The Fall/Winter 2024 fashion season is perhaps a time when fashion is no longer extravagant.

Another fashion season has passed, as usual when it’s time for the fashion world to showcase new trends, promising to bring about interesting changes for the future of fashion.

Summary:

• Seriousness from Corpcore
• Classic scent from argyle print
• Reversed collar shirts
• Art of camouflage
• Playfulness on silhouettes
• Obsession with fur coats
• Broad shoulders transcending time
• Sparkling “feather” ensembles
• Legendary “Le Smoking” silhouette revived

After the strong wave of quiet-luxury trends on every ranking chart, the fashion landscape is becoming more practical, no longer as extravagant as in legends. In contrast to the dazzling sky in the unreal world of Haute Couture weeks held not long ago, the Fall/Winter 2024 fashion season depicts the practical context of fashion.

Matthieu Blazy, creative director of Bottega Veneta, once shared: “I am interested in creating extraordinary things from everyday details.” And that might be the “guiding principle” for the moodboards of the Fall/Winter 2024 fashion weeks.

Instead of focusing on surreal or even “unrealistic” silhouettes, designers this season invest more in premium materials and versatile applicability for garments. Roaming around the four prestigious fashion weeks worldwide, we notice the combination of traditional tweed and fishbone fabrics, stripes, Aran knits, and argyle patterns, reminiscent of a weekend in the English countryside. The massive outerwear pieces made of sheepskin, faux fur, feathers, etc., provide the necessary warmth for the characteristic weather of Fall/Winter. The positive presence of materials, sparkling metallic details, perhaps heralds a more vibrant Winter than usual. The legendary Le Smoking suits by Yves Saint Laurent, originally dedicated to his women in the late 60s, still grace the runways. All these are revealed in the trend highlights of the Fall/Winter 2024 fashion season below:

Seriousness from Corpcore: Corpcore – a beloved dressing trend by the youth, inspired by office fashion as well as employee uniforms. After a period of “sweeping” the streets, Corpcore has been “revived” on various high-end runways. With the chilly weather, classic suits with traditional silhouettes also become ideal clothing in the wardrobe. They retain the normal shoulder padding, neither too bulky nor too bold as when infused with the breath of contemporary fashion.

Meanwhile, the waistline remains, and the trousers’ legs are still straight, instead of the oversized silhouettes that were once prevalent. Timeless pinstripe patterns are also present on classic suits by Dilara Findikoglu, Ottolinger, Giorgio Armani menswear, etc. The familiar tie in the DNA of office fashion also becomes the spotlight accessory at LaQuan Smith, Hodakova, Ludovic de Saint Sernin shows. At Schiaparelli, traditional ties are humorously transformed into fake hairbands.

Classic scent from argyle print: The runways of the Fall/Winter 2024 fashion weeks take viewers to the serene countryside of England. It’s the weekends, people hit the streets wearing thick, warm layers made of tweed, fishbone, and classic argyle printed fabrics. Those styles remind us of Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited, scenes in Jeeves and Wooster, the Mitford sisters’ wardrobe, and the relaxed royal style of Balmoral. Chloe and Burberry dye them in nostalgic moss green mixed with gold on a long coat and a thick scarf. Sweaters with hidden argyle prints are found in Coperni’s futuristic show or worn as shawls at Fendi, extending to wear with long skirts at Tommy Hilfiger.

Reversed collar shirts: To cope with the cold of Fall/Winter, designers perhaps “magnify” the collars, cut them horizontally, elevate them, or even reverse them behind, creating a new bat-wing style in their collections. Not illogical or arrogant, the new collar styles in the Fall/Winter 2024 fashion season create a highly seductive back cutout detail. Chanel applies the reversed collar on a long white tweed dress on the runway, with a long slit reaching down to the hips. If Carven “reverses” its thick-shouldered office dress, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini dresses its models in luxurious dark brown trench coats, complete with bold studded belts.

Art of camouflage: The enthusiastic display of camouflage patterns by a plethora of brands in the Fall/Winter 2024 season is perhaps their reaction to the ongoing wars worldwide. Pharrell Williams is perhaps the leader of this trend. Continuing the grand debut of the damoflage pattern at the Louis Vuitton Menswear show, Pharrell showcases the art of camouflage with new patterns in his second collection for the French fashion house. It’s a desert scene in the Wild West resembling the backdrop of the show.

The Institut Français de la Mode connects with nature with a giant, raised, textured coat, resembling a pile of dry leaves where soldiers often hide on the battlefield. Marni interprets it with a gentle, feminine touch with a pink and white camo-patterned pinafore dress. Meanwhile, Knwls’ co-ord outfits are embellished with traditional green moss-colored camouflage patterns, bringing eye-catching opportunities.

Playfulness on silhouettes: Layering is one of the most beloved ways of dressing as Fall/Winter fashion season begins. However, the layering combinations in this Fall/Winter runway are not as heavy as tradition; instead, they are ironed flat to create eye-catching trompe l’oeil patterns. Bold visual illusions are found in a variety of prestigious shows, from Balmain’s suits to Undercover’s flat-paper-like jeans and Sacai’s array of jackets worn with short-sleeved shirts.

Not only trompe l’oeil details, but the Fall/Winter 2024 fashion season also brings exquisite playfulness on silhouettes. Deconstruction is found in shirts worn backward, shirts detached from the wearer like skewed stickers, and even more extreme “cutting and splitting” styles. This helps us “distinguish between humans and machines” – as Demna of Balenciaga shares. Yohji Yamamoto’s intricately crafted and complexly cut coats are a prime example. Meanwhile, Balenciaga’s coats are intricately connected and separated from the wearer’s body, creating a feeling of lightness and comfort yet still interesting. Perhaps contemporary fashion still nods to the principles of Martin Margiela, the legendary designer who once shared with Vogue magazine: “When I cut clothes, whether old or new, it’s to transform them, not to destroy them.”

Obsession with fur coats: As an unwritten rule, every Fall/Winter fashion season begins, and the massive fur coats shine like a “main character” in the mood boards of prestigious brands. Not only the wearers, but designers also go crazy for fur coats made of various fun faux furs. For example, soft sheepskin coats at Simone Rocha or Givenchy; or versions with tufted, fluffy fur at Erdem, Stella McCartney. Meanwhile, classic colored fur coats at Helmut Lang and Miu Miu bring a more subdued spirit. Diesel and Knwls offer a visually stunning experience with pieces of fur that seem not yet completely dried.