It was the height of Fall/Winter 2024 London Fashion Week, and the Burberry show was, as the kids say, popping off. Catwalk legends like Naomi Campbell and Karen Elson were storming the grass-covered runway. Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour chatted with Oscar-winner Olivia Colman in the front row. The clicks of the paparazzi’s cameras thrummed like cicadas from the photo pit. But despite the fabulous surroundings and the dyed-in-the-plaid-wool knowledge that Burberry is one of the best brands in the fashion game, something was askew. These looks were … well … weird.
Take the babushkas. I come from a family of Soviet immigrants. My grandma may have worn one in the rain — or to pretend her hair didn’t smell like stale Marlboro smoke when we visited — but why were they cinched tightly over models’ heads as if they were being shrink-wrapped? Even Elson’s envious mass of flame-colored hair was enveloped in a dowdy olive shroud. Then there were the scarves and skirts, which dragged a good three inches on the soddy ground, even though the runway crew was uniformly 5-foot-9 and up. For short people like me, it would have been a mud bath in the making. Don’t get me started on the zippered trousers, which let bare knees escape from the fabric while threatening to scrape them with metal teeth. And the way some nightgown-y evening dresses were tossed over giant cardigans — with no bra underneath? My nipples froze in sympathy.
The funny thing is, Burberry is known as a “wearable” label, the kind of brand that could invite shoppers to directly translate its coveted coats and sweaters from “runway to real way.” Victoria Beckham used the brand to help transition from spray tan Y2K goddess to legitimate fashion player. Emma Watson wore its trench coats to demonstrate that she was no longer a child star but instead a sophisticated urbanite. Runways and ad campaigns beckoned “real” women to do the same with leather pencil skirts and shearling car coats that were at once both timeless and modern.
But fashion executives are smart. They know “going viral” is cheaper than going global with a costly ad campaign. TikTok’s spectacle-rewarding algorithm is more excited about showmanship than simple, great clothes. And so Burberry runways — once showcases for a grab-and-go dream wardrobe — became performances for bored kids instead of real suggestions for busy women. Fun? Sure. Captivating? Sometimes. But still, if you’re a realist instead of a fantasy gamer, you’re likely staring at the runways going, “Cool. What does this have to do with me?”
I was so frustrated trying to answer that question, I even asked ChatGPT. The AI assistant was a bit of a sphinx. “The journey from runway to real life begins with understanding the essence of a trend,” it said. “Fashion is a form of self-expression, and the most stylish people are those who wear their clothes with confidence and poise.”
Oh. Okay.
Maybe I was still angry about the babushkas. Maybe I was just annoyed that even a data-ingesting computer bot believes the hackneyed lie that “attitude” is all it takes to be stylish. Either way, I told the bot to go f*** itself.
Then I called the most stylish humans I know and asked them how, exactly, to wear this season’s top runway trends in the real world, as real people who are neither mannequins nor machines.
Here’s what they said.
Photography by Giovanni Giannoni
The Giant Scarf
“Do not let your scarf drag on the floor!” exclaimed Zanna Roberts Rassi on a recent night out. Being both British and tasked with reporting the biggest red carpets for E!, she knows about winter accessories and impossibly cool ways to wear things. But though Burberry, Balenciaga and Stella McCartney all featured Lenny Kravitz-level scarves on their models, Rassi insists that the correct way to wear one is as her London-based friends at ME + EM, the womenswear label beloved by Kate Middleton, do: “Gently thrown around the neck, like a hug.” Giving the scarf a looser drape lets its pattern and color be fully seen, a boon for styles like Acne Studios’ rainbow-check scarf and ME + EM’s cashmere shawls, which both turn otherwise ordinary navy or black pea coats into canvases for an easy shock of color. Plus, by softly looping a long scarf from shoulder to shoulder, you can quickly pull it over your ears in case of an icy blast of wind. Love the look of a scarf but can’t bear the idea of fabric origami? Designers like Brandon Maxwell offer scarf dresses that transform an accessory into a full look that’s equal parts windswept and practical. “Throw it on with some tall boots,” said Maxwell backstage, “and you’re good to go.”
