Who among us recalls childhood memories of inching closer to home after a long drive? The sentiment of knowing clean sheets, a warm pillow and the comfort of familiar surroundings would soon be within reach. For Proenza Schouler, this was the sentiment that their Fall/Winter 2024 collection evoked—a presentation of 38 looks that marched towards the past and quelled our yearing for familiarity. (Of course, the sounds of jazz musician Alice Coltrane’s “Going Home” echoing over the runway helped draw this parallel.)
This season, the brand’s co-creative directors, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, stripped anything that could’ve been interpreted as gratuitous or grandiose. Trinkets and frills—like fashion’s recent fascination with inflating bag sizes, encouraging one to profess their entire personality through toting tchotchkes and conflating simplicity with style—are a thing of the present. Merely a byproduct of the age of social media. On the runway, they endeavoured—and succeeded—in returning to an age of refinement and precision.
This began with pulling any prints and embroidery from their collection at the eleventh hour. As per W, Hernandez explained this modus operandi as: “Let’s take it all away.” “Let’s make it about form and silhouette and length. We just wanted to reduce it to its purest form.” This intentionally drew parallels to the halcyon days of the 90s, where designers like Helmut Lang and savants like Caroline Bessette Kennedy gravitated towards determined minimalism as an antithesis to 80s abundance. Similar to how maximalism reigned in the 2010s, the second decade of the brand is focused on conveying ideals of craftsmanship in their most rudimentary expression.
This began with a singular navy pea coat that embodied this internal “vibe shift”. Styled with a soft-hugging maxi dress and modest black trainers, an age of scrupulous heirloom pieces was manifested. Intimacy was unveiled in two folds. The first was the skin-barring mesh collared shirts and turtleneck dresses that clung to the body or served as cerebral layering pieces. The second was the volume of woollen fabric, delicate lace and textured knitwear that stretched over models’ bodies to create a cocoon of movement.
Take note of the necklines this season—whether through exaggerated pulls or concealed lapels, the label found room for experimentation. As a result, the brand argued that even the smallest of gestures can be the most theatrical. (A trompe l’oeil pair of denim jeans is further proof of this thesis.) And so the pendulum shifts, swaying back toward the other end of the spectrum to the side that favours the minimal. (And the decisive). In decadent reds, pops of yellow mellow, a sparse gilded apron dress and washes of black, white and navy, Proenza Schouler will continue their bold act.
Credit: Supplied
Credit: Supplied
Credit: Supplied
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.