecedented comeback kid?

In little need of convincing as it happens. Whilst notable references of this trend are retrospective, from the initial explosion of the aesthetic in Woodstock in ’69 to the subsequent 80’s derivatives courtesy of Point Break, this 2019 interpretation feels undeniably modern. Gone is the farcical high school rebel of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and in their place is someone fresh, put together and entirely grown-up. Prabal Gurung’s sophisticated tie-dye sweaters and high necks make for a powerful and polished purchase when paired with cropped tailored trousers. But never fear, this technicolour dream hasn’t lost it’s fun: Prada’s acid brights are bringing the party on short sleeve shirts and accessories whilst R13 and Amiri’s casual slouch fits stays true to its laidback surfer routes.

Curious? Discover all the inspiration you could need, courtesy of our edit of the season’s best tie dye pieces. Available now at SSENSE.