Soft and subtle – with a little edge
Grown up glamour and functionality are dominating the SS24 Brown Thomas collections
YESTERDAY Brown Thomas unveiled their spring summer 2024 collections in the striking surroundings of the new Exo building on Dublin’s North Wall. The building delivers striking panoramic views of the city’s docks but what was on the ramp was equally arresting. It was an elegant and sleek show that delivered a carefully considered edit of international luxury brands including Céline, Prada, Dior, Versace, Loewe and Dolce & Gabbana alongside UK brands Alexander McQueen, Richard Quinn, Erdem and Roksanda. Overall,
the feeling was refined and slightly muted. Perhaps it reflected the current state of the world: the clothes were certainly stunning, but there was a quieter more subdued feel across all the collections.
For example, florals (usually a colourful summer staple) were shown on dark backgrounds, silhouettes were often enveloping and functional pieces like trench coats, wide leg jeans and roomy blazers appeared repeatedly throughout. Black and white prevailed in terms of colour or lack of.
It seems if women are going to spend on designer clothes they want to be able to wear them on repeat.
Keeping pieces for special occasions is passé – loving and wearing your investments to get maximum value is what consumers are now prioritising. So, while there were notable statement pieces, it was the hero everyday items like the trench coats, wide trousers, tailored jackets, and midi dresses that seemed most covetable.
Utility and wearability were key across the looks.
There were very few logos on show, apart from one very subtle Céline hoody and the handbags. Quiet luxury still seems to be a strong trend, but with a preppy feel courtesy of rugby shirts, polo shirts and masculine-inspired tailoring. While the looks overall were under
stated, even restrained, on closer inspection there were plenty of intricate, thoughtful details that elevated the clothing.
There was an emphasis on beautiful fabrics like cashmere, silk, lace, and linen which were often artfully manipulated or draped into architectural necklines and hemlines, subtle embellishments like embroidery and beading and skilfully craftmanship like Prada’s patchwork leather jacket.
The tone was set from the off with Dries Van Noten who brought his signature femininity with a twist courtesy of a generous trench coat paired with wide trousers.
It was an elegant and extremely wearable mood that continued as the shows’ 100 looks were revealed in rapid succession.
Other notable looks included Miu Miu’s flirty miniskirts, Dior’s feminine print midi and maxi dresses, The Row’s minimalist tailoring and Victoria Beckham’s slinky ‘90s inspired slip dress.
Special mention must go to the collection by Richard Quinn which was exquisite: redolent of old school couture, his extravagant romantic dresses festooned with lavish blooms were pure glamour but with a contemporary edge. Designers showed contrasting aesthetics, so there was something for all tastes – fluid femininity courtesy of bias-cut dresses and asymmetric skirts versus boxy, oversized jackets and coats.
Some of the most successful looks were those that played these contrasting proportions off one another for example Miu Miu’s abbreviated minis paired with crisp smart blazers.
While the colour palettes was quiet for summer there was still plenty of flesh on show: a Prada blazer appeared sans pants as we have seen on many celebrities, Dolce & Gabbana’s lace dresses were totally sheer while Khaite’s version was shown with a base layer to preserve some modesty.
Versace had a leather corset dress that delivered dramatic sex appeal.
Shelly Corkery, fashion director at Brown Thomas, said post show: ‘It’s up to us to edit the looks … and I think what’s nice about today we got quite a lot of the trends in. We saw the ‘90s was there, there was also a lot of white, then black is back for sure.
‘I think it’s a very feminine season still – I think there’s a lot of transparency, lots of opaque fabrics but transparent at the same time, so it’s a little elevated in terms of material,’ she continued.
‘It’s still very feminine but there’s some contradictions.
‘It’s a quieter season in terms of its clean lines, not so much logo, not so much embellishment but there’s till wonderful things happening.’