Hard Core Girly: A Review of S/S 24 NYFW
Ballet-core. Mermaid-core. Throw in hyper-feminine aesthetics and a Fragonard-worthy dose of coquette, and you have all the ingredients for what is a cat walking down the runway at New York Fashion Week. With these trending aesthetics being so prevalent in social media and pop culture this year, it's no wonder they appeared so frequently in this week's runway shows. Some designers like New York’s favorite rising star, Sandy Liang for example, took these trends by the reins and the public loved it.
Take a Bow
It’s no secret that bows have been all the rage this year. Girls are tying them in their hair, on their bags, headphones, and shoes at every chance they get! This season only intensified that. Up and coming designer, Mirror Palais, sent a bow-embossed baby-T down the runway. Sandy Liang, the current queen of all things coquette and girly presented mini skirts with sashes tied into extravagant bows at the hip and even handbags made entirely out of satin bows in gorgeous pastels. Even Carolina Herrera gave their take on this trend, presenting dresses with more subdued bow accents on the shoulders and neckline. If you take one thing away from this week, it's that bows are not only a core element of this tidal wave of femininity, they are also elegant, fun, and at least for now, what everyone wants.
Segueing into Gen Z's favorite app, TikTok, mermaid-core continues to rage on, with flowy dresses adorned with shell and pearl accents dominating since the summer. Alejandra Alonso Rojas embraced this trend with a crochet maxi dress adorned in small sea shells. Sandy Liang’s models were covered in sea-shell ear cuffs, hair pins, and necklaces that were fit for a siren. In a playful yet slightly racy moment, she also sent out a baby-t with two scallop shells covering each breast. Anna Sui’s collection was mermaid all the way. Blue-green hues with pops of bright pinks and purples combined with flowy fabrics and beachy silhouettes made the audience feel like they were in an aquatic fairytale.
The prevalence of hyper-feminine aesthetics this week gave way to the appearance of some classically girly silhouettes. This week, puffy and overexaggerated sleeves were everywhere, with the likes of Christian Siriano, Carolina Herrera, and Sandy Liang adding this bubbly element to their collections. Another theme was layering dresses and skirts over pants, leggings, and tights, creating a fun and youthful styling technique evocative of the seemingly ever-present Y2K trend. And this year, no one exemplified that trend better than Helmut Lang, Dion Lee, and Anna Sui.
Getting more detailed, this week, thin belts were everywhere. This season, the chunky belt that the “It girls” have been loving this year is no longer.
This week, however, PH5, Proenza Schouler, among many other designers challenged that by sending dainty, thin, leather belts out with coordinating looks. Speaking of accessories around the waist, multiple designers including Anna Sui, and PH5, once again, introduced belt bags this season. Prepare to have all your belongings attached at the hip this spring and summer because New York Fashion Week says so!
Stepping Into the Spotlight
But this is what’s next in fashion. So, who’s next in fashion? It’s safe to say that Sandy Liang will continue her meteoric rise beyond this season. A pioneer of the bow-and-ballet-flat trend, she has every young person in New York wrapped around her finger. After her show this week, you can expect to see shell hair pins and bows and more bows everywhere on the streets of New York. This week she had her own girl gang of celebrities and influencers in attendance, all appropriately coordinated in signature Liang pieces. If you haven’t already, you can’t help but want to be one of them.
Other emerging designers that caught the public’s eye were Private Policy, Chase Shuman, and Mirror Palais. Private Policy showed a bold and colorful collection with the intent of creating awareness for coral reef protection. They showed swirly patterned swimsuit-esque pieces, bright coral-colored dresses, skirts, little cardigans, and even some utilitarian looks that appeared to be heavily scuba-gear inspired. This brand continuously pushes the envelope with its endogenous clothes. Though this collection’s stand-out color was pink, they completely shunned the idea that it’s just for girls.
Chase Shuman, a recent Savannah College of Art and Design student, released his debut collection this week and it couldn’t have gone better! His collection gave a new perspective on femininity with sheer lace pieces juxtaposed with utilitarian shirts and accessories. With layered mesh, unconventional textiles and materials, and asymmetric silhouettes, Shuman is breaking fashion boundaries.
Though Mirror Palais has been in the social media spotlight for a few years now, they are only just setting out on their journey of becoming a top luxury brand. Founded in 2019, designer Marcelo Gaia is carrying out his mission of celebrating “the confident women that inspire him”, according to the Mirror Palais website. Gaia released a decadent, elegant collection, evocative of the divine feminine. Inspired by Vivienne Westwood’s bridal collections throughout the years, this collection was filled with beautiful corsetry, sheer and airy silhouettes, and references to Edwardian Society. This collection definitely spoke to coquette lovers and coordinated perfectly with the reoccurring hyper-feminine trend this week.
Some say fashion is a circle, with styles coming, going, ebbing and flowing, then returning again. But what's left out of this analogy is the idea of synthesis. Of that je ne sais quoi that only a visual mind will meld together into the next white-hot runway show. The point is, it may be cyclical, but there's no way to predict. And that really isn't the point, is it? The point is to lap up every indulgent, ultra-feminine flowy skirt adorned with seashells and pearls. To literally tie up everything in a neat little bow. To lean into the very core of it all--from mermaid-core to ballet-core and everything in between.
