Alaïa, Chloé and Balmain are three fashion brands that embraced womanhood on their fall runway collections 2024. This runway Ready-To-Wear season brought the legs out, and sheer fabric in – yet season fashion enthusiasts are well aware couture goes well beyond trends. As the curtains lifted, different designers explored different themes. For some, however, their debuts were united by an underlying artistic impression; women core, or as Gen-z like to call it, ‘girl coded’.
In Pieter Mulier’s fall show, Alaïa, featured during Paris Fashion Week, presented a collection of geometric patterns, drapes and knitwear – all garments designed through one singular yarn of wool. What are perceived to be curved denim pants, are indeed woven with, again, a single yarn, and no denim. The fringe dresses: countless layers of wool looped back into each other. While the techniques do all the talking in the latest Alaïa collection, what is more profound remains its inspiration, the female body.
Mulier honoured the notions of femininity through the construction of curved pieces. Embracing the female silhouette, the mirrored glass floor foresaw its reflection of spiraled and sculpted pieces, particularly in the hip area. Asymmetrical dresses, wrapped over the body in distinctive circles, represented a further expansion of the show’s vision to bring the circle of friends – and by extension, life – to fruition. The technique used, loops of yarn that come together, were not only a figure of friends for me, but rather, a figure of womanhood. From one generation to another, the progressive circles represented the passing down of the trick of the trade from grandmother to mother, to daughter.
We may have all seen by now the viral video on Instagram of a young boy running up to his mother across the runway while she’s receiving praise for her show. Chemena Kamali, designer of this show, indeed reacted with a testament to the brand’s mission and brought an energy of difference to the catwalk. Chloé’s fall show raged of intuition, freedom and undoneness. Reveling in her moment and placing her son back down in the seating area, Kamali represented a woman’s presence with a sense of liberation, beyond pure motherhood. Her designs, however, spoke even louder.
Encapsulated by a feeling of spontaneity and ‘It-girlness,’ the 2024 collection brought about a female-centric philosophy. Lace tops, long and draped maxi capes, metal necklaces, tiered and ruffled chiffons; all styles and fabrics giving way to an intuitive way of dressing. Based on movement, swing, etherealness, playfulness, and light. Embracing pure feeling, the boho chic Chloé girl was back. Loose detailing and consistent flowing dresses tucked into knee high boots projected a sense of freedom and dressing on-the-go. Envisioning an environment set to free women’s outfits of choice and way of free-spirited expression was executed impeccably by Kamali.
The Balmain 2024 fall show, inspired by the belief that ‘good things take time,’ composed its runway of two distinct elements – grapes and a non-traditional model casting; older women. The grapes were envisioned in different pieces like draped floral dresses, textured jackets, fruity picnic blankets, and caping busts. Perhaps at first sight, the grapes might be perceived as a reflection of its journey to becoming wine, and hence, a good thing which takes time. Yet a further look into Olivier Rousteing’s runway places a theme of womanhood at the forefront of his latest couture.
Beyond the trenches with army-like shoulder pads, colourful fruity fabrics, or angular leather work, the 2024 exquisite Balmain collection consistently referenced time as an important feature within fashion. Not only does luxury fashion take greater time, but ‘older sources’ of fashion are also important to the world of couture. Explored through castings of fossil within pieces, Balmain’s designer responded to the fast-moving nature of fashion. Even more so, the age diversity within the casting broke down the traditional uniformity of models and embraced ageless beauty. Particularly for a woman’s world, where age appears to be an important factor within her time, the fall show reminded the world of fashion that fashion indeed caters to everybody. And more importantly, there is beauty to be found within women of all age.