The Fashion Trends to Watch in 2024, by the Numbers

Not long ago, knowing what was on trend was as easy as consulting a magazine’s “in” and “out” column.

It’s not so simple today. A single picture or product can birth a trend online, according to Agustina Panzoni, TikTok trend forecaster and Depop trend specialist. In 2023, Hailey Bieber’s photos of her blue nails and heavily blushed face led to “blueberry milk nails” and “strawberry girl summer,” while a Clare V fish-print shirt and Bottega Veneta’s fish-handle Sardine bag helped fuel summer’s “sardinecore” craze. What’s more, trends move faster than ever, as consumers shift from one “core” to the next within a matter of weeks, if not days. Those trend-fuelling forces are set to do the same in 2024.

“The word trend has become so liquefied in the past few years, anything can be a trend,” said Panzoni. “It’s been stripped from its original meaning … because of the speed at which things [spread] online.”

The discourse around trends — their quirky names, how to interpret them and how long they’ll last — has reached a high point. With so many trends happening at once, figuring out what exactly consumers want at any particular moment is harder than ever.

“It’s going to be another one of those years where trends are just so chaotic, and there’s so many that are juxtaposing with one another,” said Kayla Marci, analyst at retail intelligence platform Edited.

Still, certain themes are poised to be top of mind for consumers this year. Below, BoF unpacks five trends that will be the talk of 2024.

Quiet Luxury’s Long Tail

Thanks to “Succession,” Sofia Richie Grainge and persisting economic uncertainty, 2023 was the year of quiet luxury. North American retailers sold 40 percent fewer heavily-logoed products in 2023 than they did in 2022, according to retail analytics platform Trendalytics, while 55 percent of womenswear new arrivals were in neutrals like black, white, grey and brown, up 4 percent from 2022, said Edited.

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Though the craze has likely passed its high point, it’s retained its place in the cultural zeitgeist. Brands are taking a more casual approach in advertising, with fall campaigns from Gucci and Bottega Veneta featuring celebrities on everyday errands.

Plus, “uniform dressing,” an offshoot of quiet luxury that involves building a wardrobe of a few key, quality pieces to be worn repeatedly, is gaining steam online, with more creators rewearing items in unexpected ways (a sweater as a scarf, for example).

“If you think about the way fashion editors dress, that’s always been the hack … it’s becoming the norm for this next generation of creators,” said Eva Chen, head of fashion at Instagram.

The idea of “quiet” fashion, or, more subdued approaches to dressing in general, is extending into other areas. For example, as the gorpcore trend cools in 2024, brands like Salomon and Arc’teryx may shift their outwear offerings from flashy jackets to more minimalist, “quiet outdoor” styles, according to BoF and McKinsey’s State of Fashion report.

Still, expect to see some pushback in 2024: “loud luxury,” best characterised by more opulent and exaggerated brands, began to see an uptick in interest. In the year ahead, retailers will have to feed both appetites.

A Y2K Rewind

Y2K has influenced fashion for years — but in 2024, that sway may begin to lessen, according to Edited.

“It’s probably been over five years since we’ve been talking about Y2K, when a trend builds up and becomes saturated, you do see consumer fatigue,” said Marci.

Meanwhile, on the heels of quiet luxury, demand for 1990s minimalism is growing. Searches for 1990s-inspired fashion are up 90 percent year-over-year, according to Trendalytics, and retailers are stocking up on grey apparel, silver jewellery, and items including tank tops, knee high boots and bandeau dresses, according to Edited.

Y2K, however, won’t disappear entirely. The hashtag #Y2Kfashion grew 68 percent year-over-year, to 2.7 billion views on TikTok. You can still see its influence on the runway in Miu Miu, Blumarine and Diesel’s latest collections, showing super short skirts, midriff-baring tops, low-rise slouchy trousers and grunge denim. And while sell-outs of some styles, such as low-rise jeans, seem to have peaked years ago, others, like distressed denim and pleated mini skirts are only growing in popularity: online sell outs for aged denim were up 63 percent year-over-year, while mini skirts saw a 34 percent rise in sell-outs, according to Edited.

The ‘Girl’ Obsession Continues

From pop culture phenomenons like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Barbie to hot TikTok topics like “girl math” and “girl dinner,” 2023 was all about embracing unabashed femininity. That was the case in fashion, too, as girly, coquette-inspired accents like bows, lace and ruffles rose in popularity and brands looked to ballet for inspiration.

“Girl,” as a concept, can be seen as a wider reclamation of the fun and seemingly frivolous in a world that feels increasingly grim, said Panzoni. Girl signifiers can be added to anything: for example, a bow on a pair of sneakers or wearing a ruffled shirt underneath a boxy blazer, she said.

“It’s not necessarily about girlishness, it’s about ‘girl’ as a collective term of subversion,” she said. “It’s been a tough year for girls.”

There’s an added financial incentive to embrace the feminine: Jacquemus and Miu Miu’s bow-adorned T-shirts, for example, are more expensive than those without, Edited found.

In 2024, the reign of the girl is set to continue, with new sub-trends bubbling up, like rosettes, gem-adorned clothes and pastel colours.

Because pop-culture moments proved key for sustaining trends like Barbiecore in 2023, retailers will be on the look out for moments to grab onto in 2024 — like Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” Tour, kicking off in February, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibition, expected to include intricate gowns from Dior and McQueen.

Workwear Outside the Office

The pandemic forever reshaped workwear, and Gen-Z is pushing that evolution even further along.

When Gen-Z gets dressed for work, they’re embracing casual friday all week long, infused with more streetwear influences and looser fitting silhouettes. Panzoni calls it a “lazy girl” approach.

At the same time, consumers are wearing more pieces that are traditionally associated with workwear, like blazers, outside of the office — a trend, known on TikTok as #Corpcore. The #Corpcore hashtag has racked up 3.4 million views in 2023, a 400 percent increase year-over-year from 2022, according to TikTok.

This year, linen button downs are going to be a major item, according to Edited. Arrivals in womenswear were up 8 percent, while majority SKU sell-outs — a measure of demand — were up 16 percent year-over-year in 2023. 1990s suiting staple pinstripes were a major fixture on runways in fall 2023, with visibility on Instagram up 63 percent versus 2022, according to AI trend forecasting platform Heuritech.

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An Unlikely Fashion Inspiration

We’re calling it now: 2024 is the year grandpas everywhere become style icons.

The end of 2023 saw the emergence of “grandpacore,” which is just that — dressing like a grandpa. Similar to 2022′s coastal grandmother, the hallmarks of grandpacore are loose silhouettes, oversized shapes, relaxed suiting, nostalgia-coated vintage pieces and technical-wear or utility focused garments that combine fashion and function, according to Edited. (Think mohair cardigans, sweater vests, belted khaki shorts, customised jackets, loafers and workwear pants.)

In 2023, searches for “grandpacore” were up year-over-year on Pinterest, while #grandpacore views were up 10 percent on TikTok.

Despite grandpacore’s upward swing, critics on TikTok are saying it’s the perfect example of how the trend cycle has gone too far: in emulating “grandpa” style, what consumers are actually pining for is a unique sense of personal style cultivated over decades.

That may be exactly what young consumers are looking for. Chen said content about vintage fashion and heirlooms is on the rise on Instagram.

“What’s happening now is everyone is looking for their own signature core aesthetic, versus following another one,” said Chen.