Report of the Autumn/Winter 2024 women’s fashion shows
The curtain falls on the European fashion weeks, and in particular on the Milan and Paris fashion weeks that have just ended. Since some of the most popular brands among those who inhabit Galleria Cavour also took to the catwalk, we want to tell you about the most talked-about shows and the trends that await us next season.
The last fashion house to show, in chronological order, was Louis Vuitton and the watchword for this collection seems to be ‘celebration’. In the Cour Carrée du Louvre, on the same day and in the same place that saw his debut two decades ago, Nicolas Ghesquière celebrates his ten years as creative director of the brand. The atmosphere is that of a journey through time between bright clothes and hidden homages in a sort of reinterpretation of his most representative garments of the past decade: from silver and tech looks to furry gloves, from stiff shoulder pads to voluminous maxi skirts.
Pragmatism and functionality seem instead to be the watchwords of Matthieu Blazy and the collection proposed for Bottega Veneta in a scenario that seems to reproduce a world on fire. The elegance of the maison thus becomes an act of resilience as if to reiterate that beauty will save the world. Essential and linear garments parade: luxury becomes utilitarian and leaves no room for eccentricity.
Prada also plays with topicality and history. Miuccia and Raf Simons‘ clothes seem to refer to different eras: apron skirts, bags with a degradé effect and bows tell of a contemporaneity that studies the past to understand the future. These, however, have also been weeks of great debuts: we recall, among others, that of Seàn McGirr at Alexander McQueen, received timidly despite the intention to replicate the splendour that the rebellious spirit of the brand embodied in its early days, and the more convincing one of Adrian Appiolaza at Moschino, who succeeds instead in evoking the playful style at the origin of the brand’s philosophy.
Staying true to himself, Sabato de Sarno reiterated his desire to depart as far as possible from the maximalist style of his predecessor, Alessandro Michele. And if Valentino‘s show is a tribute to black in all its facets, bringing bold colours to the catwalk are Jil Sander, with a clear homage to the 1920s, and Versace. Donatella proposes an indomitable woman hovering between punk and glamour: metallised fabrics, vertiginous cuts and blazer dresses with very short hems stand out.
Marco Rambaldi from Bologna, who relies on the symbolism of love and the heart for his latest creations, and Marco de Vincenzo from Etro, who, to the tune of Techno Pastorale, blends sumptuous embroidery and fine velvets with the maison’s iconic prints. In general, the sensation is that, in an uncertain and restless world, fashion, which is the mirror of the times, wants to remain poised between tradition and experimentation: without daring too much but with the desire to look beyond the quiet luxury that has marked these years. Whether the direction will be that of breaking the mould or adhering to a morose minimalism we will only find out, however, with the next fashion shows.