Cherry Red, Leather Vests, and Sheer Garmentry at SS24 Fashion Month

Since the conclusion of fashion month, a few key trends have surfaced from the fashion capitals and their respective weeks in the spotlight.

Trends spotted across different fashion weeks include cherry reds, leather vests and sheer garmentry, with the goal this year seemingly being to show as much skin as possible. Here are some trends in the Spring/Summer 2024 ready-to-wear collections.

New York

Dropped waists, a trend first seen in 1920s flapper dresses, are back in full swing. This type of waistline goes past the belly button, beginning at the widest part of the hip and elongating the torso. Not only does this style of dress elevate the trend set by low-rise pants, trousers and skirts, it also has a fun historical parallel, as the 1920s party dresses came after a period plagued by the Spanish Flu. Fashion houses cycling back to a century-old post-epidemic party trend as a post-COVID sartorial leaning is fascinating. This trend was seen in collections and looks by Christian Siriano, Pranav Gurung and Marina Moscone.

London

With its roots in grunge, punk, and working-class aesthetics, London predicts leather, specifically biker jackets. JW Anderson and Erdem have two distinct takes on the silhouette, yet coming to concordance with the shorter-length leatherwear laden with zipped-up pockets, belts, and belt buckles. The torso-lengthening qualities of the dropped waist came across the Atlantic into several collections, including Daniel Lee’s Burberry, with the brand presenting a cream-dropped waist trench coat with a wide belt across the entire hip. The double-breasted suit jacket, a staple of suit wear, makes an appearance in Ashley Williams’, Mains’ and Molzweiler’s collections, with the torso being accentuated through a boxier fit of the suit jacket, reminiscent of David Byrne of Talking Heads in the film “Stop Making Sense.”

Milan

Leather is also Milan’s prediction for Spring and Summer stylings, continuing the trend seen in London. MM6 by Maison Margiela introduces a leather vest that falls to the midcalf and roomy leather shorts, both made of faded and distressed leather, that take inspiration from workwear. Sabato de Sarno’s Gucci collection, his first as creative director of the brand, ensures that cherry red leather will continue to thrive, presenting the color in almost every single look. A development that the Italian fashion houses predict the public will lean away from mini-skirts and embrace mini-shorts for the summer. Sarno’s Gucci and Peter Hawking’s Tom Ford style shorts with mid-length coats and black leather belts, offering a dressier and more office-ready look to an otherwise casual style.

No stranger to color, Fausto Puglisi’s Roberto Cavalli collection includes garments in nearly every color. Bright and dramatic pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, and, most significantly, this Nickelodeon slime-green hue gracing Roberto Cavalli’s and other’s collections. The color prevails as the focal point of an outfit, with the collections having either entirely monochrome electric green outfits or pairing the color with muted and faded light-blue denim.

Paris

One of the most significant trends from Paris Fashion Week is knitwear, as evidenced by Sarah Burton’s final collection as Alexander McQueen’s creative director, with a combination of distressing and cut-outs leading to irregularly constructed garments. Burton creates knitted sweaters and dresses that play with form through the distressing with slouchy shoulders and boxier fits. It also allows the more cold-weather appropriate silhouettes enough air and movement to be used in the Spring and Summer.

The Spring/Summer 2024 collections had several trends flowing throughout the Fashion Weeks; it’s exciting to see how they will be styled off the runway.