Seemingly, the only goals to have this year were those of the squad variety. A tightly knit—and might we add, well-appointed—consortium of your “day ones” corralled together to make cultural and sartorial statements left and right. (They even inspired Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s “Dope Squad” on Saturday Night Live.)
Whether feverishly posting pics on Instagram to archive each step these crews made together or collaborating on huge creative endeavors (world tours! advertising campaigns!), they did so with a sense of loyalty and, well, style. Can it be denied that Taylor Swift’s—whose own squad defined the phenomenon—all shared a love for long-line designer gowns and jumpsuits? Or how about Riccardo Tisci’s #LoveGang, who collectively dazzled in darkly romantic pieces plucked straight from the designer’s Givenchy collections? Katy Perry traipsed through the globe with a color-coordinated coterie of It girls who matched her penchant for poppy prints. Though squads are here for more than sartorial support, the most stylish among them this year had us thinking there may be some truth to that old adage “like likes like.”
Here, we break down 2015’s most soigné crews, the folks who taught us that a squad that dresses together stays together.
Taylor Swift
Squad Members: Gigi Hadid, Selena Gomez, Karlie Kloss, the Haim sisters, Cara Delevingne, Serayah McNeill, Hailee Steinfeld, Jaime King, Lorde, Lena Dunham, Ellie Goulding, Zendaya
Squad Style Essentials: Leather henchwoman jumpsuits, over-the-knee boots, floor-length gowns with cutout paneling in a rainbow of colors, sequined ab-displaying two-piece ensembles
Best Squad Style Moment: Unequivocally, Swift’s appearance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards stood as her squad’s pièce de résistance. Rather than going totally matchy-matchy like a literal girl group, her throng of supportive supermodels and pop stars instead selected pieces of varying lengths and silhouettes, but all within the same color family. That strategy was subtle—but their red carpet takeover was undeniable.
Riccardo Tisci
Squad Members: Kanye West, Naomi Campbell, Joan Smalls, Marina Abramovic, the Kardashian-Jenner clan, Beyoncé, Ciara, Mariacarla Boscono, Lea T, Donatella Versace, Erykah Badu, Courtney Love, Nicki Minaj
Squad Style Essentials: Darkly romantic gowns that have plenty of room for growing baby bumps, well-tailored blazers, barely there “naked dresses,” Americana ephemera
Best Squad Style Moment: Tisci has of course amassed a huge network of friends, whom he affectionately dubs members of his #LoveGang, but they turned out in record numbers for his historic New York show this past season. Everyone from a very expectant Kim Kardashian West to art-world giant Abramovic came to show the Givenchy creative director some love and party at one of the biggest fashion spectacles of the year—all clad in his poetic looks.
Katy Perry
Squad Members: Jeremy Scott, Mia Moretti, Cleo Wade, Caitlin Moe (aka Margot), Sara Hudson
Squad Style Essentials: A masterful handle on color, headpieces, vintage frocks, OTT earrings, razor-sharp slicked-back low buns, cornrows
Best Squad Style Moment: Taking advantage of the U.S. and Cuba’s renewed cultural ties, the kaleidoscopic girl gang and Perry’s self-described “cuddle crew” took their vintage, mid-century-inspired ensembles down to Havana’s Fusterlandia art park, where they practically blended into the ceramic-tiled artist enclave.
The Bad Girls Club of Modeling
Squad Members: Lexi Boling, Binx Walton, Hanne Gaby Odiele, Anna Ewers, Issa Lish
Squad Style Essentials: Thrasher sweatshirts, oversize denim, crop tops, voluminous tees worn as dresses, distressed moto jackets, Alexander Wang flatform goth creepers
Best Squad Style Moment: No matter where they go, the minxes of the modeling world, Boling, Walton, Odiele, Ewers, and Lish, always seem to be tearing things up in a uniform made up of late-’90s skater-girl classics—distressed denim you can practically swim in, oversize sweatshirts, platform creepers—and this year’s Coachella was no different. Despite the California desert’s heat, the bad girls partied it up with designer Alexander Wang in their matching bad girl looks.
Olivier Rousteing
Squad Members: Rihanna, Kim Kardashian West, Jourdan Dunn, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Joan Smalls, Justin Bieber, Kris Jenner
Squad Style Essentials: Plunging necklines, body-conscious Balmain minidresses and jumpsuits in jewel tones, power shoulders with big hair
Best Squad Style Moment: At the Balmain Spring 2016 after-party, Rousteing’s muses surrounded the young designer in what looked like a sea of monochromatic suede leggings and standout body-skimming mini frocks from the same collection.
Devonté Hynes
Squad Members: Solange Knowles, Junglepussy, Sky Ferreira, Caroline Polachek, Kindness, Ian Isiah, Alexa Chung, Phoebe Collings-James
Squad Style Essentials: White skinny high-waisted denim, vintage concert tees, NYC baseball hats, moto jackets, denim jackets
Best Squad Style Moment: The alt-rock musician, who is set to have a huge year in 2016 with a highly anticipated and rumored politicized album, recently gathered all of his equally creative besties together for a benefit concert for Opus 118 Harlem School of Music. As Knowles donned a ruffled floor-grazing gown for her turn on the stage and Hynes debuted a sleek take on the Canadian tuxedo, it was without a doubt the ultimate squad photo op.
The post Squad Up! From Taylor Swift to Riccardo Tisci, the Ultimate Friend Group Style of 2015 appeared first on Vogue.