After a couple of Fashion Weeks in which maximalism reigned supreme and tricks to go viral on social media took over the collections, for the Fall-Winter 2023-24 season most of the big brands seem to have opted for a quiet and subtly evocative luxury, whose hashtags are sartorialism, heritage, and quality materials.
Although - of course - there was no shortage of Instagrammable moments and special guests from K-Pop, next winter's catwalks showed a welcome slowdown, a return to what is essential in fashion: designing fabulous clothes. In search of new identity codes, the creative directors of the labels (some at their first collection like Daniel Lee from Burberry) were able to dig down to the core of their creative flair and tastefully explore the archives of the historical brands they represent: in this key one can read the various self-quotations of iconic garments from Chanel, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Givenchy.
The recently concluded fashion weeks showed a search for cleanliness and essentiality, elevating everyday dressing through the skillful use of materials such as leather, cashmere, wools and fine cottons, from Fendi's power dressing (with delightful knitwear combinations) to the romantic craftsmanship of Bottega Veneta and Tod's, from Prada's ladylike uniforms (complete with duvet dress!) to Miu Miu's nerdy scarves. Even Jonathan Anderson's stark surrealism at Loewe this time around appeared much scaled down and simplified. In any case, there was no shortage of clickbait moments: on the runway at Coperni the "robot dogs" of Boston Dynamics (whose videos have been among the most viewed on YouTube for years), rock 'n' roll stage diving at Sunnei, and the photochromic dresses proposed by Anrealage that revealed patterns and colors with UV exposure.
