9 Trends Set to Define Fall 2024 Fashion

After two seasons of fashion designed around wearability (both of which had their chic, albeit underwhelming, moments), there was a slight air of worry going around the fashion world ahead of the fall/winter 2024 shows, with many fearing that another fashion month would come and go without much to scream about. After all, there's a limit to the excitement that classic denim and a button-down shirt can conjure up. Roughly six weeks and over 1000 looks later, we're happy to report that there was plenty of high-pitched excitement to go around following this season's shows. Thought-provoking styling methods, loud color-blocking, shapely new silhouettes, and personality-driven accessories all made splashy debuts across New York, Milan, Paris, and London.

Bottega Veneta, Brandon Maxwell, Carven, and Toteme successfully mastered the art of making comfort look chic with their unique takes on swaddled-up garments, from capes and ponchos to scarf coats. Meanwhile Chloé, Schiaparelli, Altuzarra, and Saint Laurent experimented with out-there outfit add-ons that will be necessary to take all of those aforementioned wearable designs to new heights in the coming months. At Khaite, Jil Sander, and Del Core, new shapes took the place of ones we've grown used to (think wide-leg pants, pointy shoulders, and oversize fits) with the rise of cigarette pants and hourglass cuts, and Victoria Beckham, Stella McCartney, and Bevza played favorites with funnel-neck outerwear. There was a lot to play with—a welcome opportunity after recent displays of strict minimalism—and we've laid it all out for the taking below. Scroll down to explore the nine trends that dominated the fall/winter 2024 runways.

One of the biggest shifts we are observing in fashion is the movement to a new era of elegance. This renewed sense of sophistication is significant. It was just a few years ago that Y2K style—marked by bright neons, chain mail, and crop tops—was the biggest aesthetic in fashion. Now, a sense of refined glamour has returned with modern-day swans on the runways. No doubt, designers are taking cues from elegant socialites like C.Z. Guest and Babe Paley of the 1950s and 1960s, who are currently portrayed on-screen in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. On the fall/winter 2024 runways, we are seeing this play out with glamorous eveningwear, including a black-and-white Loewe gown designed by Jonathan Anderson that Greta Lee already wore to the Oscars. There is also a shift toward elevated silhouettes, including rolled-collar necklines at Chanel, A-line silhouettes at Valentino, and embellished evening coats at Erdem. Louise Trotter's second show for Carven distilled the modern-day swan with looks pairing softly molded tops with pencil skirts, long leather gloves, and court heels. Prada's entire collection—designed around pieces like pillbox hats, shearling stoles, and '50s couture–like cocktail dresses—felt like a clear signal that this movement to elegance is just beginning.

A key outerwear shape prevailed on the runways: funnel-neck silhouettes. We are already calling this the Phoebe Philo effect, as the high-neck outerwear pieces appeared on the runways after the designer included the shape in the first drop for her eponymous brand last year. Practically overnight, the outerwear shape has made a big impact and is just the beginning of Philo's influence on the fashion space yet again. High-neck coats appeared over and over in the fall/winter 2024 collections, including the heavy canvas trench coats in Daniel Lee's third Burberry collection, crisp white designs at Bevza and Stella McCartney, and glossy patent versions with cape details in Chemena Kamali's debut collection for Chloé. With strong market available already, this is a trend we expect to translate on the style set long before fall.

A good accessory's job is to make an outfit better and take it to another level without too much fuss. Think a classic belt, a great bag, or a standout pair of earrings. We love them, we own too many of them, and we rely on them. And then there are the accessories that debuted on the runways this season, all of which were so far out of a "good" accessory's league that they're not even in the same universe. First came hats, which found their way onto the runways and the streets outside of shows in New York and Paris. Pillbox styles, swim caps, and slouchy beanies infiltrated the fall/winter 2024 collections, including standouts at Altuzarra, Fforme, Prada, and Saint Laurent. Next up were gloves—specifically of the opera variety—that, after growing momentum in the last few seasons, hit their peak at Carven, Ferragamo, Khaite, and Miu Miu. Oversize eyewear, splashy belts decorated with snakes and curvy brand names, brooches, and even neckties made of hair (yes, this was a Daniel Roseberry special) all delivered a necessary dose of specialness into the collections, transforming their accompanying looks from good to great and preparing us for a season full of experimental styling and personality-driven add-ons.

