TRENDSETTER

THE TREND SETTING ANTI-ICON

A touch of preppy, a touch of goth and a high dose of existentialism. The result is a spooky college girl allure that dictates the most influential fashion trends on social media Valeria Oneto

From left, an image of Simone Rocha FW 22/23 collection. Jenna Ortega aka Wednesday in the Netflix series wears a vintage Alaïa dress. A British outfit from Paul & Joe Winter 22/23 fashion show

Dark and melancholy images, dusty books, school uniforms, vintage evening gowns. With her aesthetic between Dark Academia and gothic ballet, Wednesday Addams is the new trendsetter that adds to the teencollege atmosphere a dash of darkness and a sophistication with nostalgic accents. Even if for the young Addams’ armchrome is almost monochrome, her gothic doll outfits have inspired a lot of fashion designers. Prada FW 19 collection is a real tribute to the Addams Family, from striped t-shirts to dramatic lace midi skirts and long black braids. For this winter season Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior is certainly setting the trend with chaste but tight waisted gowns, while Simone Rocha surprises with Lolita chic outfits. Not to mention the many brands that continue to bring preppy style outfits on catwalks, from Tommy Hilfiger to Paul & Joe, Vivienne Westwood and Thom Browne. But what is Dark Academia? The term “Academia” describes a group of aesthetics and social media subcultures inspired by British higher education and connected to learning in all its forms; over the years it developed into a fully-fledged lifestyle concept that romanticises bygone times. Dark academics love reading, writing or expressing themselves through art. The origins of Dark Academia aesthetic seem to go back to 1992 with the publication of Donna Tartt’s novel The Secret History, that revolves about a brutal murder that ruptures a group of eccentric students at an elite university. It then spread into the pre-Instagram world via the blogging platform Tumblr around 2015, also thanks to the global phenomenon of Harry Potter, the little wizard with round glasses who taught to Millennials and Gen Z the esoteric appeal of dusty old tomes, British retro uniforms and Gothic Revival architecture. But the backbone of Dark Academia are movies like Dead Poets Society, Kill Your Darlings, Dorian Grey, Brideshead Revisited, but also contemporary TV series like the Spanish Elite, Sabrina or The Queen’s Gambit. Perfectly fitted into this scenario, Wednesday is at the first place in the Top 10 of Netflix most popular series. The elder Addams child and her adventures full of mystery, dark humor and soft-horror twists have become beloved by all generations, from younger to most nostalgic. Thanks to the performance of Jenna Ortega, the leading actress, to Colleen Atwood’s styling and Tim Burton’s impeccable direction, Wednesday quickly passed from démodé Halloween costume to trendsetting icon. The dark heroine of the TV series wins on many fronts: she is a skilled sword-fighter, writes a novel, knows all the languages of the world and plays the cello. But, most importantly, she has a killer wardrobe and dances The Cramps “Goo Goo Muck” wearing a vintage Alaïa dress which has already become cult. As is often the case, the video was shared within TikTok but not with its original music, rather with Lady Gaga’s song Bloody Mary. The song has nearly 46 thousand reels on Instagram and 936 thousand on TikTok. The heroine with her iconic braided hair has revived a new vision of Gothic: no longer associated, as in pop culture, with the sexy and mysterious figure of the femme fatale, but with a more understated allure inspired by the rigor of Prada and Simone Rocha. The black dress with contrasting white collar, iconic of Wednesday Addams’ style, was already worn by Lisa Loring in the legendary TV series of the 1960s, and again by Christina Ricci in the 1991 movie, only to be reprised by Jenna Ortega in the Netflix spin-off, but in a delicate floral print. Under the school uniform, which recalls Thom Browne or Comme des Garçons outfits, in a reinvention of the Japanese fuku Wednesday wears a dark gray sweater with contrasting black shirt and tie. While the chunky lace-up shoes with maxi rubber block-patterned sole are the iconic Monolith by Prada.

The Monolith brushed leather lace-up shoes of Prada with maxi rubber sole inspired by college uniforms