As the days grow shorter and the weather grows colder, the warmth of the Spring-Summer 2024 fashion season was a welcome interruption to an impending winter. Regrettably, much of the season was bogged down with the usual florals and frills as several brands oscillated between looks that belonged at either a grandmother’s tea party or a 5-year-old’s birthday. With many recent changes in creative directors, such as Peter Hawkings working for Tom Ford and Daniel Lee with Burberry, it was evident that many brands were still finding their footing. Yet even among the mundane and the downright hideous, there was the simple and subtle elegance expected of ready-to-wear. If you need someone to weed out the good from the bad, there’s only one source to trust: Reznick’s Runway Rundown.
New York: Dion Lee
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The Spring-Summer 2024 fashion season began with disaster as much of the fashion world migrated to Europe to present their collections, leaving New York painfully barren. Of those left in the Big Apple, only creative director Dion Lee managed to incorporate the spirit of the city into his eponymous brand.
The collection’s opening looks combined blazers, construction tools, denim and sweatpants to paint an accurate picture of city fashion. With leisure wear becoming more prevalent, Lee incorporated leggings and sweats to something a little more chic. A black sweatshirt gathered by a gold buckle and paired with thigh-high boots made a fabric commonly associated with lazy Sundays on the couch undeniably cool. The collection was inspired by construction; two corsets, one structured with wrenches and one reminiscent of a workman’s boot, were particularly powerful.
In an homage to the fusion of aesthetics that is New York, Lee attempted to contrast these hardy looks with the elegance of lace and organza. The lighter fabrics worked well in the closing looks as Lee used metal pipes to drape the material, yet the earlier outfits constructed from lace disrupted the continuity of the collection. The fabric felt more like cheap fast-fashion than artful decoration, especially when paired with plain, nude corsets. Despite this disappointment, the textile usage and thematic relevance ensured Dion Lee’s dominance over New York Fashion Week.
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London: Knwls
After releasing a collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier Sept. 8, Knwls set expectations high for London Fashion Week. Similarities between this collaboration and Knwls’ newest collection are obvious, with the combination of leather and fur, as well as sheer sets, dominating the runway. As a newer brand, Knwls often struggles with artistic identity, but the brand seems to have settled itself with abstract patterns and consistent silhouettes. Minidresses and jackets, now synonymous with the label, contained new patterns and motifs while maintaining the ever-present layering crafted by the brand.
The collection worked seamlessly through a limited color palette, drifting from red and pink to green and blue. Varying textiles such as leather and beads created texture when contrasted together, but were tailored to perfection to avoid overwhelming the viewer. The fascination with leather aligned with the trends dominating streetwear, though the muted colors and fabric choice may not hold up well in the spring. Knwls may lack the elegance some of the older London brands presented, but their boisterous designs speak to the wilder side of the city.
Milan: Bottega Veneta
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The movement in creative director Matthieu Blazy’s collection for Bottega Veneta was palpable even through a screen. Blazy tends towards simple looks made interesting through textile usage, as was evident in his debut collection for the brand which featured denim printed on leather. Now, he’s turned to raffia, a fabric that’s grown increasingly prevalent in the fashion world over the past year. The fabric’s distressed nature makes it incredibly dynamic, which Blazy takes advantage of through skirts and jackets. His most outlandish move comes in the form of raffia pom-poms adorning knit dresses, which were used to end the collection on a light and playful note.
Though the closing looks certainly add a joyful tone to the collection, the use of color allows Blazy to blend his more eclectic creations in with his classy suits. It’s here in these more toned-down looks that Blazy’s use of texture becomes crucial. Sweaters knit into textured patterns and draped leather, a bold choice given the hefty weight of the material, elevate pinstripe suits to something more evocative. It’s a collection that brings hope into the gloomy months of fall as the fashion world anticipates the bright colors and playful fabrics to come.
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Paris: Schiaparelli
If there’s one thing you can rely on for Paris Fashion Week, it’s that someone will host their show in front of the Eiffel Tower, and that Daniel Roseberry will outshine everyone else. Since 2019, Roseberry has combined subtle references to the brand’s founder, Elsa Schiaparelli, with genius artistry and an attention to detail unparalleled by others in the industry. For this collection, he turned to Elsa’s seaside motifs for inspiration. The famous lobster dress was reincarnated as a skirt, the lobster’s claws expanding into ruched fabric. The lobster also appeared in a massive gold necklace as Roseberry embraced Schaiparelli’s playful attitude towards jewelry.
As usual, Roseberry added his own expansions onto Elsa Schiapralli’s foundation, adding crabs and fish into the mix. Roseberry also created his own iteration of the iconic skeleton dress in a game of Where’s Waldo as he subtly embedded bones into several looks from each collection. Here, the bones are elevated in leather and structured fabric, gently sculpting the body without detracting attention from the rest of the look. The most noticeable addition Roseberry made to the list of Schiaparelli’s gimmicks was his jackets and dress with contents spilled, literally, across the fabric. Cigarettes, tape measures and nail polish cascaded down the torso of models, the mix of cheap objects clashing wonderfully with gilded accessories. With each season, Roseberry finds himself a new fascination that he embeds into even the smallest of details, forcing his audience to slow down and look closer.
