Autumn/Winter 2024 (part 1 of 4)
Olivia Bullock and Abby Li reports on the Fall/Winter 2024 collections by major fashion maisons
Balmain
Dedicated to creative director Olivier Rousteing’s hometown of Bordeaux, Balmain’s latest collection paid homage to French culture, and on a personal level Rousteing paid tribute to his adoptive mother Lydia Rousteing. The designer celebrated the beauty of women with an all-ages cast. Nut, apple and strawberry embellishments alongside gingham patterns graced the runway, perfectly emulating a quintessential French picnic. The pleated and draped detailing, combined with exuberant embellishments, perfectly depicted Rousteing-era Balmain: wonderfully French and wonderfully chic.
Bottega Veneta
Encapsulating the everyday, Matthieu Blazy looked at a combination of office attire, dinner occasions and dog walks. Ditching the embellishments and embroidery, Blazy instead looked to pragmatic designs. Red, brown and orange A-line dresses, trousers and trenches emulated the flames of a fire. The collection also featured skirt-over-pants looks, potentially paving the way for an autumn/winter skort.
Burberry
Daniel Lee’s third collection at Burberry took a practical turn. Paying homage to British-inspired classics, the collection displayed knits, trenches and Wellington boots – staple pieces to survive the British seasons. Feathers sprouting out of jumpers and trench coats armed with tall funnel necks displayed the craftsmanship of Lee’s functional yet creative directing.
Celine
Hedi Slimane’s 1960s-inspired show accompanied by classical music perfectly depicted French decadence. Proclaiming the ’60s as the pinnacle of the brand’s fashion releases, Slimane’s collection featured an array of couture looks including a black minidress decorated with pearls and structured shoulders – the perfect picture of French elegance. Celine runway or Breakfast at Tiffany’s?
Chloé
Titled Intuition, Chemena Kamali’s collection paid homage to Karl Lagerfeld’s ’70s period. “It’s very much about an intuitive way of dressing, about lightness, movement, fluidity and emotion,” the creative director said. The couture-like collection featured layered sheer and scalloped blouses, cape-style maxi dresses accessorised with gold Chloé belts, and kitten-heel clogs. In the language of garments, Chloé channels the beauty of a free spirit in fashion.
Coperni
Tech-driven French brand Coperni drew inspiration from The Matrix and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Building upon the sci-fi theme, the collection featured star-shaped stilettos and dresses replicating a space-style blanket. Coperni’s new Swipe Bag is made of a Nasa-curated substance called aerogel, a solid that is 99 percent air (making it the lightest solid on earth) and 1 percent glass, and innovation at its finest. Coperni’s technology, once again, steals the show; its next show can’t come soon enough!
Dior
Curated from the notion of liberating women, Dior’s AW24 collection took a more “relaxed” form as the haute couture house entered the realm of ready- to-wear. Maria Grazia Chiuri’s predominantly white, beige and black collection abandoned nipped-shaped clothing (for the time being). It instead included less structured looks with slouchy trousers, blocked boots and graffiti-style Miss Dior emblazoned across trench coats, blazers and maxi skirts. Simple gold necklaces draped to models’ belly buttons emulated Dior’s renowned elegance with an everyday approach.
Dolce & Gabbana
Centred around the tuxedo, Dolce & Gabbana’s collection displayed an experimental take on the traditional suit jacket, transforming it by length, size and cut. “A classic like the tuxedo, the more perfect it is, eternal, free from the constraints of time,” the designers said. The combination of boxy and nipped tuxes with satin revers and lapels, leopard-print and faux-fur pieces fused powerful structures with a feminine touch. Dolce & Gabbana once again paved the way for female elegance.
