Fashion Review: 2024’s Biggest Hits

Greta Miftari

As the curtains closed in 2024, fashion geeks reflected on a year of breathtaking fashion shows, a resurgence of archival treasures and marketing brilliance. 

Figure 1. Alex Consani Stars in Jacquemus Winter Campaign.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, a beloved event, returned to us in October after a five-year hiatus, reminding us of its glitz glamour and incredible silhouettes. Our jaws dropped as we saw some of the biggest names in the modelling industry strut in pursuit of showing off their wings and lingerie. Angels such as Kate Moss, Tyra Banks, Gisele Bundchen and Carla Bruni gave us classic 2000s, and we were all here for it. With almost 10 million online viewers at once, fashion enthusiasts at ‘theFashionSpot’ called it “the best Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show of all time”. Does a review get any better than that? 2024’s return left us more than forgiving of its departure and set an unbelievably high standard for future upcoming shows.

Figure 2. Tyra Banks at the Victoria’s Secret Runway

Similarly, Maison Margiela and John Galliano led a visually poetic performance of a fashion show for the Margiela Artisanal Collection - I mean, did you see Leon Dam?! Galliano’s show infused a noir-esque Paris nightlife where intimacy carried peril and demonstrated scratching/bruising on our bodies-our canvas, as a sacrifice for emotional expression through garments, a type of violence, too. This fashion show stepped into the theatre, with each of its models performing a show. The runway was their stage, and they deserved a standing ovation. From the corset sculpting to the eerie and fluid movement and the sinister lighting… Galliano gave us fashion in its most accurate form, inspiring us with his artistic vision.

2024 highlighted how true fashion never goes out of style with the comeback of archival gems.

Figure 3. Naomi Campbell wearing the Chanel FW 1996 Couture dress

With a theme of Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, Kendall Jenner flaunted Alexander McQueen in a never-worn-before 1999 fall Givenchy couture dress at the Met Gala. Worked on for 500 hours, the dazzling garment has hand-embroidered over 100,000 beads and sequins. Jenner stated, “it’s been sleeping for the last 25 years. It’s a sleeping beauty… (and) the theme to me, screamed archivally”. For the Cannes Film Festival, Naomi Campbell rocked a dress she debuted on the runway for the Chanel fall 1996 couture show. The sequin and pearl black dress saw the Croisette and offered a spectacular shine as it posed in front of the world. Kaia Gerber also turned our heads as she dressed in McQueen’s 1997 fall haute couture collection for the 2024 Academy Gala. The dress stunned us with its old Hollywood elegance, fringe shoulders and embellished black beads glistening, presenting a grunge flair. The revival of these pieces, plus many more, marked an impressive element in fashion: once a winner, always a winner!

Figure 4. Maison Margiela Artisanal for Another Man Summer and Autumn 2024

As we reviewed the year, the hunt for narrowing down marketing genius was in order. In a 2024 report by ‘The Glam Observer’, over 100 fashion enthusiasts were asked, ‘who won the marketing game this year?’ to which the majority voted Jacquemus. And I couldn’t agree more. Their Holiday 2024 Ad Campaign featuring Alex Consani offered quirky yet iconic apres-ski outfits with collaborations with Moon Boot for a release of fur, ski boot-shaped boots and a colour palette of beige, ivory, white and red. Influenced by Rude Goldberg machines, the campaign featured the Le Rond bag blending into the pedestal fans accompanying the shoot.

Contrasts overloaded the campaign with stillness yet focused movements, warmth yet coolness. However, its differences blended seamlessly, holding our attention captive. It was indeed the season of chic. Their Spring 2024 Ad Campaign, too, offered a similar colour palette opting for black, white and that occasional red, painting the streets of Paris. The campaign merged fashion editorial and artwork (Paris streets), fusing history and style, creating a lasting Parisian taste on our lips.

As we reflect, 2024 gave us surrealism with exaggerated waistlines and interesting padded sleeves. Is this the new one? The year upped the stakes, so as we eagerly await the unfolding of fashion in 2025, one might begin to imagine what the best of the best will deliver next. Will it be a year of more ‘larger than life’ silhouettes? Will we await for more revivals? What do you hope to see next?