March 16, 2024

Counterintuitively, one of the ways that designers are undermining the idea of an algorithmically flattened culture is through garments that embrace the idea of flatness physically through construction, splicing (see Undercover), or suspension (see Balenciaga and Victoria Beckham). In doing so they continue in the tradition of Martin Margiela, who once told Vogue: “When I recut clothes, old or new, it’s to transform them, not destroy them.” This idea of building up from and expanding on what exists is one that fashion needs to embrace.

Corporate Values

Thought neckties were a thing of the past? Think again. Designers played with symbols of corporate power, ties among them, as a commentary on late-stage capitalism and the dismantling of symbols of power in a now lost world of work.

Flyte Patterns

Country-house weekends—but not of the Saltburn variety—are trending. Tweeds, herringbones, and argyles conjure Brideshead Revisited’s Sebastian Flyte, Jeeves and Wooster, the Mitford sisters, and the relaxed royal style of Balmoral.

Neck-Up Fashion

Extravagant collars will be to 2024 what big sleeves were to 2023. Backward button-downs are also making the rounds.

Outward-Bound

Did Pharrell Williams’s Louis Vuitton so-called damoflage spark a trend? Designers are connecting to nature with expressionistic takes on the traditional camouflage pattern. Just don’t expect to hide in plain sight in these head turners.

Flat Out

Apple’s Vision Pro may be making spatial computing a reality, but fashion is embracing the two-dimensionality of flatness with spliced garments, the use of wire, and paper-doll-like tabs. The effect is to create a space between the body and the garment that is unexpected and exciting to the eye.

Piled High

Come fall you’re going to go wild for voluminous, pettable outerwear made of faux fur, feathers, fabric, shearling, or yarn.

Off-Piste

Snuggly and stylish, ski sweaters go from