Is there an item of clothing as reassuringly perennial as the trench coat? Much of this is down to the way it provides the perfect transition between seasons – those intermediate, indecisive moments when your winter coat feels too heavy, but it is too cool to do away with outer layers entirely. Though the trench has never just been about function: from the women of film noir to the insouciant Burberry-clad supers of the 2000s, it has long encapsulated an easy elegance, its enduring silhouette achieved by the most simple of actions – the tying of a belt around the waist.
This season’s designers riffed on the wardrobe fixture in a myriad of ways, as captured here in the April 2024 issue of Wallpaper* by London-based photographer Theresa Marx and Wallpaper’s fashion and creative director Jason Hughes. From Maximilian Davis’ layered satin trench at Ferragamo to Daniel Lee’s drop-waisted riff on the classic Burberry trench, or Dolce & Gabbana’s sensually charged (but surprisingly functional) sheer PVC raincoat, each is a uniquely chic interpretation of the classic trench coat – equally fitting for bright spring days, and inevitable April showers, ahead.
