Unless you’re a capital-F Fashion fan, fashion week trends can be more than a little daunting — not to mention unrealistic — for everyday wear. (See: the ultra mini skirts and sky-high platforms of the last few seasons.) Luckily for us, the latest London Fashion Week, which showcased spring/summer 2024 collections and wrapped up on Tuesday, has been one of the most wearable seasons yet.
Sure, designers are still hung up on Y2K and early 2000s nostalgia, but they are saying goodbye to costumey-feeling, direct callbacks (butterfly tops, logomania), and hello to fresh, modern takes (we never thought we would be itching for a pair of capri pants or a bubble-hem skirt in the big year of 2023). However, don’t expect low-rise, thong-revealing hemlines and halter scarf tops to go anywhere quite yet, though they look more grown-up than ever.
London labels are also looking away from in-your-face colors like Barbie pink and crimson red that marked this year and toward more muted shades. The best part: Not only can you easily adopt all these trends into your wardrobe next spring and summer but you can start wearing them as soon as now.
Keen to get up to date on all things London Fashion Week? Read on for a look at some of the biggest spring/summer 2024 trends to get started on your shopping.
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LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: Florals 2.0
Forget your delicate blossoms and simpering wallflowers, the Spring/Summer 2024 runways were all about big, bold, and actually groundbreaking floral motifs. Those who experienced the heyday of Y2K floral rosettes — from Carrie’s wardrobe in Sex and the City to the 2010 twee renaissance — will see this as familiar territory.
Simone Rocha enclosed actual bunches of roses against models’ skin underneath layers of the brand’s signature sheer tulle, whereas Mithridate and Susan Fang used intricate beading and appliques to grow cascading buds from bra cups, along collarbones and even tangled all around models’ bodies. The flashiest? Erdem, Richard Quinn and Paul Costello adorned models with graphic prints that range from mismatched ditzy florals to moodier black-and-white designs.
Worried about straying too far into kitsch with your florals? Look to David Koma, who adopted the trend with the brand’s signature cool-girl sexiness. Here glittering rose appliques sprouted from simple bodycon silhouettes, crawled up model’s torsos and down their necks like jewelry, were embroidered against sheer tulle in web-like patterns, and bloomed boldly against stark black in neon.
LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: Pedal pushers & capri pants
Whether you loved or hated them growing up, the 2000s capri pants — or pedal pushers if you’re in the U.K. — are back according to LFW runways. According to designers this season, there’s no one way, or right way, to wear the cropped pants trend. Chopova Lowena and Supriya Lele sent out impossibly cool pairs adorned with hardware and feathers, while Susan Fang and Yuhan Wang offered more whimsical takes with bows, lace trimmings, and sailor-inspired designs and Fashion East’s Johanna Parv kept things simple and streamlined with elongated bike shorts.
LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: 2010s are back
Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be another throwback having a moment, LFW proved you wrong. This season, designers were obsessed with waistlines and hemlines that were last popular in the 2010s. We spotted countless iterations of the drop waist, several bubble hems and hoop skirts, and even a couple of peplums on the runways. (Just a few days before, Sienna Miller chose a pouffy, bubble-hemmed Schiaparelli set at the Vogue World event in London.)
Some designers had fun with these trends. At KWK by KAYKWOK, dramatic, sci-fi hoop skirts took on surrealist shapes that recalled flying saucers, Natasha Zinko worked in the playful additions to her utilitarian concept in the form of a dramatic khaki green raincoat with a bubble hem and a camo-print dress with a drop hoop skirt, and Yuhan Wang offered bubble skirts for the Strawberry Girl trend. The most wearable iterations of these trends — chic, office-appropriate drop hems and cocktail party-ready peplums — were featured at Eudon Choi, Tolu Coker, Huishan Zhang and Tove.
LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: Maritime chic
The sea is calling this spring. This season though, designers aren’t just inspired by the mythical creatures that live underwater. Instead, they seemed fascinated by the shells left over after a storm, treasures found after a shipwreck, and more dishevelled iterations of mermaidcore — characterized by raw edges, fringing and barely-there crochet netted pieces woven with glittering beads, as seen at Feben, Susan Fang, and Yuhan Wang. For a more literal take, look to Hector Maclean who offered a “shipwrecked dress” (ruffled strips of sheer material that looked like they’ve been tattered by the sea) and a pirate-like doublet-style jacket.
One maritime highlight came from Di Petsa, whose signature is the “wet-look” dress made with artfully draped shimmering metallics and dripping with crystal water drops. This season, the brand has taken that concept to the next level. The runway featured dresses that looked like they were made from scraps of sail material washed up and woven around models’ bodies; beaded headpieces that looked like tendrils of seaweed dripping down models’ faces; delicate mother-of-pearl adornments and a dress printed with underwater shells.
LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: Mint green
Back in July, fashion creator and trend analyst Mandy Lee (aka @oldloserinbrooklyn) remarked that the favourite color from the 2010s, mint green, would be making its comeback. Taking the LFW Spring/Summer 2024 runways into consideration, where we saw every shade, from washed-out pistachio at Mithridate and soft seafoam at JW Anderson to vibrant green patterns at Chet Lo and Ahluwalia, we think she’s right. (This is further proof to always listen to Lee — she’s best known for coining the names for viral trends like Indie Sleaze).
LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: Low-rise hemlines
Don’t put away those cargos yet: Low-rise hemlines are staying put for another season if London Fashion Week designers have any say in it. Supriya Lele made a case for letting the underwear show with delicately layered sheer pants and skirts that managed to somehow look elegant and feminine, while Masha Popova sent out low-slung pants with artful hip cut-outs (paired with the other Y2K staple: the halter top). KNWLS also gave the low-rise jeans its stamp of approval when sending out hip bone-revealing pairs paired with bodysuits.
LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: Big Bags
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Make way for your new bag of tricks. From Tove to Molly Erdem, supersized bags were all over the London Fashion Week runways. But these weren’t any regular jumbo-sized totes. SRVC featured a slouchy, moon-shaped denim satchel, while Erdem matched a tasselled foldover clutch to an equally statement-making coat and 16Arlington doubled up on bags thanks to an innovative use of belts.
LFW Trend Spring/Summer 24: Knee-High Boots
The verdict is in: Knee-high boots are back in style. Who can blame designers when the versatile style goes equally well with mini skirts as jeans and midi skirts? To avoid the trend from coming off too winter-looking during the spring and summer seasons, opt for colorful, printed pairs as seen on the runways of Ahluwalia, David Koma, and Feben.
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