Milan witnessed a big change, too. Jesse Malin Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY December 1, 2024 Poster Shirt Gucci’s new creative director Sabato De Sarno held positions at Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino before taking on this role, which catapulted him and his first collection for the brand into the spotlight last September. Buyers, editors and celebrities descended upon the Italian city to take in the spectacle—ask any fashion devotee without a ticket and they would likely have told you they’d give away their Birkin to have a front-row seat at this show. There’s no denying that De Sarno’s predecessor Alessandro Michele kept Gucci on the fashion map with his geek-chic sensibilities; an aesthetic that would define a moment in fashion history. Still, moments pass, and we saw De Sarno usher Gucci into a new era, one that places more value on essentials over eccentricities—a notion we’re seeing across the rest of the industry. A business built upon the customer’s desire to be seen in shiny new things will always have its issues. However, the thing that felt “new” this season was that some things just didn’t change at all. Perhaps the most noteworthy takeaway was that trends don’t seem to hold the same power that they used to. I’m generalising, of course—things get meta real fast if you so much as take a peek into the no-trends-actually-being-a-trend rabbit hole—but it feels as if creating trends for the sake of it could be a thing of the past. “The spring/summer 2024 collections have shown a continued commitment to 1990s nostalgia and the extraordinary everyday, where everyday items are elevated to exceptional levels of design and style whilst remaining chic and comfortable,” observes Net-a-Porter’s market director Libby Page. And she’s right. The market has experienced a shift of tectonic proportions in recent years where a genuine focus on quality over quantity and investing in things that last has become a priority for previously frivolous shoppers. The latest collections reflected this.

Jesse Malin Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY December 1, 2024 Poster Shirt ,hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

In the midst of navigating where I’m heading and where I’m off to next during fashion week in New York (I do, in fact, live here, but getting lost remains my specialty), Jesse Malin Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY December 1, 2024 Poster Shirt I make it a point every season to scope out the cool items that everyone is wearing, specifically looking for ones that pop up again and again. On the apparel side, there were certainly a few repeats, with big-ticket items including scarf coats, distressed leather jackets, full skirts, and anything really that feels ballet-inspired. The handbag selection, however, was by far the main event. Throughout New York Fashion Week, show attendees debuted a vast array of bags, from classic shapes by the likes of Celine, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel to more on-trend silhouettes and accents like bowlers, metallics, and perhaps most prominent, surrealist styles. Knowing the brevity of the handbag moments this season, I took it upon myself to narrow down the trends I spotted most outside of seven days worth of nonstop shows, presentations, and previews this week to the six that feel most relevant and buzzy. Scroll down to see which ones made the biggest impact this season. Fashion week is not the time for bags that don’t flex with your needs. Nearly every stop in your day leaves you with another knickknack of some sort, meaning that your handbag of choice needs to allow for new additions on top of all the essentials fashion week calls for (e.g., hand sanitizer, portable chargers, snacks, and in the case of this season, Rhode’s Peptide Lip Treatment), and for all of that, only an unstructured bag will really do. Luckily, thanks to brands like Khaite, Ree Projects, Bottega Veneta, and more, slouchy, anti-structure bags are a dime a dozen these days.