The overall silhouette shape of the season was relaxed yet not baggy. Collections featured outerwear and sweater offerings that were heavy, oversized or elongated. Dresses and skirts indicate a clear shift in silhouette with the midi – whether fuller or fitted. Woven tops favour new turtlenecks or bow blouses where peasant blouses were quite prominent in dreamy fabrics, the pants continue to embrace volume with culottes, and wide-legged pants topping the charts. Explore the five most important silhouettes that will shape the coming fall season…
Duster Coat
A great fall collection must consist of the most popular coat style of the season, and dusters are relevant to both outerwear and sweater dressing. The most influential ones seen on the runway were floor duster coats, which featured extra-long lengths and sometimes oversized shapes. Others featured blanket styling with features like asymmetric hems, belts and shawl collars. Balmain and Public School’s styles were ankle-length where the former used pastel shades and the latter went for bright fuchsia to make a bold impact. Katie Ermilio used oversized fur trimmings on the collar, whereas Calvin Klein’s interpretation stayed true to their identity, purely minimal.
Peasant Blouse
This season is all about the peasant blouse, which is a must-have especially for the young contemporary market. With a strong bearing on Bohemian looks, design details include full sleeves, keyhole or high necks and tie or ruffle front details. Joie and Tommy Hilfiger made their case-in-point with the tie front detail in shades of white, where one went for a simple version the other chose a romantic print, diaphanous fabric and a plunging neckline. Sleeves were the focal point for others like Temperley London who played around with soft ruffles and Gucci left no stone unturned when it came to colours and embellishment on their tops.
The Turtleneck
For quite some time now, high necks have been reigning the runways at every major fashion show, so it is of no surprise that the turtleneck, a classic style is dominating the sweater and knits classification, this season. Appealing to both womenswear and young contemporary looks, turtlenecks are either slim-fitted or more relaxed with oversized shapes and extra-long sleeves. Bluemarine and Creatures of Comfort presented fitted versions that can be easily layered and paired with anything, while Jonathan Simkhai chose to go with a thick knit dress in white hat which drew focus to the snug turtleneck. TSE showed us a perfect example of the standing turtleneck, which is more rigid in structure; other design details included rounded shoulders and slits on the sides of the knit.
Boho Maxi
Owing to the romantic and Bohemian references so prevalent in the fall collections, the boho maxi makes a triumphant return to the dress category. Diaphanous materials were a must on flowing silhouettes, while new updates to consider included peasant sleeves, high necklines and dramatic side slits. Gucci picked floral fabric and layers and layers of chiffon, and to infuse a bit of edge, added belts to the looks. Temperley London’s looks were dreamier with a palette of pastels and thigh-high slits with ruffled peasant sleeves, completely in contrast were Roberto Cavalli’s designs that featured dark romantic shades, the dresses more fitted and the necklines, plunging. Valentino’s maxis stood out for their simplicity in silhouette and complexity in embellishment.
Midi-skirt
Embrace the ’50s trend as mid-calf shapes are a defining silhouette of the season, with the midi-skirt as the most popular bottomwear. It branches out into two directions – fuller dirndl styles, as well as slim midi ones. Widespread applications in womenswear are featured, as well as options for the young contemporary market. Fuller styles favour high waists, and pleats, while slim shapes are a match for slits and wrap construction. Dion Lee and Lela Rose presented perfect examples for the fuller-skirt styles, whereas the former made use of pleats, the latter’s was more in A-line. Monique Lhuillier’s version was more risqué, skin-tight and boasting of a thigh-high open slit and Victoria Beckham’s was wrapped.
