Will we see panties on the streets next summer, under see-through clothing? If, for ordinary mortals, doubt is more than permissible, for certain creators, it goes without saying. The spring-summer 2024 women’s collections, which ended in Paris on October 3, in fact emphasized a sensuality that arrives surreptitiously, as if by accident. Less frontal or aggressive than previous seasons, which sometimes looked towards bondage and domination, this femininity comes through the skin which is revealed in a more or less subtle play of transparencies, volumes or legs.
Last season, it was Miu Miu who brought briefs back into fashion, sending perfectly chic bourgeois women onto the catwalk except that they had forgotten to wear pants. Miuccia Prada is at it again, swapping winter’s stone-embroidered knickers for masculine swim briefs in pop colors (worn most naturally with, for example, a frilled shirt and a long coat). The ruffled skirts are so short that they don’t hide the buttocks, the pants are worn very low-waisted and the polo shirts are cut above the navel. Outrageous pieces which will continue to fuel the Miu Miu hype and which should not overshadow the rest of the proposition, full of gems and contrasts, between Harrington jacket, close-fitting knit and gold brocade dress.
At Stella McCartney, the look is inspired by that of her parents, Paul and Linda, when they went on the road touring with their group Wings, founded in 1971, a year after the separation of the Beatles. And it’s an understatement to say that the silhouettes are short-clad. It’s a large man’s coat revealing black breeches worn with a frilled shirt that opens the ball. Followed by shimmering bodysuits, plunging necklines on vaporous blouses worn with wide-leg pants, or even completely transparent tulle dresses. “There is a great feeling of freedom in this collection. It’s a celebration of our bodies, a way of showing that we should enjoy life and live in the present moment.”explains the designer at the end of the presentation of the collection, between two kisses to her famous friends – the actors Cate Blanchett or Robert Downey Jr – who came to greet her.
Enjoying the feeling of freedom that summer provides is also the leitmotif of Isabel Marant and her artistic director, Kim Bekker. “ The Marant girl has always been a girl with legs », they laugh, about their collection presented in the gardens of the Palais-Royal. And legs, it is indeed a question. Wearing platform clogs that elongate the silhouette, the models stroll around wearing leather micro-shorts that are more like panties, vaporous minidresses with colorful prints, white lace blouses revealing the chest, ultra-tight pants revealing the stomach – definitely flat! – or openwork swimsuits, back from the beach style. Skin is everywhere and at the same time, sexy isn’t loud.
It’s the same state of mind that infuses Victoria Beckham’s collection. This season, the Brit looked back to her childhood, when she was passionate about dancing. “I found my tutus and leggings at my parents’ house, my daughter was very amused to imagine me dressed like that! », she explains. From training to the show, she unfurls the dancer’s entire wardrobe: thick wool bodysuits are mixed with large cardigans, long socks go over soft boots, soft jersey dresses hug the body, while long tulle dresses reveal cotton lingerie. Once her performance is over, the dancer dresses in comfortable men’s pajama-style suits, but these are entirely backless. Comfortable, but still sensual.
Extremely slit skirt
It is obviously a question of sensuality at Mugler, with the collection of Casey Cadwallader, at the helm since 2017. “This season I wanted to do something a little more poetic and understated, which is an interesting challenge for Mugler, a brand known for being bold and brazen. This collection is dressier and less aggressive than last season for example, which featured a lot of leather. But she is still sexy and feminine!analyzes the designer. I’m still obsessed with the female body, and it’s this power that I want to celebrate. »
A power carried by a strong and varied casting, with models of different morphologies but above all the star of the 2000s, Paris Hilton, and the American actress Angela Bassett – aged 65, rare enough to be highlighted –, sculptural in a long draped black dress, the sides of which fly away thanks to the giant fans placed all along the catwalk. A staging which adds a cinematic effect to this wardrobe, composed of miniskirts with accentuated hips worn with short jackets revealing the stomach, corset dresses perfectly hugging the silhouette, transparent dresses and jumpsuits as if molded on the body and which are Sequins escape by the hundreds.
At Atlein, Antonin Tron, who has made jersey draping his specialty since the beginning of his label in 2016, has once again tried his hand at the exercise. “We have more and more requests for dresses from celebrities, for red carpets or various events. It made me want to turn to Hollywood, this very cinematic glamor that celebrates bodies. » This results in tight-fitting sets in jersey draped at the shoulders, lingerie-style dresses or others in black chiffon revealing the chest. A cloakroom indeed designed for big evenings.
Sexy also nestles where you least expect it. At Y/Project, for example. Glenn Martens, also at the head of Diesel’s style, makes the architecture of clothing his priesthood. He twists and kneads fabrics to extract an almost architectural wardrobe, composed of cut denim, fine tulle or printed silk. And, by dint of being mishandled, the clothes reveal, there the stomach on a pulled-up polo shirt, here the leg on an extremely slit skirt. A sexy one who doesn’t say his name but still has a little effect.
Skin revealed in complete sobriety is the credo of Sacai, the signature of Chitose Abe, an outstanding architect of fabric. The wardrobe is light but voluminous, the shirts, as if inflated with air, float around the body, revealing the ribs or the back; the silk dresses are short and inlaid with transparent panels, the jackets have discreet slits located above the pockets… Sacai proves that even with a shirt that stops above the navel you can be elegant.
For her first presentation in the official Parisian week calendar with her brand Quira, the finalist of the LVMH 2023 Prize Veronica Leoni showed a very convincing collection, where the cutouts emphasize the structure of the garment at the same time as they bring sensuality : a cut of scissors on the chest suggests the shape of a bra on a blazer, the belt of a pair of pants is torn in the back, while the eye is irresistibly drawn to the pink of an entirely transparent.
Same skillful work of deconstruction at Rokh, who refreshes a classic wardrobe inspired by the wealthy students of the Ivy League (group of eight private universities in the northeast of the United States) with facetious cutouts and plays on asymmetry. Hey, a coat that stops above the stomach! And a neckline that plunges below the chest! And such an elegant ivory evening dress, if it weren’t for that discreet slit between the breasts… No doubt, next summer, the stores will be full of slit, openwork, cropped clothes. But for the panty trend to move beyond the catwalk stage, we will probably have to wait a few more years…
