Saying that 2024 has been a busy year for fashion is a gross understatement. With its litany of blockbuster shows, ritzy carpet moments, and more arrivals and departures in design studios and C-suites than there have been at Heathrow, there hasn’t been a dull day over the past 365. While the focus of the news cycle has typically been on the goings on at the industry’s conglomerate-owned players, though, 2024 has also been a prolific year for fashion’s industry’s independent mavericks, too.
From London-based bright young things dressing some of Hollywood’s brightest stars to designers making moves into the art world and a glut of top-tier collaborations, here’s our reflection on 2024, the year that independent fashion talent won.
Ruling the runway
The past 12 months have been chock full of knock-out shows from independent brands, with London a natural hub for them. Back in February, during the autumn/winter 2024 show season, Dilara Findinkoğlu summoned her audience to a Gothic revival church in East London, where she delivered a seance of a show that set about dismantling the social institutions and conventions that toxic masculinity fuels, with her coven of fierce it-kids – Hari Nef, Richie Shazam and Kai-Isaiah Jamal among them – sporting her intricately wrought, high drama designs. That same season, Conner Ives took The Savoy’s Lancaster Ballroom to present a contemporary ode to Truman Capote’s “swans”, while the industry got a glimpse of its leaders of tomorrow at Central Saint Martins, where the school’s MA Fashion graduates – including Joshua Ewusie and Henri Hebrard – presented the fruits of two years’ hard graft in its hallowed halls.
In September, the spring/summer 2025 shows brought us the hotly anticipated runway return of Chopova Lowena, where we saw former British Vogue editor Alex Kessler walk in a darling poet sleeved blouse and laced breeches, as well as the tease of one of the oddest, chicest collaborations of the year (more on that to come!) Elsewhere, new-gen talents like Tolu Coker, Jawara Alleyne and Standing Ground dazzled audiences with the precision and expansive remits of their creative visions, SS Daley launched a sharply-executed womenswear line, and Simone Rocha and Erdem – two designers that have laid a blueprint for how independent brands can become the new establishment – delivered some of their most compelling collections to date.
Beyond the British capital, at the start of the year, Paolina Russo set sail for Copenhagen, where they showed as the recipients of this year’s Zalando Visionary Award – an honour that, six months later, fell to Sinéad O’Dwyer – and while Feben presented her autumn/winter 2024 collection in Milan, supported by Dolce & Gabbana. Across the pond, it was a particularly big year for Raul Lopez’s Luar and Willy Chavarria, who established themselves as fixtures of New York Fashion Week’s new guard – a status confirmed by the CFDA, who conferred lofty awards on both brands.
Star power
The triumphs of emerging talents weren’t just limited to the runway this year. Indeed, the world’s most prestigious red carpets – typically the preserve of brands with budgets ample enough to ink lucrative deals with the A-list talents that walk them – became showcases for fashion’s hottest indie names. An especially memorable moment came in August, when Cate Blanchett revealed her niche penchant for accessorising with… spoons? Yes, spoons! That’s what the Australian actress turned up to the Badlands premiere in LA covered in. Cutlery. The eccentric look was, of course, the product of Swedish upcycling supremo Hodakova – the winner of this year’s LVMH prize.
Fidan Novruzova proved herself a perennial it-girl fave, with Solange Knowles, Bella Hadid, Paloma Elsesser and Lisa all plumping for leather pieces by the IYKYK talent, while Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Chloë Sevigny all gave their co-sign to Belgian designer Meryll Rogge, the mastermind behind the some of our favourite bloomers of the year. 2024 was also the year in which Ludovic de Saint Sernin cemented his reputation as Hollywood’s go-to dresser, with everyone from Kylie Jenner to Camila Cabello, Mia Goth to Anya Taylor-Joy rocking up to the Oscars, the VMAs, the Met Gala and more in the Parisian designers svelte, grommet- and crystal-spangled gowns.
Brat!
Yes, I may have penned a feature heralding the death of brat summer before it had even truly started, but I’ll concede that I’ve been very much along for the ride since then. What really won me over, though, wasn’t the music, the delirious hedonism or the Times Square takeover of it all, but the fashion, with Charli xcx (aided by her stylist Chris Horan) serving up one of the most compelling tour wardrobes in recent memory.
What made it a real winner was the space that the ultimate winner of 2024 gave to independent design talent, sporting the likes of Luar, Kiko Kostadinov and Av Vattev for a sell-out show tour. She took that stage and turned it into a platform!
Setting up shop
Creating and presenting fashion is one thing, but actually selling it is another entirely. We won’t burden you with more gloomy news about the current state of the fashion business, and the disproportionate negative impact upon smaller brands, but we will instead share some highlights that demonstrate real hope for the future of independent fashion retail. In New York, last month saw the opening of Telfar’s new flagship store in Chinatown, a 10,000 square foot space that features a whole bar dedicated to the Bushwick Birkin – and Telfar TV studio, while over on the West Coast, Kiko Kostadinov opened the doors to a new standalone space in Hollywood’s gallery district, following up on the brand’s Tokyo shopfront, which opened back in spring.
Speaking of galleries, Kiko wasn’t the only designer to make moves towards the art world. In London, Frieze Week saw the opening of an exhibition curated by 16Arlington’s Marco Capaldo, featuring works by Andy Warhol and John Giorno alongside rising stars like Rhea Dillon and George Rouy. Adding to the wave, Rejina Pyo feted her brand’s 10th anniversary by transforming its Soho store into an exhibition space, opening a show celebrating the vital works of a coterie of directional women artists including Cassi Namoda, Chantal Joffe and Lyson Marchessault.
Killer collaborations
Collaboration is, of course, the name of the game in fashion, a fact that independent fashion talents are more aware of than most. While the collab game has been pretty crowded over the past few years, often resulting in some rather lacklustre partnerships, 2024 proffered a bounty of stellar link-ups. From Stefan Cooke’s collaboration with Mulberry and South Korean brand Solid Homme to Dilara Findikoglu’s partnership with Heaven, our shopping lists were never short for additions in 2024.
The close of the year has, however, brought two of the year’s most memorable partnerships. The first was the marriage of London label Chopova Lowena and Hellman’s – yes, of mayonnaise fame – formally launched this month by way of the brand’s new bag, which comes complete with a 210ml jar of the good stuff. A testament to the zaniness and wit that has garnered the brand its legions of fans, it was a schooling in how to approach a leftfield commercial partnership while staying true to what you’re all about.
The second got everyone in the British Vogue offices in a bit of a tizzy, though: Christopher Kane’s “residency” with Han Chong’s Self-Portrait. Comprising updated, tinselly riffs on the latter’s iconic strappy, body-hugging dresses from his seminal spring/summer 2007 collection, the collaboration evoked the perfect degree of nostalgia, while also serving as the de-facto party season uniform for the London style set.
