Every season, trend analyst Christine Boland scours online and offline trade fairs and shows to find out where the fashion world is visually developing. For the Autumn/Winter 2024 season, Boland presents four trends that each contribute in their own way to the overarching theme of ‘Symbiotic Contradictions’.
According to her, there has been a shift since last season. While back then the motto “Power to the Paradox” was about complete opposites coming together, this time apparently incompatible areas and ideas are entering into a symbiosis. According to Boland, this is exactly what is needed at a time when divisions in society and fashion are wide. Because how do you ensure that different currents can still come together and work together?
Exuberance vs. Normality: Drama and Decadence as a Counterbalance to Suffering
Under the guise of “exuberance versus normality,” maximalism becomes the norm to face the worries and suffering of our time. Exaggeration is allowed here and is theatrically integrated into everyday life. Exuberance and exposure are the keywords. Think of the ‘Emily in Paris’ series, where the most bombastic outfits are worn, and never more than once. Or the red carpets with extreme outfits. Life is seen as a stage, excess is inevitable. The fun and liberation inherent in this unbridled exaggeration serves as a countermove to the relatively troubling state of the world.
This exaggeration is expressed in a number of ways, the results of which at times could have sprung from a cartoon. There are enlarged details, such as puff sleeves reminiscent of courting birds of paradise, or, conversely, greatly reduced elements such as in Jacquemus bags. Surrealism, like Schiaparelli’s show that caused a stir last January, also plays a role here. Formal wear is in and easy to wear during the day, unabashedly overdoing embellishments like crystals and sequins. But the exuberance can also be more modest. So monochromatic outfits are decorated with draped shapes and huge trains.
Empowered vs. Resolute: Buffers against the overwhelming outside world
This theme revolves around the protection and envelopment of the body against the outside world. The literal enveloping of the body for protection was also seen at the last Tremd presentation, back then in relation to the war in Ukraine. This time, however, the theme is more connected to nature and the spiritual. The designs are reminiscent of animals with natural shells, such as a marsupial or a curled-up hedgehog, and evoke hibernation with “soothing shapes to snuggle into”. Meditative patterns offer tranquility and make the hectic times we live in now more bearable.
Gentleness can also be done in more extreme ways, as with Rick Owens. Knitwear is important in this trend, providing the soft ‘armour’ that Boland refers to. Also with fur and hair imitations – always in faux Form – is played a lot at all. The theme is also expressed through robust materials that are reminiscent of concrete but fall gently. So this subtype of the trend coincides with a revival of brutalism in architecture, Boland explains. This is clearly seen in the following Louis Vuitton design, where, according to Boland, raw qualities collide with sophistication.
Natural vs. Magical: The Enchantment of Natural Intelligence
For the summer of 2024, Boland predicted the trend theme “Dawn of Symbiosis”, in which the appreciation of nature in fashion is expressed, among other things, through a revival of Art Nouveau. In recent months, the focus of fascination with the natural has shifted to aspects of nature that humans cannot influence. Just think of the complex patterns of lichens or the Northern Lights. This also arouses interest in the mysticism inherent in natural landscapes through myths and legends. Visually, this manifests itself in flowing and elegant patterns that are never regular. The moss and forest landscapes mentioned sometimes have something fairytale-like about them, an atmosphere that is reflected in the designs, as with Thom Browne. Lichen as a source of inspiration can be found at Y/Project as well as at Sacai and Altuzarra. Blumarine and Proenza Schouler play with the irregularity of stone patterns.
All in all, there seems to be more room for celebration and tranquility compared to previous seasons. In short, the themes for winter 24/25 give hope for the future. And because it is about symbiotic contradictions, Boland stated at the beginning of her lecture: “Designers and artists are the pioneers of the zeitgeist. They react to what is happening, but they also show where we are going.”
This article was published on FashionUnited.nl. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