Nothing is as constant as change – some fashion houses probably thought so too, and so the coming fashion weeks for the spring/summer 2024 season are all about new beginnings. To keep you on track from all the excitement, FashionUnited has rounded up the most exciting debuts of the season for you.
A minimalist debut with Helmut Lang
New York Fashion Week not only marks the start of the Big Four fashion weeks, but also a series of much-anticipated creative director debuts. First up is designer Peter Do, whose first show as creative director for fashion label Helmut Lang will officially open New York Fashion Week on September 8th.
Do, who became known for clean cuts, monochromatic coloring and bold designs at the helm of his eponymous label, joined Helmut Lang in May. Ever since Austrian designer Lang left his label in 2005, the creative stewardship of his minimalist legacy has fallen into many – often unsuccessful – hands. Do is supposed to change that after four years without a creative director.
The task of his much-anticipated debut will be to breathe new life into the brand. Exactly how Do will do that remains to be seen. But as he travels to Paris this year with his eponymous brand, he promises to put New York – the home of the brand since its inception in 1986 – front and center in a video posted to Helmut Lang’s Instagram account. In doing so, the designer is also paying due attention to the brand’s archive, because in 1998 it was Helmut Lang who was the first designer to advertise on a New York taxi.
Peter Hawkings for Tom Ford: An American in Milan
One debut that most may have been anticipating in New York is designer Peter Hawkings’ first collection for Tom Ford. However, Hawkings, who was appointed Tom Ford’s helm in April, will present his vision on September 21 at the Milan show reveal fashion week. The designer may not be known to everyone, but he has long been considered the right-hand man of Ford, who sold his eponymous label to Estée Lauder at the end of last year and then said goodbye to the fashion world.
Although Tom Ford, both the designer and his label, has deep roots in American fashion, Milan is a place that has a deep connection to Ford’s personal and professional history. Links linking him and Hawkings’, as the new man at the helm of the luxury brand began his career at Gucci under Ford in 1998. Whether this is a strategic move to anchor the brand in one of Europe’s luxury hubs, or perhaps a nod to Hawkings’ beginnings and the brand’s future creative direction remains to be seen.
Tradition instead of trend? Sabato de Sarno ushers in Gucci’s future
Speaking of Gucci, the Florentine luxury fashion brand finally unveiled its first collection under new creative director Sabato de Sarno on September 22nd. De Sarno, a child of Valentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli’s school, was previously in the shadow of the designers he worked for as fashion director, but now his path is paving into the spotlight.
The departure of Alessandro Michele and the following two collections, which the fashion house presented without a creative director, caused a stir and speculation, now the fashion world will soon find out what a Gucciverse will look like without Michele – and whether the brand is actually going back to old ways.
The first signs that Gucci could increasingly rely on in-house tradition instead of trends in the future have already emerged in recent months. The famous Jackie 1961 handbag, designed in the 1950s and subsequently named after the US First Lady Jackie Kennedy, made a comeback, as did the Gucci Horsebite clutch, once designed by creative director Tom Ford, which was launched in February by attentive observers on the catwalk. One thing seems clear though, the era when Gucci was synonymous with vintage bohemian, eccentric and maximalism has left the fashion house with Michele.
Long live Franco Moschino
No debut and yet there will be a breath of fresh air at Moschino. The Italian fashion house, which said goodbye to its longtime creative director Jeremy Scott in March, has not yet filled the position. The show continues on September 21st.
To pay tribute to the legacy of founder Franco Moschino and to celebrate the brand’s 40th anniversary, Moschino commissioned stylists Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, Katie Grand, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and Lucia Liu to create ten looks each inspired by the works of the late designer.
A fashion reversal for Bally?
No other fashion city is marked by more new beginnings this year than Milan and so the Swiss fashion company Bally is presenting the vision of its new creative director on September 23rd. It’s another reversal for the brand after designer Rhuigi Villaseñor left in May after a fairly manageable stint of just under a year. In his place is Simone Bellotti, a design veteran who has so far only worked behind the scenes of major Italian brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Gianfranco Ferré.
Like Gucci, in appointing Bellotti, Bally chose a designer with years of experience in the industry but without much media appeal, the complete opposite of Villaseñor, whose appointment in January 2022 caused a stir. To what extent Bellotti will also initiate a visual U-turn for the fashion label will become apparent in the coming weeks.
Francesca Murri directs Fiorucci’s “creative reconstruction”.
Fiorucci returns to an iconic place under the direction of new creative director Francesca Murri. In 1967, Elio Fiorucci opened his first store in the Lombard fashion metropolis, which is now set to become the scene of the creative reconstruction of the brand.
The label is once again under new management and now wants to continue its old glory days. Murri, who has already designed for well-known fashion houses such as Versace, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Givenchy and Ferragamo in the course of her career, is supposed to cope with this creatively, but until now was only a well-established concept. It remains to be seen whether the label’s iconic angel will learn to fly again under her direction.
A new beginning for carving with Louise Trotter
There are few things the fashion world loves more than a debut, but a debut that’s also a comeback is high on the list – and that’s exactly the case with Louise Trotter’s arrival at Carven. On September 30, the British designer not only presents her vision for the French label, but also brings it back to the catwalk of Paris Fashion Week after a five-year absence.
Trotter is not only the first designer to bring the label back onto the catwalk, but also the brand’s first designer since Serge Ruffieux left in 2018. Since then, the bankrupt fashion house has been taken over by the Chinese Icicle Fashion Group Co., Ltd. taken over and is now to be revived with Trotter. The focus will be on clothing that impresses with its simplicity and does justice to both people and the environment, as the designer announced when she took office.
Next try at Anne Demeulemeester
This is the second debut this year for Belgian fashion house Ann Demeulemeester. After Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s stint at the helm of the brand, which was unusually short even for the fashion industry, the still relatively unknown designer Stefano Gallici is trying his luck this season.
The new creative director has been in office since June and yet his first collection will be presented on the catwalk on September 30th. It could be to his advantage that he comes from within the brand’s own ranks as a menswear designer and had already been active there for three years before his promotion.
However, the fashion world can not only welcome newcomers this season, but also has to say goodbye to industry giants. In Milan, Walter Chiapponi will take his final bow on the Tod’s catwalk and in Paris, Gabriela Hearst will present her final collection for Chloé.