by Happy Fashion Month to all of you who celebrate! On Friday, the first of four major womenswear fashion weeks kicks off in New York, bringing into play a month-long schedule of shows, spectacle and drama. It is too early to say what trends will affect us and will continue to affect what we buy or borrow or the way we wear and change our clothes. Here’s what we know so far – and what to look out for.
The big debuts
After a year of repositioning that would make Rishi Sunak happy, we’ll see the most anticipated debut collections from the new creative directors at the helm of some of fashion’s biggest brands including Sean McGirr’s vision for Alexander McQueen. The Irish designer, who was named as Sarah Burton’s successor last September – starting conversations about fashion’s problem with diversity – will present his first collection in Paris on March 2. McGirr began his career in fashion as a stylist before taking on design roles at Dries van Noten, Burberry and Uniqlo. Most recently he has been working with JW Anderson. So far he and Kering, the brand’s parent company, have remained tight-lipped about his vision for the British fashion house, but given his background he should have an interesting perspective on how to create a high-fashion moment with commercial appeal. with him. Will it put a new spin on McQueen’s iconic skull motif? Watch this space.
In Milan, all eyes will be on former Bottega Veneta designer Matteo Tamburini, who took over from Walter Chiapponi at Tod’s in December. Could he create a replica of Jodie the Tod’s bag? Meanwhile, Chiapponi will make his debut at Blumarine. The Italian brand was heavily influenced by the Y2K revival, but Chiapponi is expected to inspire more sophistication.
French luxury house Chloé teases Chemena Kamali’s new vision. After cleaning up his Instagram feed, he has started releasing a series of portraits featuring past brand ambassadors such as Jerry Hall alongside new names, including Rwandan model Ornella Umutoni. Shot by David Sims in Paris against Haussman-style buildings and the Eiffel Tower, each portrait features the new Chloé logo, which Kamali says was inspired by exploring archives from Karl Lagerfeld’s tenure at the fashion house in the 1970s.
Don’t come back
After a one-year hiatus, Tommy Hilfiger, the powerhouse whose denim-focused and denim collections always draw a star-studded crowd, is back with a joint menswear and womenswear show in Manhattan. A$AP Rocky, the new creative director of Puma’s F1 fashion division, has come up with a campaign to relaunch his Mostro trainers. Will he and his partner Rihanna do the Puma date night show? Thom Browne, the American designer best known for his signature gray shorts and for starring in the TV series The Bear – through the white chef’s coat that Carmy presents to Sydney sometimes before the restaurant opens – is return to New York fashion week afterwards. a few seasons in Paris. The CFDA chairman will close the week on February 14. “Yes, cook!” with Bear stars Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White on the front row.
Off-White, the cult fashion brand founded by Virgil Abloh in 2013 is back on the Paris schedule after presenting the previous two collections in Milan. His co-edited show, called Black by Popular Demand, will be the third under the creative direction of Ibrahim Kamara.
Street style bait
Every fashion week, a viral accessory appears from the well-paved runways outside the shows. Last season, MSCHF’s bonkers big red boots were catnip for the street style photographers. So what should they expect this season? It seems those MSCHF boots walked so Rick Owens’ beat-up boots could run or – at least totter. The gargantuan boots can be tightened like a pair of children’s armbands but, as one TikTok user put it: “Good thing you’ll have to pull out the puncture repair kit.” Expect professional stuntman Tommy Cash, who once wore a duvet in the front row, to wear them – no doubt with a piercing suit in hand to get the most attention.
Meanwhile, Alaia’s fishnet flats with gobstopper-sized gold jewels are already warming up to replace their crystallized mesh Mary Janes, seen on the feet of every striker last season. JW Anderson’s lemon bag on her dove purse looks set to be in high demand, while her frog iteration is also eyeing it. A £2.4k Louis Vuitton paper-esque sandwich bag from Pharrell’s debut collection for the French house has sold out on the brand’s website, fetching more than £6,000 on resale sites – always a sign of a cult accessory. And no doubt someone will get into the Apple Vision Pro goggles. Clips of people testing the headphones on the streets of New York have already garnered hundreds of memes, so it’s inevitable that they’ll gain traction in the fashion world.
The new front row
From Loewe’s famous ex-boyfriends including Joe Alwyn, Zayn Malik and Andrew Garfield to Lewis Hamilton at Dior, Jake Gyllenhaal at Prada and K-pop band Riize at Louis Vuitton, the seating plans at the men’s shows this month January is a who’s who. which is in popular culture. Then came the couture shows in Paris, where Kylie Jenner and her six-year-old daughter, Stormi, met Valentino, and Gwyneth Paltrow headed for Armani. So we can expect the womenswear schedule to be just as star-studded if not star-studded, as celebrities continue to take on deals and brand endorsements stalled after the Hollywood strikes.
Although British Vogue’s Edward Enninful will have officially stepped down as editor-in-chief by March, he is expected to retain his seat. Or should that be seats. In January, Enninful revealed he had no plans to step away from the spotlight, accompanying Julia Roberts to the Jacquemus show on the Côte d’Azur.
You can also expect to see plenty of four-legged stars. Last year Tika the Iggy, an Italian hound with more than 2 million followers, attended the Coperni show in a green beaded dress and Demi Moore brought her teacup chihuahua to Versace. Since then the three-year-old has been the headliner of the Capote press tour, and Claudia Schiffer’s cat posed for photographers at the Argyle premiere in London. Could it be the autumn/winter of 2024 when a cat hits the pavement?
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