HTSI editor’s letter: it’s OK to look frazzled this spring
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Watching the shows last season, I felt an unusual twinge of familiarity: something about the clothing on the catwalk resonated (shock horror!) with the mood of modern life. It was less the fact that high fashion had vaulted into the accessible – the price points are currently higher than I’ve ever seen them – than how things were put together. It reminded me of my own chaotic, hybrid routine. Miuccia Prada expressed it best at Miu Miu, where models walked down the catwalk with fluoro plasters on their ankles and bits of frizz escaping from their ponytails. They carried bags spilling with gewgaws and random accessories, and wore mismatched clothing that recalled my frantic look when commuting to the office via the gym.
This style, dubbed “frazzled Englishwoman” on social media, takes its cue from ’90s rom-coms in which professional women career messily through work and relationships while trying not to fall apart. Their wardrobes are a confection of scarves, office attire and clashing colours, and while the Miu Miu models looked far chicer and more put together than Bridget Jones might, there was still a hint of mischief in Mrs Prada’s take on designer déshabillé. Other shows drew on themes that will also resonate with commuters: at The Row, models wore towels insouciantly around their shoulders, and robe coats that gave the impression they were in the midst of changing after a lunchtime session in the gym (see our homage to the theme shot by Olivia Lifungula and styled by Benjamin Canares); Gucci’s first collection under Sabato De Sarno married super-casual vest tops, lingerie and denims with formal tailoring fit for the boardroom; while at Bally, new designer Simone Bellotti dressed models in smart basics with caps, satchels and brightly coloured holdalls that recalled a group of business travellers passing through the Swiss Air lounge.
Dressing for work today has become an odd curation: we wear sneakers with our suiting and polo shirts with pencil skirts. I’ve lost count of how many young women I see each day wearing a smart coat or trench over a hoodie and some leggings, usually with a tube sock and some form of footwear that suggests she’s about to drop in on a quick aerobics class. Instead of committing to a look that is all sports or all formal, our daily uniform has become a mixture of the two. The trend finds fresh expression in our cover story by Alasdair McLellan and stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé, in which we find tracksuit bottoms paired with a sparkly Chanel jacket (hell yes! It looks amazing); football shirts worn with avant-garde pieces by Junya Watanabe; or big pantaloon trousers tied with a feather boa.
Of course, not everyone will want to embrace the sporting life this season. At the other extreme, perhaps, the SS24 shows pushed a max-strength femininity in which bows, frills, lace, floaty boudoir dresses and flowers popped up everywhere – often at the same time. The topic of girlishness has been key in the recent cultural conversation, especially in the months since Barbie as the word has been freed from its chauvinist associations and adopted as a symbol of empowerment. Novelist Daisy Lafarge has written a brilliant essay on the subject, accompanying an unapologetically coquettish fashion story in which she argues that the word speaks less to a regression than a “a flamboyant riposte to the cultural and literal austerity of the 2010s… typified by the style known as ‘normcore’”.
Flowers or football shirts. That is the question. This season, especially, you no longer have to choose.
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