If, as the saying goes, history repeats itself, then the 2020s might be closer to the 1920s than many had previously thought - at least, fashion-wise.

After all, that was the decade which came roaring back to life after the twin horrors of World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Bodices were let out, both hair and hemlines were chopped as signs of liberation, and fringe and frippery abounded.

Now, if the Spring/Summer 2021 collections are anything to go by, fashion is turning to riotous colour, exuberant prints and, most of all, statement-making silhouettes - no surprise after a year which has forced people to change the way they navigate the world.

The pendulum swing is also a direct response to the months in which people have taken refuge in athleisure and loungewear. This season, fashion seems to be a reminder that there is joy and power in the sheer act of dressing up.

Leading the charge is Jonathan Anderson at Loewe. After years spent refining and streamlining his Loewe offerings, it was like an explosion went off this season - one of creativity and of colour, shape and texture.

During the pandemic-induced pause, Anderson's directive to his team was to go crazy creating the most extreme of what they had in mind.

"It's better to embrace a moment that is challenging than pretend that it's not. When you bring different parameters, creativity can really flourish because it makes you think differently," he says.

The results are sleeves that look more like balloons and wings, hand-woven leather armour containing clouds of silk, and dresses in the form of giant trapezes and poufs - their fantastical shapes held up by bonings and crinolines.

Taffeta, tulle, sequinned knits and broderie anglaise are ruched, puffed, twisted and knotted.

A younger generation of designers is also taking up the cause. In a few short years, Christopher John Rogers has made a name for himself by bringing full-on glamour back into American fashion.

This season, his clothes telegraph not just glamour, but also optimism and zing. Think ball dresses and oversized suits in highlighter neons and hothouse florals.

It is not all drama, though. In a concession to the work-from-home era, there is a new wearability in Rogers' designs - one that harks back to the times of great American sportswear.

Net-a-Porter's senior fashion market editor Libby Page, one of Rogers' biggest champions, says: "The brand's thoughtfulness came through evidently in this collection. We've been mentoring him on how to break into new categories, and we love his introduction into knitwear and his clever use of cotton."

Rogers says: "I think there has been a renewed interest in high glamour that's also pragmatic."

Across the pond in the United Kingdom, Molly Goddard carries the torch for glamour as the antidote to gloom.

This season, her signature tulle skirts are blown up to new proportions and rendered in colours so bright, they are almost acidic.

Thrown into the mix are the things many have come to rely on over the past months: billowing, breathable cottons, cosy knits and a collaboration with Ugg in zany Crayola colours.

Goddard's clothes have always had a naive, joyous quality to them, but she seems to have doubled down on it, delivering delight to the world via her creations.

Her fellow London designer Simone Rocha also doubled down on the qualities that have made her brand so resonant with women of all ages and backgrounds.

As always, there is fantasy in the pieces that evoke fairy tales and faraway times, but they remain resolutely rooted in reality. Rocha's soft, cocooning shapes swaddle the body without constricting it. Her adornments - pearls, bows, intricate embroideries and embellishments - are dreamy but never too much like a costume.

"I do believe that fashion, like art, offers the chance for fantasy, for escapism, for imagination, for beauty. And I think that will be important as we come out of this period," says Rocha on what drives her work.

A romantic view of the world has always been central to Sarah Burton's work at Alexander McQueen, but it is tempered by an edge. Beauty and brutality, to her, are two sides of the same coin.

This season, she cut ladylike mid-century couture shapes out of biker leathers and faded denim. There are pouf sleeves, full skirts, blush hues and layers of tulle, but they are worn with buzz cuts and combat boots.

Amid all the softness is razor-sharp suiting, some with entire sections sliced out of them.

Burton describes her mentality this season as fixed on "the beauty of the bare bones of clothing stripped back to its essence - a world charged with emotion and human connection".

Savvy retailers are sensing their audience's emotional connection to this desire for more beauty.

Net-a-Porter's Ms Page says: "People are looking for escapism and optimism. Dressing up can instantly shift your mood and attitude, and now more than ever, it's important to do things that will lift us up, to find joy and exhilaration in fashion."

MatchesFashion.com's global fashion officer Natalie Kingham says: "We love the sense of optimism this season - everyday pieces have been uplifted by designers experimenting with bold colours and prints.

"There is definitely an appetite from our community to put something special on. It will be a welcome escape."

As Anderson says: "Sometimes, it's nice to kind of escape into clothing." Sometimes, an escape is exactly what is needed in order to come back stronger than ever.

This article first appeared in Harper's Bazaar Singapore, the leading fashion glossy on the best of style, beauty, design, travel and the arts. Go to harpersbazaar.com.sg and follow @harpersbazaarsg on Instagram; harpersbazaarsingapore on Facebook. The April 2021 issue is out on newsstands now.