The fashion world seems to be changing faster than we can blink, starting off 2025 with the announcement that popular brand Y/Project is officially ceasing operation. The almost 15-year-old brand known for its Jean Paul Gaultier-esque resurgence of the scan of the naked female figure on neon dresses and the viral “floating” tank top straps closed its doors Jan. 9 due to its inability to find a new owner for the brand.

In 2024, then-Creative Director of Y/Project Glenn Martens, also the creative director of Diesel, stepped down from his 11-year-long role, which he took on after one of the original founders, Yohan Serfaty, died from cancer. Tragically, the other co-founder, Gilles Elalouf, also died in 2024. So, without a leader, the industry-disrupting and street-style Parisian brand bids the world au revoir. 

This exit is not the only major one in fashion, as there has been a heavy amount of shuffling of roles in various brands since the final months of last year: John Galliano announced his decision to leave Maison Margiela, and Louise Trotter left Carven to become creative director of Bottega Veneta as Matthieu Blazy leaves to be the creative director of Chanel. 

So, while fashion may feel uncertain and cold, it’s actually a reflection of what I think the dominant trend will be in style and beauty until the summer comes around. It may seem obvious that in the winter we tend to opt for cooler, more muted shades, but in past years, we still saw heavy trends of vibrant jewel tones and warm summer shades to combat the snowy — or in Los Angeles, the less sunny — UGG-appropriate blues. 

This thirst for shades of cool can be seen through the boom of Slavic-chic fur hats or Kate Moss’ rock-sleaze style from her collaboration with Zara, which has resulted in the growing success of Isabel Marant. 

The brand’s edgier spin on boho chic makes layering more fun by playing with the construction of the garment rather than its silhouette on the wearer. Following suit, items like Alaia’s structural belts and high-collar coats and Givenchy’s mixed metal voyou bags, it seems that this winter will be all about metallics and suede: the look and the feel. 

The makeup, too, begs for us Cali-girls to embrace our paleness. I, too, feel my best self when I’m bronzed in the mid-summer time, but I’ve been finding romance in my moon-like face recently. It seems that the fashion and film world has, too. 

This first started when I was at an art museum this winter. Feeling particularly drawn to the fresco “Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman” by Sandro Botticelli at the Louvre and the girl in the No. 13 Sunday, March 29, 1896 cover for “L’Illustré Soleil du Dimanche” titled “Le Carillon de Pâques réveille la Nature” by Alphonse Mucha in Prague. Whether it was the pastel dresses or wispy, silk-like hair, each seemed to make the women glow despite their faces almost being the same color as the backgrounds behind them. 

It’s the same haunting beauty that has been trending through the recreation of Lily-Rose Depp’s makeup as Ellen Hutter in the film “Nosferatu.” It’s the same innocence seen in Mia Goth’s spread for Cultured Magazine in the simple and muted Prada looks. 

It’s the same vulnerability as Demi Moore for Vogue Italia in 1993 as her tears left streaks on her skin, peeking through the makeup worn on top. And it is the same playfulness as Cate Blanchett’s Vogue China editorial, dressed as a doll, a house and even a brown paper package. 

Beyond calling for a resurgence of true no-makeup makeup as opposed to the clean girl look, it also calls for embracing our raw youth. The morning sheds of young women taking preventative measures against early aging by sleeping with mouth tape, silicone sheets, collagen and eye masks shouldn’t be for nothing if you’re doing it. And even if you aren’t, we look different for the very reason that all people are attractive to and attracted to different versions of beauty.

Ironically, as our feeds harp on the timeless beauty and style of decades before us. Back then, all celebrities looked different and were celebrated for looking so, rather than what seems to be a wave of one universal standard that is worked towards by all people, worldwide, regardless of personal opinion. 

So, if you’re a pale girl like me, let the moonlight shine through. I personally will let my goal of bronzed bombshell beauty grow as the days get longer and the California heat comes back instead of aiming to be hauntingly beautiful. Ghosts leave longer impressions anyway. 

Hadyn Phillips is a senior writing about fashion in the 21st century, spotlighting new trends and popular controversy in her column, “That’s Fashion, Sweetie,” which runs every Wednesday.