The Most Memorable British Fashion Moments Of 2024

No one needs a recap of the game of musical chairs that has defined fashion in 2024, but, as the Quality Street haze slowly starts to descend at the close of a rather dismal year, it’s bolstering to remember how British fashion in particular has come up trumps, with moments of levity, brilliance and sheer bonkersness. “Resourceful and resilient: for me, those are the two words that truly underpin British style,” wrote Chioma Nnadi in her first editor’s letter for Vogue back in March. From the blockbuster exhibition openings to the brand reboots and brat-produced pop cultural phenomenons, here are the key moments to note from London’s 2024 fashion calendar.

British Vogue shifted gears

British Vogue’s mission under new head of editorial content Chioma Nnadi: to hold up a mirror to the country as it stands today. The first cover girl for the job? FKA twigs, who, per Nnadi, “represents the ideal of the modern British eccentric”. As the “shape-shifter, who rejects conformity and takes real joy in clothes”, perched atop a Black Cab in Jonathan Anderson’s pin-cushioned lemon Loewe dress, pole danced around a lamp post in Selfridges-sourced smalls, and propped up an old-school telephone box in red Latex 16Arlington, there could be no doubt about the magazine’s mission to raise up local talent. As the year unfolded with Sophie Turner, Suki Waterhouse, Central Cee and Florence Pugh all sharing the innermost realities of their busy lives right now – while decked out in forward-thinking fashion from the country’s finest – it made us proud to contribute to the cultural landscape, as the political one rumbled on without a clear message.

Simone Rocha aced her guest appearance at couture

It was always going to be good, but Simone Rocha’s first couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier scored her the British Womenswear Designer of the Year prize at the Fashion Awards, it was that good. “To be a guest is a real gift, to identify with Mr Gaultier and his archive, and then to see what your spirit does in response is so interesting and exciting,” said Rocha, who zeroed in on panniers and corsetry crafted from silver-coated Irish crochet, Breton tees fashioned entirely out of ribbons, and thorny silver rose breast pieces while delving deep into the romance of the house. Happily, all of the cheekiness woven into Gaultier’s cinched silhouettes trickled down to Rocha’s own work, as evidenced by her naughtiest collection to date (comprising beaded floral nipple pasties and lady gardens, no less) for spring/summer 2025. “It’s always good to see Irish people are back in vogue,” said fellow Irish creative Jonathan Anderson at the Fashion Awards – a reminder that we’re lucky to have such talents operating out of London while continuing to influence the industry at large.

Naomi opened Naomi

“I can’t imagine debuting my retrospective anywhere else but London – this is where I was born, raised and discovered – but it is, I’ll admit, more than a little nerve-wracking to think of it as a homecoming,” Naomi Campbell said of preparing to cut the ribbon on the V&A’s Naomi: In Fashion – the first exhibition in the museum’s history spotlighting a single model. The Streatham-born super’s aim was to show “the love stories behind the clothes”, while reminiscing with her best friends (Edward Enninful, Steven Meisel, Sarah Burton, to name a few), but, as fashion features editor Laura Hawkins discovered in a preview:“It’s clear it wasn’t just about the clothes, it was about the woman wearing them.” Open until 6 April, there is still time to view the colourful paintings crafted by her children, along with the Hazmat suits, the Alaïa dresses, the Westwood wedges and the Gianni Versace-era couture pieces that have made up Campbell’s personal and public image so far. Go!

Seán McGirr started his McQueen journey

While a new creative director usually inherits a host of house ambassadors with strict contracts to see out, Seán McGirr has been quietly casting a new cohort of McQueen women, buttressed by ’90s brand models Debra Shaw and Frankie Rayder on the runway and in his campaigns. Now, we’re hungry for more from the man tasked with injecting youth culture into a brand that holds such significance for so many. 2025 will surely see his play for a cult trainer bid, but which performer (note that word – it takes guts to throw oneself behind a relative outsider) will back it?

