While the runway helps dictate trends, street style increasingly plays a role with decked-out spectators, colorful influencers and a hodgepodge of celebrities donning full looks, each putting on their very own fashion show.
Now that the spring 2024 womenswear collections have officially wrapped, it is a good time as any to reflect on the street style that defined the season.
More so than any other, the street style this fashion month was characterized by the influence of brands with cult-like followings. As individual trends become harder to parse out, their overarching aesthetics, whether real or copied with the help of some clever styling hacks, are taking hold as showgoers are more determined than ever to prove their allegiance.
Outside of the Louis Vuitton show in Paris, a pair of ladies donned pieces from the house’s recent collaboration with artist Yayoi Kusama, carrying the multicolor polka-dot motif up through their hair with bow accents. Elsewhere, all-black looks featuring Rei Kawakubo’s sculptural volumes and Gothic influences with a whiff of Rick Owens stood out on the streets of the French capital.
Miuccia Prada — known for her smart, yet chic uniform dressing — was clearly the inspiration for more than a few preppy get-ups, but it is Daniel Roseberry for the house of Schiaparelli whose surrealist-inspired creations took the biggest hold in accessories. Roseberry’s Midas touch was spotted in all four fashion capitals in the form of whacky gloves, eyewear and heirloom-quality medallion jewelry.
All of these designers have mastered the art of branding to become celebrities in their own right (just see Fear of God’s Jerry Lorenzo), but famous faces less closely tied to fashion flexed their influence as well — the likes of Zendaya and Jaden Smith made memorable street style moments sure to be copied by retailers and fans alike.
But still, fashion is an industry that thrives on the creative freedom of individuals who let loose when fashion week comes to their town. A nameless man in neon green soccer gear and a matching cowboy hat or woman dressed in psychedelic printed leggings and an ‘80s-style leather bomber jacket could have a trickle-up effect, inspiring brands for their upcoming fall collections.
