The Moment is Now For No21’s New Rebel Army
Review of No. 21 Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Modern Mods, Cool Britannia, a moment for rebellion
With a time of rebellion once again upon us, there is a tendency to look back to key moments that shifted the culture through the power of protest, the defiance of belonging to a counter-cultural group, or simply having the audacity to go out in an ultra-mini skirt during the day. This was something that London experienced in the late 50s and swinging 60s when teenagers – who hadn’t traditionally had any major effect on society-at-large started to rebel against the conservative values of their parents, to form their own opinions on how they should live their lives and wear their clothes.
This new attitude was most impactful when expressed through fashion, and none more so than the Mods who rose to notoriety in Britain in the late 1950s. Experiencing financial and creative independence for perhaps the first time in a generation they combined their love of music and fashion into a distinctive style whose ripple-effects are still being felt today. Today being Alessandro Dell’Acqua’s spring 2025 show for No21. The designer took as a starting point the effervescent spirit of the Mods and spun it into something renewed, without “any direct reference or sense of nostalgia” according to the show notes. The collection itself remained at its heart a Numero Ventuno affair, but this season with a reinvention of the everyday. From the Mod’s mainstay of the parka to colourful football scarves, quilted anoraks in a micro-floral print, mini puffball skirts paired with a tuxedo jacket and a chequerboard knitted pencil for good measure were all inspired by how the young women of the 1960s put together their style by being part of something daring and rebellious, as opposed to dressing as their mothers once did.
On todays moodboard were the iconic images in the Rebel Youth book by photographer Karlheinz Weinberger. Young men and women defying what society expected of them, girls remixing menswear and styling boxy button-downs with drainpipe trousers, and crew-neck knits with pearls and leather mini’s. Dell’Acqua looked to them as the fashion creators they were and created his own remix of the Modettes of yesterday.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
Now is the moment for rebellion, for women especially, and in this collection there is femininity, but with a masculine edge
Alessandro Dell’Acqua, creative director, No21
THE WRAP UP
British style was the blueprint for the collection as masculine and feminine were mashed together to contrast between the casual and the couture, quite literally, as football scarves and colourful parkas shrouded embellished couture dresses and chiffon skirts, and striped polo tops were styled with pailette pencil skirts, and described as “super-feminine” by Dell’Acqua.
It will also have escaped no one that the original Cool Britannia Rock and Roll band – Oasis – are reforming for a tour in 2025, and across fashion week so far we are already starting to see what is sure to be a significant cultural moment that will influence the industry. And just maybe the female fans of the band are likely to be spotted in a look or two from this collection at those coveted UK show dates.
