Stripes and the Lie of February

Mid-February. Valentine’s Day has drained away and everything outside is the color of wet concrete. But the fashion calendar doesn’t care—spring collections arrive while it’s technically still winter, which is either merciful or taunting depending on your current mood.

Stripes are back this season, which I find oddly satisfying. There’s something about a bold graphic stripe that works where most trend revivals don’t—it doesn’t require explanation, it just reads. Monki’s spring lookbook is built around them: oversized jumpsuits, printed tunics, that particular Scandinavian flavor of color-heavy design that photographs better than it has any right to. New denim shapes alongside it, updated rather than reinvented.

The collection hits stores and their website in late March. Until then I’ll keep staring out the window at the grey and convincing myself the shift is coming.