If this winter's scarf-coat trend had you wanting to wrap up in something soft and never free yourself of it ever again, today's your lucky day because the trend we're now officially referring to as "swaddle season" isn't just here to stay—it's grown tenfold thanks to the fall/winter 2024 collections. There were elevated and adapted versions of the scarf coats we know and love at Toteme, Chloé, and Brandon Maxwell, but there were also sweeping necklines at Bottega Veneta and Carven; ponchos of all shapes and fits at Victoria Beckham, Proenza Schouler, and Schiaparelli; and structured capes at Tod's, Marni, and Khaite. Essentially, you'll have every opportunity to bundle up in the chicest way possible when the weather drops once again come fall 2024. Trust us. Being swaddled up in every variety of luxurious fabric has never looked so good.

New silhouettes are taking shape for fall 2024, and there are a handful of key pieces to know. While pant shapes have been getting looser and more relaxed for the past several years, we are now seeing designers run to the opposite side of the spectrum with the return of cigarette pants. Just as the internet has decried skinny jeans, precisely tailored, ultra-slim pants are back. Altuzarra, in particular, made a strong case for the slimmer trousers. Outerwear is also shifting. In addition to funnel-neck coats, nipped-in blazers with hourglass shapes are suddenly everywhere, including the collections of Jil Sander and Del Core. Rounded-shoulder coats also feel significant. Tailoring has been sharper and more pointed in recent years, but designs from Khaite and Carven indicate that it is moving to a softer space.

Ahead of fashion month, the mob wife aesthetic gained momentum, taking style cues from on-screen characters like Carmela from The Sopranos who wore loud pieces like extravagant faux-fur coats. Like many fleeting internet trends, we didn't expect it to have a lasting impact, but it's impossible to deny the prevalence of furry pieces on the fall/winter 2024 runways. We saw this play out in the form of dramatic coats as well as collars, scarves, and draped shawls. While fur remains contentious, responsible shoppers are buying faux fur and shearling as well as vintage and upcycled pieces. In the upcycling space, brands such as Nereja are creating coats with updated designs using found and thrifted materials, giving a new home to pieces crafted from existing materials.

American sportswear is officially back. Sportswear was born in the early to mid-20th century thanks to innovators such as Claire McCardell, who set the groundwork for leisure style, and designers are returning to those roots of American fashion. On the runways, designers reworked the classics and proposed a new take on the everyday uniform. The looks take cues from style icons such as Katharine Hepburn, who was a pioneer of the original American sportswear aesthetic. To tap into the trend, embrace separates like the tailored trousers at Hermès, crisp button-downs at Miu Miu, crewneck knits at Bottega Veneta, and elevated takes on trench coats at Tory Burch. These classic pieces are the core of American sportswear, and designers have made them—and the proposition of a pulled-together everyday look—feel new again.

After a long period of rigid, hearty leather akin to gear worn by motorcycle riders reigning supreme on the runways, fall's selection of leatherwear was far more fluid in form. At Proenza Schouler, Tod's, and Bottega Veneta, buttery-soft leather was draped on the shoulders of a handful of models on the runway, giving an almost liquid appearance via strategic craftsmanship and culminating in dresses that, despite being made in a naturally tough material, billowed and flowed with each new step. Even the simpler shapes—a strapless midi dress at Gabriela Hearst, a square-neck tank dress at Fforme, and a long-sleeve maxi at Bally—felt extravagant and full of life thanks to the use of such smooth fabrication.

There are a lot of times when you may look at a runway trend, no matter how chic and full your closet is, and think, "Wow, I'm going to have to spend thousands to re-create that if I want to do it justice." Well, this isn't one of those trends. For fall, labels across the board—including Prada, Bottega Veneta, Dries Van Noten, and Proenza Schouler—played around with styling an item that most people reading this own at least one of: a simple, tissue-thin turtleneck. At Proenza Schouler, the talk of the show arrived when a model wearing all white stepped down the runway with a sheer turtleneck styled on top of a button-down shirt in an act that had everyone in attendance wondering why they hadn't thought of it first. Prada and Dries Van Noten proved that color isn't scary, especially when it's in the form of a turtleneck and balanced out with neutral-colored outerwear. Meanwhile, Bottega Veneta's show made popping the collar of a shirt worn with a clashing turtleneck underneath desirable. Essentially, this season was a master class in wearing a turtleneck, a piece that should be mandatory for all from now on.