6 PFW Shows We’re Still Dreaming Of

“We’ve missed you dearly,” the show notes read for Ester Manas’ AW24 collection. “We offer you this collection like a greeting card, a box
 of chocolates, a bouquet of flowers, the ones that last forever. Please accept it as a proof of affection.”

Boy, are we grateful for this present! Joyful, versatile, and innovative, the collection features delicate ruffles alongside bold shades of yellow and blue, offering breathable lingerie-turned-RTW pieces that have us longing for the summer and recycled nylon down jackets when the weather turns cold again. Titled “Hotline” and “Coldline” respectively, the ranges join the brand’s first leather pieces, a new family of bags, and a debut jewellery collection. With a star-studded front row including the likes of Mia Khalifa and Christina Milian (see above!), MISSED YOU was a show we’re already missing.

Seoul-based luxury brand EENK has a particularly captivating storyline that connects their work from collection to collection. Since their founding in 2013, the label has crafted each collection as a “chapter” of a wider discussion, titled the “Letter Project”. EENK has worked their way through the Roman alphabet, basing each season on a theme in line with a particular letter: K for Knit, U for Utopia, Y for Yesterday, and, now, Z for Zero to One.

Exploring the space between endings and new beginnings, founder Hyemee Lee looks to ideas of “zero” in East Asian philosophical traditions — where instead of absence or nothingness, the numerical value depicts an abundance… a sense of everything-ness.

Saying goodbye to the super-duper-short micro skirts of past seasons, Miu Miu’s AW24 collection embraced a more mature aesthetic, with models adorned by pearl necklaces and chic clutched handbags at their side. This subtly undone collection embraced sophistication, with slightly wrinkled cocktail numbers and artfully skewed shirt collars — an exciting new direction for the label’s evolution.

Held at the Palais d’Iéna, the show spotlighted an array of talents on the runway, from Little Simz to Luther Ford, and featured a short film by artist Cécile B Evans and art curator Guslagie Malanda.

Charaf Tajer’s Casablanca may have only presented its second collection on the women’s calendar this season, but the feeling is that they’ve been around this whole time. For his AW24 collection, the designer took us on a trip to Ancient Greece, paving the way with a blue-carpeted runway where models showcased the brand’s masterful take on sportswear, strong-shouldered silhouettes, and skin-tight draped pieces — all while reflecting on his explorations around the past and future of human experience, influenced by Björk’s “Venus as a Boy.”

Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadien debuted their AW24 collection for Ottolinger during PFW, offering a fusion of preppy sportswear and deconstructed tailoring. Standout pieces included the revival of wedge trainers, originally introduced by Isabel Marant back in 2011, alongside a range of deconstructed traditional suits and dresses, paired with tight fitting knits. They proposed that their faux-fur-trimmed and tweed-infused garments, when styled together, form chic “airport outfits” – a statement we can definitely get on board with.

“This collection is about my present state of mind,” Rei Kawakubo stated in the show notes for the AW24 collection. “I have anger against everything in the world, especially against myself.” As always, the revered designer left us speechless — and contemplating the state of the world and our place in it.

Unsurprisingly, the lineup was 95% black, with innovative and experimental materials (think barbed wire!) creating avant-garde silhouettes and textures. Other than the pieces themselves, the most profound moment of the presentation came from the models, who expressed their own frustration to the audience in an interactive, breaking the invisible wall that separates the show from the front row and forcing guests to confront the ever-present state of anger amongst a week of glitz and glamour. Dramatic, courageous, and show-stopping.