Ten fashion moments of 2022 and the Wallpaper* images that captured them

The Wallpaper* lens on the definitive fashion moments of 2022 – from the ubiquitous Miu Miu mini skirt to Pieter Mulier’s sensual vision for Alaïa, and Matthieu Blazy’s debut collection at Bottega Veneta, we chart the year in style through our pages. 

1. Prada explores its archetypes (top)

Photographed by Eva Wang for Wallpaper* September 2022

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons presented an ‘An Ideology of Prada’ for their A/W 2022 collection, which elevated archetypal garments – among them the white vest, here reimagined with a Prada logo plaque on the chest – to make ‘occasion of the everyday, affording importance to each moment’. The show itself, held in February, was one of Milan Fashion Week A/W 2022’s most talked-about moments, featuring appearances from Prada women past and present – from Kaia Gerber and Hunter Schafer to Erin O’Connor and Liya Kedebe. 

2. The ubiquitous Miu Miu mini

Photographed by Vincent Le Chapelain in Wallpaper* February 2022

Few garments proved so ubiquitous as Miu Miu’s sliced-away mini skirt, which was arguably the defining fashion object of 2022. Arriving in stores at the beginning of the year, it was part of a S/S 2022 collection which saw Miuccia Prada riff on the office uniform (with a twist). 

3. ‘Modern Beauty’: Pieter Mulier at Alaïa

Photographed by Spela Kasal for Wallpaper* September 2022

Pieter Mulier’s sensual vision for Alaïa – which he defines as a pursuit for ‘modern beauty’ – continued in 2022 with his acclaimed second collection, shown in January. Pieces from the collection featured in the September 2022 Style Issue photographed in Paris, alongside a conversation with Mulier. ‘I want to create clothes that carry this idea of a modern beauty, always in movement,’ he said. 

4. Matthieu Blazy’s debut Bottega Veneta collection

Photographed by Thomas Rousset for Wallpaper* November 2022 

Matthieu Blazy’s acclaimed first collection at Bottega Veneta saw the designer zero in on the Italian house’s historic synonymy with craft and leatherwork (one memorable piece was a pair of ‘jeans’ which appeared to be made from denim but were actually trompe l’oeil leather). ‘Bottega Veneta is in essence pragmatic because it is a leather goods company,’ he said at the time. ‘It is style over fashion in its timelessness. That is part of its quiet power.'

5. New-gen menswear 

Photographed by Leonardo Scotti for Wallpaper* September 2022

An array of emerging menswear designers and nascent labels made their mark in 2022, among them Aaron Esh, Lu’u Dan, Marie Lueder, Edward Cuming, Georges Wendell and Tokyo James, whose A/W 2022 collections were captured by Leonardo Scotti for the September 2022 Style Issue of Wallpaper. Each was chosen for their distinct aesthetic and uncompromising approach. ‘You start to realise that it’s not the clicks, or likes, or followers, or the celebrities or musicians who wear it which make something great,’ said Esh. ‘It’s about the fashion.’

6. Jonathan Anderson’s move to surrealism

Photographed by Matthieu Lavanchy in Wallpaper* September 2022

Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson provided some of the year’s most memorable fashion objects; among them, a series of surreal Perspex accessories evocative of inflated balloons, from heeled shoes to bra tops. ‘A balloon creates tension, it will pop,’ Anderson said of the playful motif.

7. Raf Simons shutters his namesake label

Photographed by Benjamin Pexton for Wallpaper* November 2022

In November, Belgian designer Raf Simons announced that he would be shuttering his eponymous Belgium-based label after 27 years in business. In our November 2022 issue, we photographed a cap-cum-cape inspired by a 16th-century painting by Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder (a collaboration with legendary milliner Stephen Jones) from an A/W 2022 collection which would prove to be his second-last. His final collection – S/S 2023 – was shown in October at London’s Printworks night club, coinciding with Frieze Week in the city (and among our fashion moments of Frieze Week 2022).  

8. Ester Manas redefines the body

Photographed by Pauline Caranton for Wallpaper* August 2022

Through her eponymous label, Ester Manas – alongside partner and co-designer Balthazar Delepierre – was part of a raft of new designers redefining catwalk-model norms this year, the pair’s Paris Fashion Week shows a celebration of the multiplicity of women’s bodies. We visited the designers’ Belgian studio in our August 2022 issue, photographing Manas and Delepierre fitting a new collection.

9. Kim Jones reimagines the Bar Jacket to celebrate 75 years

Photographed by George Harvey for Wallpaper* September 2022

Kim Jones’ menswear collections for Dior have long drawn inspiration from the house’s roots as a couture maison, often featuring extraordinary feats of embellishment and craft made possible by the historic atelier. Such was the case with his A/W 2022 collection, which featured a series of tailored blazers inspired by Christian Dior’s seminal nipped-waist Bar Jacket that turned 75 this year. Here, one of these jackets is photographed by George Harvey as part of our A/W 2022 menswear collections story in the September 2022 issue of Wallpaper*. 

10. Alessandro Michele says goodbye to Gucci

Photographed by Matthieu Lavanchy for Wallpaper* April 2022

November saw the exit of Alessandro Michele from Gucci, a house the Italian designer redefined over his seven-year tenure with eclectic, transporting collections that ushered in a renaissance of maximalist fashion. In our April 2022 issue, a typically outré coat from Michele featured in a series of images by image-maker Matthieu Lavanchy, photographed on a chair by legendary industrial designer Ron Arad.