Brat took over the entire world

I know, we are absolutely at full capacity regarding brat content, too. But it would be quite bratty not to include the woman who defined the year, wouldn’t it? Plus, wasn’t the brat tour fun? Thank god for Charli xcx shining that toxic-green light, and shame on every corporate marketeer who tried to spoil it with their wafer-thin nods. The original party girl has been a welcome reminder that it pays to leave artists alone to create, rather than over-manufacture everything to within an inch of its life (everyone else will inevitably do that anyway). With rumours that Charli, who models herself on Chloë Sevigny, is considering a side step into acting, much about this Essex raver turned industry muso is yet to be unpacked. Just give her space.

Kate Moss got her wings

I wasn’t at the Victoria’s Secret comeback extravaganza, but I believe my colleague Kerry McDermott when she says that Kate Moss – yes, Kate Moss – won the night (sorry, Cher. You too, original Angels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes, Candice Swanepoel.) There’s just something so quietly fab (and bank-balance savvy) about Moss signing up to stride out of a cloud of dry ice to “I Love Rock And Roll” wearing solely black lace with zero f*cks given. “I wasn’t really an underwear girl…” Moss told our digital director of the lingerie behemoth’s heyday, which passed her by while she was playing the Galliano girl and McQueen muse on home soil. This time around, although that cheque must have done most of the talking, it was legendary stylist Emmanuelle Alt who insisted Kate had to get back in her VS – not CK – knickers.

Harry Styles turned LFW into a pop-culture moment

Steven Stokey-Daley’s debut womenswear show was semi-overshadowed by Harry Styles’s mini mullet, as the popstar and minority stakeholder in the brand flew into London Fashion Week for approximately 10 minutes to sit on the designer’s front row. No matter. London, which often gets overlooked by international press and buyers as our city’s biggest labels (Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood) show in Paris, basked in the attention bestowed upon it by the former One Directioner. “Obviously Harry generates a certain amount of buzz and attention, but actually working with him is really lovely,” said Steven of his fashion fairy godfather, who, for the briefest of spells, made a city that always deserves to pop really pop – and on LFW’s 40th birthday, no less.

Emma Corrin saved red-carpet style

There is a common thread between SS Daley, Harry Styles and Emma Corrin: the nicest stylist in town Harry Lambert, who is just as likely to post pictures of his frequent trips to Disneyland as he is his work nurturing London’s next big fashion talents. Lambert’s no-holds-barred gigs styling Corrin for the Deadpool & Wolverine and Nosferatu press tours restored our faith that original, playful, thoughtful, provocative red-carpet styling does still exist, and that an actor does not need to rely on bold-faced brands to shine. “It comes from the place of not wanting to do something too traditional,” Lambert told us of championing Central Saint Martins talent, like Freddy Coomes and Matt Empringham, as well as the Saint Laurents and Schiaparellis (which, by the way, Corrin looks great in) of this world. To borrow fashion news editor Daniel Rodgers’s words, “Corrin is among the few celebrities who understand that fashion can (and should) be a chance to stir new thoughts and feelings in people. It takes more than mere elegance – and more than obvious costume – to inspire the imagination and move pop culture forward.”

We told ya the Challengers tour would be big

Ignore the part where Zendaya wore a literal tennis ball (albeit one by Celia Kritharioti) stuck to her torso on the red carpet. Before that, the Jonathan Anderson-costumed, Luca Guadagnino-directed film Challengers made a case for character looks becoming viral street-style merch in their own right. The “I Told Ya” tee, worn in the movie by rat-boy style pin-up Josh O’Connor and then Zendaya, was not a marker of method dressing, but a killer marketing moment from Anderson, who knows a hit item when he sees one. Naturally, the official Loewe versions retailed in their hundreds. Snap.

John Galliano returned to his roots

John Galliano’s temperature-setting Maison Margiela Artisanal show will be remembered as the Galliano presentation our generation has been waiting for, but for anyone sitting in the hallowed halls of CSM listening to the auteur wax lyrical about his early days in an industry he has had a tempestuous relationship with, it was this show of sorts that felt like one for the books. Hosted by friend Gwendoline Christie, Galliano told students: “Don’t listen to anyone. God is inside you. You’re the ones that made this happen. Don’t have any doubt. Realise your dream.” Within six weeks, he had resigned from his post at Margiela and kicked the rumour mill into overdrive regarding his next move. If 2024 belonged to one designer, it’s this complicated CSM grad who is never predictable, but who always dares to think big.