2024 has been a frenetic year in style: in a not-comprehensive list, Givenchy, Chanel, Lanvin, Valentino, Dries Van Noten, Tom Ford, Celine and Bottega Veneta have all had new creative directors named in 2024, while Maison Margiela, Y/Project, and Fendi’s womenswear line are currently without a named designer at the helm (while rumours of further departures abound).
Amid this mood of flux, bubbling under is a newly liberated spirit of eclecticism and experimentation. There was Prada’s boldly individual S/S 2025 collection in Milan, complete with 49 entirely unique looks (‘we thought of each individual as a superhero – with their own power, their own story,’ said Miuccia Prada’s co-creative director Raf Simons); Alessandro Michele’s expansive and eclectic opening act at Valentino; or an ode to the joy of clothes at Matthieu Blazy’s S/S 2025 show for Bottega Veneta (it would be his final collection for the house, having been appointed as artistic director of Chanel earlier this month). ‘The power of wow,’ he described of the fantastical show.
