Reversing one of the most inflated maxims in literature, we could say that, in fashion, all that glitters is gold. The ruling, certainly long-standing if we look at the majestic ensembles of the Victorian age – but also, more recently, at the princely dresses of the British courts – corresponds to the data relating to the latest fashion catwalks, where, among sequins, crystals, lamé, shiny surfaces like gloss and golden frosting, the typical glitter of metal no longer seems like the last icing on the haute couture cake, but rather the main affair sartorial – from which ready to wear is not exempt. The first to support this welcome return of gold and glitter were Diesel, whose DNA has always shone with denim blue, gold and metals, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela and JW Anderson.
After these first golden incursions in Autumn Winter 2023, Spring Summer 2024 was further colored with luminous specters on the catwalks of Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Antonio Marras, Blumarine and Schiaparelli – just to name a few in the long list of new searchers gold. And from here, as expected, the trend spread to the red carpet and high streetwhere the last piece of New York Times dedicated to street style of fashion weeks he subtitled The streets were awash with gold. And so, if until recently the use of gold was mostly limited to special occasions or holidays, under penalty of falling into the world of kitsch, today it seems to have no specific occasion – and there is no shortage of those who associate it with the concept of dopamine dressing, according to which the use of bright colors would have positive effects on the wearer’s emotions.
Alexander McQueen, Spring Summer 2024.
The one for gold – this is demonstrated by scientific studies recently published on Journal of Consumer Psychology – it is a biological, almost natural attraction: the glow that characterizes it generates an innate response in the observer, the result of a desire rooted in the unconscious. In ancient Rome the use of gold, in the form of fabrics and jewels, was the prerogative of the nobility alone, while the number of empires founded on the accumulation of golden wealth is almost incalculable. Yet, in recent years, the emergence of trends opposed to the “screaming” display of wealth – we are talking about the fashion currents placed under the definition of quiet luxury“silent luxury” – had given way to more discreet nuances, devoid of luminescence, such as the midnight blue of the Loro Piana baseball hat worn by Kendall Roy in the series Succession, whose costumes have carried the aforementioned trend of sober and minimalist dressing. Therefore, an upbeat art, contrary to ostentation, and daughter of that fashion of subtraction inaugurated in the 1920s by Mademoiselle Chanel, although today it is more easily associated with the 1990s.
Queen Elizabeth II and King Baudouin of Belgium at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, May 1963.
However, starting from the Spring Summer 2024 season fashion shows, the idea of a single and minimalist trajectory seems to have blurred, supplanted by a double minimalist-maximalist trajectory. As underlined by the creative director of Maison Schiaparelli Olivier Rousteing at the conclusion of last September’s fashion show, “[…] Today it’s all about identity. I don’t want to act like a minimalist designer, because I’m not. I’m French. And then, you know, you can love Pompidou, and at the same time love Versailles.” Rousteing’s point is that there is room for everything: for the modernist museum with geometric rigorism, and for the baroque oddities of Versailles. In terms of shorts, one of the most famous metallic dresses in recent history is the one worn by Lady Diana during the premiere of the James Bond film A View To A Kill in 1985. Designed by Bruce Oldfield, it was a finely draped model with padded shoulder straps in perfect Eighties style. Even earlier, in 1963, it was the turn of Queen Elizabeth II, who showed up at the Royal Opera House in a flood of golden sequins. And it is therefore no coincidence that Bella Hadid’s latest look – a vintage mini dress designed by Gianni Versace – was immediately associated with Windsor style.
Drawing inspiration from the world of courts and entertainment – the two territories in which gold is not subject to savings – Alexander McQueen’s Spring Summer 2024 designed by Sarah Burton cited Queen Elizabeth I, the art of Magdalena Abakanowicz and sensitivity by Lee Alexander McQueen himself. The anatomical design of the female body – indicated by Burton as the reference mold for the construction of the entire collection – was mostly rendered in shiny and golden colours. At Vivienne Westwood, Andreas Kronthaler instead turned to the world of antiquities, extracting golden weaves and sequins in tunic format. Despite the general minimalism of the lines, even at Blumarine Nicola Brognano did not fail to follow the gold trend, declining it on shiny, leather-effect fabrics. A similar argument also applies to the fashion shows of Tom Ford and Saint Laurent, minimalist in form, maximalist in the choice of precious tones, to indicate the way of a common thread universal.
Saint Laurent, Spring Summer 2024.
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