Photography by Victor VIRGILE
The Skinny Jean
Much like tales of Snapchat’s decline and Shia LaBeouf’s cancellation, reports of the skinny jean’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Despite TikTok rants about the tapered pant being “over,” trusted denim labels like Polo Ralph Lauren, Levi’s and Good American have never stopped making the staple. Meanwhile, the empress of all trends — Miuccia Prada, the creative director of Prada and Miu Miu — put skinny jeans front and center on her fall 2024 runways. Skinnies were also spotted at Gucci, Proenza Schouler, Louis Vuitton, Helmut Lang and (in the pre-fall collections of) Balmain and Alberta Ferrerti. Like many style pros, fashion writer and vintage collector Liana Satenstein has “never stopped” wearing her black skinny Calvin Klein jeans with heels and oversize pea coats. But Samantha Tousey, the director of women’s buying at Martin Patrick 3 in Minneapolis, understands that not everyone wants to go back to their super-skinnies, especially if they’ve embraced a wide-leg jean for their daily uniform. To try the skinny silhouette without the denim, she recommends Toteme’s “buckled slouch” trousers, which look slim but not as if they’ve been shot up with Ozempic.
Photography by Vittorio Zunino Celotto
Pop of Red
The pop-of-red trend seen on fall catwalks for Prabal Gurung, Sportmax and Valentino is likely the simplest one to pull off without shopping at all. “I think the easiest way to incorporate pops of red is by layering on red accessories,” says Tousey. Consider shoes or a handbag, like those from Wandler, the independent Dutch brand that often makes its bold shapes in cherry leather. A scarlet turtleneck or a pair of ruby-red kitten heels from Toteme can accent an otherwise “normal” outfit for work. Or, says Tousey, “if you’re feeling really bold, you can wear a statement red dress.” She recommends La DoubleJ, the Milan-based and female-led independent brand, for maximum color saturation; all its textiles are made in historic European fabric mills. But not everything has to be maximum: Keep the makeup minimal and the hair pulled back to channel a powerful vibe that’s also quite practical. (No blowout needed? Amazing.)
Photography by WWD
Platform Loafers
The Sex and the City continuation And Just Like That may be famous, in part, for its sumptuous street shots of bejeweled Manolo Blahnik stilettos, but in real life, one of the show’s stars, Sarita Choudhury, admires a different shoe altogether. “I love a slip-on loafer,” she said at New York City’s Fotografiska gallery opening for photographer Vivian Maier. Stella McCartney and Saint Laurent have recently offered up chunky options with two- to three-inch platform soles. Blumarine and Ferragamo made Fall 2024 runway versions, too, but this go-with-everything style can be procured from fast-fashion chains as well. Fashion photographer Sophie Elgort got hers at Zara; at a recent dinner party, she paired them with a black pouf-sleeve dress from the Tokyo-based brand Adeam. “If you’re on your feet all day, like I am, they add some height without the discomfort of a heel,” she explained. “Plus, if you wear them with regular jeans, they make it look like you’re actually trying.”
Photography by WWD
The Maroon Lip
If you grew up worshiping the backstage makeup tutorials in glossy magazines, you already know about Romy Soleimani. The cosmetic artist has created iconic fashion looks for Linda Evangelista and Reese Witherspoon, along with campaigns for Kate Spade and David Yurman. But it was her master class for Glossier’s G Suit cream lipstick that brought a runway staple — the deep-maroon lip — into real-life focus. “The secret to a lip like this is blending,” Soleimani explained, noting that instead of letting pigment rest on top of the mouth, gently pressing it into the lip with a clean brush gives a worn-in effect that also helps the color last longer. As seen at Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton, a dark lip can make formal party clothes look cooler and dress up sweaters or even hoodies for a casual brunch where you still want to look put-together. And since the lipstick has already been blotted, it won’t show up on your mimosa glass, either.
Photography by Victor VIRGILE
Leopard-Print Everything
“Leopard print is a neutral,” deadpanned the celebrity stylist J. Errico at a fashion shoot in London. He was swathing the actress Sienna Miller in it for an upcoming cover story in Grazia, the British fashion bible and — thanks to a runway bounty of animal-print everything this season — his options were boundless. Michael Kors put jungle spots on an evening jacket, Alexander McQueen wove them into sweaters and knit dresses, and Alaia put the feline motif on skirts, dresses and silk burnout blouses. Even Jennifer Lawrence, a reliable devotee of super-normal straight-leg jeans and crewneck sweaters, wore a fuzzy leopard-print coat to a Dior fashion show in June. To follow her lead, Errico said, start casual: An animal-print jacket over jeans and a T-shirt is “a statement on its own.” Want to bring some cat power — but not too much — to an evening look? Instead of head-to-toe spots, stick with a leopard-print purse from Ferragamo or Jacquemus, which helps liven up a little black dress … and doesn’t show stains if you spill wine across the front during a girls’ night out.
Read this article as it appears in the magazine.