The start of summer means sandals, skin-baring looks and vacation dressing for most people. For the fashion world, it means resort season. During the weeks of early- to mid-June, brands preview their pre-spring collections, which will be released later in the year, from approximately October to December.
The season has historically been less important than spring-summer or fall-winter collections, but brands have increasingly put more emphasis on resort lines, using the collection as a marketing tool to create splashy moments, with runway shows and VIP events held in far-flung locations instead of the usual fashion cities on the calendar (traditionally, New York, London, Milan and Paris). Case in point: Max Mara’s resort ’24 show in Stockholm, Sweden, Carolina Herrera’s Rio de Janeiro outing or or Louis Vuitton’s celeb-packed outing in Lake Maggiore, Italy. The goal? To lean into the spirit of the resort collection, which has traditionally focused on the idea of the vacation wardrobe.
In recent years, the idea of vacation dressing and the resort collection has expanded, from swimwear, caftans, sandals, and party clothes to a more modern, multi-purpose wardrobe, with work-ready pieces and a more everyday aesthetic.
The resort ’24 collections were no different, echoing the fall ’24 trend towards subtlety, practicality and a bit of stoicism. On foot, that means the scaling down of the party shoe (no crystals, no sparkles, and barely any of the long-ubiquitous platform), and a focus on a handful of silhouettes.
Here, a look at six fashion and footwear trends coming out of resort ’24.
1. The elongated pointy toe
Chunky boots and sneakers have long reigned, and the platform has existed as a macro trend for a number of years now. But fall ’24 brought forth a notable silhouette shift to the pointy toe, and resort ’24 collections continued to put forth the point as the new shape. At Balenciaga, the men’s Santiago leather bootie is already having a profound influence on the pointy push, with an elongated toe box, an exaggerated upturned toe and a point that upon closer inspection has a snip of a square at the very end. At Ferragamo, an extreme pointy toe is paired with stilettos, in patent black, and Proenza Schouler echoes the nuance of the squared-off point.
2. Blazers and suiting
Resort collections have long been considered the real of swimwear, caftans, sandals and other markers of vacation dressing. But more recently the season has also helped retailers to fill in merchandising gaps with pieces that shoppers seek out all year round. That includes blazers and suiting, a category that is fully getting back into the swing of things. Stella McCartney continued to put forth new ideas of the traditional power suit, including a skirt suit that might seem passé a few years ago but now reads as chic. Off-White reimagined the boring black office suit, while Gabriela Hearst offered a groovy-but-grownup silhouette on a bell-bottomed pantsuit.
3. Western deluxe
The return and repurposing of the Western boot is one of 2023’s biggest footwear trends. What began as a summer ’22 microtrend looks to still be blossoming through resort ’24 collections, with designers and brands taking creative expression to the normally rugged footwear for a more glam take. Ganni continues to showcase the European obsession with the American tradition, reinterpreting Western boots in metallics for a space-cowgirl moment, while Balmain took the boot to new heights, with a thigh-high in graphic black-and-white Western motif.
4. Black — and more black
Part of the return to practical dressing has been a scaling back of the look-at-me colors that have long dominated social media driven fashion. Resort collections might normally run more colorful or novelty, but resort ’24 collections continue to deliver a message of aesthetic frugality. From Balenciaga to Zac Posen and everything in between, most collections included a noticeable amount of all-black looks.
5. Palette cleansers
On the other end, designers are turning to white and cream as a palette cleanser from all the post-pandemic revenge dressing. From Brandon Maxwell and Chloé to Max Mara, Tibi and Tory Burch, the aesthetic is something of a tabula rasa for the wardrobe.
6. The kitten-heeled sling back
With the return of the pointed toe, the kitten-heeled sling back seems guaranteed to become the most wearable version of the shoe shape. Aknvas, Staud and Zac Posen all offered the kitten heel as the punctuation mark on mini skirts and ruffled hemlines.
