Naked dressing is here to stay, both for climate and style purposes, according to the spring 2024 runways.
To combat record-breaking temperatures at New York Fashion Week, many designers from Dion Lee to Jason Wu played with sheer fashions, but as WWD West Coast executive editor Booth Moore pointed out, it was Michael Kors who “put some thought into selling it.”
Kors’ holiday-ready collection in homage to Jane Birkin and his recently deceased mother featured swimsuits underneath sheer dresses and skirts. “The reality is, today, when you are on vacation, the bathing suit is the bodysuit,” he told Moore, adding that bra and pantie sets will be shipped with many of the looks, making them more wearable.
Coordinating lingerie peeked out from underneath sheer dresses at Victoria Beckham and Dries Van Noten, while Alessandro Dell’Acqua at No. 21 and Issey Miyake’s Satoshi Kondo stuck with just briefs on bottom, exposing the breasts up top.
The series of draped dresses in white, black, peach and pale purple that Kondo opened with took their inspiration from a photo of a sheer flag flapping against the sky. “We created a design that allowed that drapery to naturally form,” he told WWD.
Movement was also a crucial element in Casey Cadwallader’s transparent designs for the Mugler show, which WWD Paris bureau chief, Joelle Diderich hailed as “one of the most memorable displays of Paris Fashion Week.” Wind machines in the form of black ventilators were hung from the ceiling, allowing yards of silky fabric trailing from one-shoulder tops and bustiers to coil in the air like ink in water.
“The audience was simply blown away,” joked Diderich, just as they were with the unconventional takes on the sheer trend at Simone Rocha, who trapped fresh pink roses under tulle, or at Undercover, where designer Jun Takahashi replaced wool with organza for jackets and pants to reveal their inner workings.
In his review of Takahashi’s show, WWD international editor Miles Socha wrote that these garments reflected his themes of loss and renewal, veiled in black for a “ghostly” look, like mourners at a funeral.