Thank the heavens for changing seasons! After a grueling hot summer, falling leaves, the smell of pumpkin spice in the air, and sweatuh weathuh is just what the doctor ordered! As Cosmopolitan reports, prepare to welcome oversized jumpers, faux fur coats and knee high boots back into your life with these seven autumn winter fashion trends that you’ll want to add to your closet now.
1. Boho is Back!
You’ve likely heard the news, boho is back in a big way for autumn winter 2024. This trend was not one to sleep on, with boho dresses and boho jewelery already featuring heavily in our summer wardrobes. But if you think the look is exclusively for festival season, guess again. You had to look no further than Chloé’s AW24 show, where the entire front row, including boho queen Sienna Miller, were all decked out in the brand’s Maxime wedge sandals and models ditched flower crowns for fluffy headbands.
No surprise, the French design house led the charge with its signature aesthetic, the collection Chemena Kamali’s debut at the helm. Chanel, Zimmerman, Giambattista Valli and Conner Ives also got the free and undone memo. The key takeaway: this is a modern version of the trend rooted in its ’70s origins, rather than the more is more (more frills, more ruffles, more layers, more accessories) vibe à la Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen or Serena van der Woodsen in the ’00s.
2. Feathers, Fur and Fluff
While the majority of your wardrobe can – with the help of a little styling – transition between the seasons, autumn winter exclusively means outerwear. With the ability to act as entire outfits in themselves, trust us when we say it’s worth investing in a new season coat or jacket. And the biggest outerwear trend to know for AW24: go tactile with textures. From shaggy oversized collars to floor-sweeping feathered capes and the softest faux fur coats, there was no shortage of designer inspo delivered by Erdem, Michael Kors, Alaïa, Prabal Gurung and Bottega Veneta, to name just a few.
Not content with saving these fabrics exclusively for outerwear, feathers, fur and fluff also featured in dresses and separates. After all, when else than the coldest months of the year can you wear such heavy fabrics like faux fur without fear of heat exhaustion? If you’re feeling adventurous, we fully endorse (and applaud) you, though there’s no denying a coat is the easiest and most cost-effective way to make this trend work in real life.
3. Bubble Up
Admittedly, bubble skirts are not new news for AW24 after entering the zeitgeist last season and championed by the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Selena Gomez and Cindy Kimberley. But luckily, they seem to be here to stay.
Rather than banish your puffball summer staple to the back of your wardrobe, take note of fresh new ways to style it. At Molly Goddard, bubble hems were worn with equally voluminous separates, while Conner Ives layered minis over trousers and Cecilie Bahnsen added sheer stockings and chunky ankle boots to contrast against the floaty femininity.
4. Countryside-Core
Coined by Pinterest, “eclectic grandpa” made waves at the start of the year when it was named one of the platform’s trend predictions for 2024. The aesthetic refers to stylish elderly men who have invested in high-quality pieces that have lasted them a lifetime – an admittedly hard vibe to recreate overnight.
But, use eclectic grandpa as your springboard, with the AW24 runways also showing layered silhouettes incorporating knitwear, tweed and corduroy (key signifiers of the trend) in a slightly more polished and feminine finish. At Anna Sui, plaids and checks clashed with argyle prints, scarves were knotted around heads at Burberry, and Fendi contrasted deconstructed cable knit capes with sheer swishing skirts. In short, Claudia Winkleman in her Traitors attire (not the cloak, mind, but the fingerless gloves work) is our unofficial poster girl.
5. Leopard Print
After that Ganni tie-front, puff sleeve leopard print blouse and trouser co-ord went viral in SS24 (and subsequently, the ASOS dupe that was almost identical but cost less much less) you’ll be thrilled to hear leopard print was a mainstay on the AW24 runways too. Namely thanks to the likes of Zimmerman, Versace and Dior where the loud animal print adorned coats, dresses and catsuits alike. While most designers stuck to the classic brown colorway and favored realistic iterations over abstract interpretations, Alexander McQueen also featured bold red colorways.
If leopard isn’t for you but you want to dip your toe into the animal aesthetic, snake print at Isabel Marant and white and black zebra stripes at Jacquemus also emerged as AW24 microtrends. Pick your pack and prepare to take a walk on the wild side this autumn.
6. Look-At-Me Leather
The first thing we reach for when the mercury starts to drop after a long hot summer is our trusty leather jackets (or faux leather). Equally, our straight-leg leather trousers have become a staple in our winter wardrobes. And while we’ve previously stuck to muted tones of goes-with-everything black, for AW24, leather has had a serious injection of colour. At Emilia Wickstead, shredded leather dress and longline trenches featured in shades of merlot and navy blue, Gucci showcased mustard hues and olive green and Gabriela Hearst stole the spotlight (literally) with a shimmering gold leather bustier dress.
Where designers did opt for tried and true black leather, the garments featured additional adornments like ruffled collars at David Koma and floral screen printing at Yuhan Wang. Yep, this leather is made to stand out.
7. Cinched For Filth
Of all the Y2K trends to make a comeback, waist belts are the latest and possibly the easiest to incorporate into your day-to-day wardrobe. (Not to mention the least triggering to those who lived through the era the first time around, sorry cargo pants). There are no real rules to follow here when it comes to style – Ralph Lauren opted for thick brown belts with statement buckles while sculptural gold chain link designs adorned the models’ hips at Chloé.
Similarly in position, Balmain and Saint Laurent favoured snatched waists, cinching in at the narrowest points compared to Rabanne who slug them low. Loewe, on the other hand, incorporated XL buckles and trailing straps into cut-out dresses, making the humble belt a central focal point. Yep, this season, your belts will be doing far more than just holding up your trousers.
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