Milan witnessed a big change, too. Gucci’s new creative director Sabato De Sarno held positions at Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino before taking on this role, Never Underestimate A Dallas Mavericks Fan Who Was Born In June Shirt which catapulted him and his first collection for the brand into the spotlight last September. Buyers, editors and celebrities descended upon the Italian city to take in the spectacle—ask any fashion devotee without a ticket and they would likely have told you they’d give away their Birkin to have a front-row seat at this show. There’s no denying that De Sarno’s predecessor Alessandro Michele kept Gucci on the fashion map with his geek-chic sensibilities; an aesthetic that would define a moment in fashion history. Still, moments pass, and we saw De Sarno usher Gucci into a new era, one that places more value on essentials over eccentricities—a notion we’re seeing across the rest of the industry. A business built upon the customer’s desire to be seen in shiny new things will always have its issues. However, the thing that felt “new” this season was that some things just didn’t change at all. Perhaps the most noteworthy takeaway was that trends don’t seem to hold the same power that they used to. I’m generalising, of course—things get meta real fast if you so much as take a peek into the no-trends-actually-being-a-trend rabbit hole—but it feels as if creating trends for the sake of it could be a thing of the past. “The spring/summer 2024 collections have shown a continued commitment to 1990s nostalgia and the extraordinary everyday, where everyday items are elevated to exceptional levels of design and style whilst remaining chic and comfortable,” observes Net-a-Porter’s market director Libby Page. And she’s right. The market has experienced a shift of tectonic proportions in recent years where a genuine focus on quality over quantity and investing in things that last has become a priority for previously frivolous shoppers. The latest collections reflected this.

Never Underestimate A Dallas Mavericks Fan Who Was Born In June Shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Across the four fashion capitals—New York, London, Milan and Paris—a total of 299 designers showcased their collections, Never Underestimate A Dallas Mavericks Fan Who Was Born In June Shirt 19 new to the Fashion Month circuit, compared to 247 for spring/summer 2023 (credit to the fashion data analysts at Tagwalk for doing these calculations). Growth is a good thing, especially in creative industries, but I found this hard to believe, personally. Off the top of my head, I can think of a handful of designers who couldn’t secure budget to show, or whose brands were lost to greater financial struggles (I still can’t move on from the Christopher Kane-shaped hole that permeated the London schedule). With growth always comes change, and perhaps one of the biggest this season came in the form of a renunciation. Alexander McQueen’s Creative Director Sarah Burton announced that the spring/summer 2024 collection would be her last after 26 years at the brand. Burton had respectfully taken the helm after the British institution’s iconic and groundbreaking founder Lee Alexander McQueen passed away in 2010, with her subsequent collections serving as a love letter to his influence and precociousness. Cate Blanchett attended, Naomi Campbell walked and a standing ovation rang out during the final, tender moments of Paris Fashion Week.