Luxury labels are sending stuff down the Spring/Summer 2024 runways that actually resembles real clothing, the sorta stuff real people might actually wear in real life. You probably have some of these things in your wardrobe already: structured blazers, trim shirts, buttoned cardigans, trench coats.
But something’s amiss. Opaque tops are worn over bare chests, slit skirts are hemmed to mid-thigh, and sweaters are unbuttoned to the point where the ribcage meets the sternum.
Heck, the SS24 catwalks have beheld more bare sternums than a Bee Gees reunion.
It’s like business casual at an office that only employs hot people. Sensual office-wear that lanky waifs might wear for a night shift at the sex factory.
Now, these provocative office clothes aren’t omnipresent at every SS24 show but they’ve been a consistent throughline, an undercurrent pulsing through each offering.
Prada proffered see-through blouses and skirts; Ferragamo turned a tailored coat into a slinky, plunging one-piece; Bottega Veneta sent out demure staples undercut by seductive turns: a trench ‘n jeans borrowed from dad’s wardrobe upset by a greasy black leather tie, a daily-driver T-shirt worn with nothing but black cotton underwear.
Gucci’s new creative director, Sabato De Sarno, got real steamy by juxtaposing staples and salaciousness. One standout look layered a generous raincoat over a lacy slip, as if the model got out of bed, tossed something on to go get the paper, and then decided to head to work.
Similarly fresh-faced design director Simone Bellotti led Bally in a similar direction, though his play on contrasts was even more stark. One look would comprise a boxy shirt and layered skirt suitable for any office and, the next, a see-through sweater or form-fitting dress. Sober sweaters followed leather hot pants.
Leather, inherently sultry if not outright sexy, is a key fabric for the season, which is kind of insane because who else but the rich and/or famous can justify wearing leather mid-summer?
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