Gird your loins. The rag trade’s seasonal global circus is fast approaching, promising a relentless itinerary of creative director debuts, new faces and big-budget occasions. Hot on the heels of June’s star-studded outings – Jay-Z sur le Pont Neuf, par example – speculation abounds as editors and trend forecasters rush to predict the next buzzword replacing fashtainment or indeed any ‘-core’ that’s been coined in the last half hour. Perhaps, the guiding light this season will be less about celebrities on catwalks (although, no doubt on frows), and more about fashion for fashion’s sake. From Phoebe Philo’s return to new beginnings at Gucci and Tom Ford, this is the city-by-city lowdown of what to look out for over the course of the SS24 shows.
New York
It’s comeback season at NYFW, kicking off with a newly helmed Helmut Lang. After a brief runway hiatus and several short spells with one-off and long-term creative directors, the cult brand that defined moody 90s minimalism hands the reins to Peter Do, the Vietnamese-born, New York-based wunderkind who’s garnered industry clout aplenty for his namesake label in the Big Apple. With a CV counting gigs at Céline and Derek Lam, plus a track record in making the quotidian luxurious at his own brand, Peter could have the understated but edgy Midas touch Helmut Lang needs.
Following suit, Ralph Lauren returns to the city that never sleeps for the first time in four years, reigniting another side of our fashion nostalgia. Perhaps part of its recent plan to elevate the brand positioning (and prices), the show arrives just in time for a new wave of Carrie Brad-core. But, if you can’t stand the waspy wares, Gypsy Sport is back in town after several shows in designer Rio Uribe’s native LA, celebrating ten years of ghetto grunge and ballroom sass.
Of course, it’s not all homecomings. Expect business as usual from Coach, Willy Chavarria and Luar, each serving Americana, genderqueer Chicano and street couture, respectively. Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for serious runway moments at Proenza Schouler, which made waves with a Chloe Sevigny cameo last season, and Collina Strada, which has been routinely fielding some of the city’s most dynamic, representative casts. Miss Sevigny is now a Proenza face, so here’s hoping for more Chlo-ments.
London
Across the pond, it’s all eyes on Burberry this LFW as creative director Daniel Lee presents his second runway collection. Already, he’s showcased his colourist credentials with a fresh slew of check designs, all while reworking the house typography, reinstating the Horseferry logo and doubling down on a hearty British charm that taps into city grit and wholesome hikes alike. It’s a cogent vision, cemented in record time. As such, you can bet on more checks – twisted and brightened – and hopefully some new variations on the SS24 creepers doing the rounds on Insta.
Speaking of British heritage, S.S. Daley will be channelling his obsession with English aristocracy and pomp towards the fairer sex in his womenswear debut. Were we to guess, a continued exploration of gender and class is in order, and hopefully some boaters for the girls. Other fashion firsts to look out for include ravewear aficionado Sinead Gorey’s inaugural runway show, Nordic house Holzweiler’s UK debut and minimalist Londoner Aaron Esh’s first show since graduating. Other schedule musts? JW Anderson — and its eponymous designer’s forthcoming exhibition at Mayfair gallery Offer Waterman) — Sinéad O’Dwyer’s radical rethinking of fashion’s sizing system, Chopova Lowena’s follow-up to their knock-out SS23 show, Dilara Findikoglu’s distressed damsels, Mowalola’s scanty parade of skin, and London fashion’s veritable doyenne, Simone Rocha.
As ever, Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East remains a crucible for London’s hot young things. Back for another season, Johanna Parv promises femme techwear while Standing Ground looks set for more svelte revenge dresses. In news just in, Olly Shinder also joins the roster, bringing his sensually subversive take on workwear, while ASAI will be returning to the platform that first launched the brand. Plus, queen of Y2K teenagerisms, Ashley Williams, returns a decade on from her Fashion East debut.
Milan
Ah, Milan: home to cashmere-clad sciuras and a new guard of ingratiated style savants. Granted, it’s always been chi-chi ground zero, but the long-awaited entrance of Gucci’s new direttore creativo, Sabato de Sarno, feels like the final patch in the capital’s tapestry of fresh talent, now counting renaissance man Maximilian Davis at Ferragamo, Marco de Vincenzo at Etro and Filippo Grazioli at Missoni. Given Gucci’s recent trajectory towards stealth-wealth basics and Sabato’s enlistment of noughties it-girl Daria Werbowy as the maison’s ambassador – not to mention his pivotal role in reshaping Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino – we’re expecting some good, old-fashioned glamour and maybe the next hot pink to rival his old employer’s.
But wait! You might have noticed a big name missing in New York’s timetable. Luckily, there’s no need to fret, for Tom Ford, along with its new creative director Peter Hawkings, are coming to Milan. While Tom enjoys a well-earned sabbatical before his next gig in film writing, his former righthand man carries the label into its next chapter, hinting at an onus on Italian craft. Anyone modelling their lifestyle on Succession, watch close.
Elsewhere, you’ll find fellow luxe-league contenders like Fendi and Prada, whose recent forays into simplifying complex fashion design (and vice versa) give clues to more less-is-more clothing. Here, details and decorative tweaks on archetypes take the show. That said, if you can’t be doing with such soft-touch design, then the sex-postive world of Glenn Martens’ Diesel, currently unhelmed Moschino and Mattel-inspired Versace are perfect antidotes.
Paris
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. As such, the fashion gods are saving some of the best for last. À Paris, another chapter in IYKYK fashion unfolds with twenty-something Italian Stefano Gallici succeeding Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s short but sexy tenure at Ann Demeulemeester. On the payroll since 2020, Stefano has kept a low profile, rising the ranks in-house. Given that Ludovic resurrected house icons for AW23 – breastless boleros and under-boob aplomb – Stefano needs to hit the ground running, serving new shapes stat.
As well as your run-of-the-mill departures and debuts, unanswered questions, cartes blanches and curveballs are rife this season. With Chloé’s upcoming collection marking its last under Gabriela Hearst, will the recently hired Chemena Kamali, formerly womenswear design director for Saint Laurent, replace Gabriela? Will Casablanca’s womenswear schedule debut translate with the ladies? And what, exactly, will go down when rapper Future delivers his resident collection for Lanvin?
With the big dogs, it’s all to play for. After nearly a decade at Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière’s knack for retro-futuristic designs will serve as a foil to Pharrell’s hyper-contemporary vision, meanwhile Miu Miu looks bound for more zeitgeist settings, perhaps evolving the bedraggled Englishwoman of AW23 into her next logical form: the fully feral matriarch. And no, Loewe’s sculptural turn is going nowhere — or so a growing audience of artsy design fanatics pray.
Off-schedule
It’s official: Phoebe Philo is back on Planet Mode from September. While it’s yet to be confirmed exactly when, ‘Old Céline’ acolytes are already chomping at the bit for stealth wealth 101 and courtroom tailoring on tap. Hush-hush as usual, Phoebe is keeping schtum on details of what’s in-store. Only time will tell…