THE CRAFT
Spring / Summer 2024 filled with creativity and chaos.
From the S/S 24 Margiela Couture Show, through designs inspired by AI, to London's favourite second-hand lovers destinations TRAID - the inspiration with the craft trend is booming.
Deconstruction, holes, asymmetry, fabric manipulation, optical illusion, all that we could have already spotted in previous collections of major fashion houses, such as Balenciaga or in the viral A/W 2022 by Bottega Veneta.
THE CRAFT trend for S/S 24 manifests itself in different ways this season and you probably already have something, which reflects it - whether it is a distressed looking jumper or an oversized blazer. You are a victim of this trend! We all are...
Fashion capitals filled with the chaos of the craft trend!
Street fashion seen through the eyes of Phil Oh.
Logomania and maximalism are slowly exiting fashion, and quiet luxury is not so quiet anymore. It seems to be screaming louder than Jeremy Scotts' designs for Moschino. Taking in consideration the current influence of gen z on fashion and a general change of the society's paradigm, it has been observed that consumers are starting to perceive clothes as a collectable piece of history. I guess that explains where the obsessions with elevated basics come from!
Do not get me wrong, fashion will still be strange and the trends will not leave us, but the focus will be on savoir-faire, heritage and tradition. We will also be able to spot hyper creative designs, so get prepared to be wowed and confused.
Let's start with what we have already seen before - the distressed look popularised by the latest Diesel collection by Glen Martens. Speaking of the distressed look it is inevitable to mention the pioneers of it. The mother of punk Vivienne Westwood and the Japanese dark princess brand Comme des Garçons. These are the brands, which revolutionised fashion with their heavily distressed garments in the 80s. When neons and power dressing were dominating the Parisian runways, Rei Kawkubo was showing her all black collections and putting models in sweaters with holes. Now we can only imagine how brave Rei was to do that!
Holes and cut-outs are a continuation of the distressed look on the runways and can be seen in recent Stella Mccartney and Paolo Carzana S/S 24 ready-to-wear collections. It looks like the polka dot is coming back also - does that maybe have something to do with the black&white tone trend in fashion or maybe the LV x Yayoi Kusama collection?
Sculpture - luxury fashion houses, such as Schiaparelli, which often shock and rarely disappoint the audience with their creativity, offer surrealistic, sculptural looks this season. They focus on beautifully highlighting proportion, but also disturb it by distorting it. This trend was also interpreted well by Jaquemus, tapping into the super-high trouser trend and offering more wearable, but still very avant-garde pieces.
The interest in AI in fashion is accelerating fast. Brands such as Loewe, Mugler and Duran Lantink take us to a different world. So if you want to feel like a magic creature this season follow the creative vision of the mentioned fashion houses.
Luxury fashion is trying new techniques and inviting us to think outside the box this season. Patchwork, deconstruction, fabric manipulation, asymmetry - all of these techniques imitate the DIY trend. Unconventional use of a t-shirt as a skirt, merging of bras to create a dress or connecting leather stripes to construct a full look by Bottega Venetta, I do not know about you, but that is extremely inspiring to me. Look 29 showcased by Kiko Kostadinov in Paris is definitely one of my favourites.
Finally, observed on the runway presented by the recent CSM graduate - Ashley Williams. The craft trend was interpreted in a funny and wild way. The use of white t-shirt as a canvas for creative explosion is nostalgic and slightly reminds us of childhood.
Versatility, experimentation and uniqueness are the key words to imitating this trend. It is one of my favourites for this upcoming season, because it is easy and you can do it yourself! It does not require you to buy new clothes, but rather encourages exploration and stimulates creativity.
Young designers started adapting the trend also!
