The Resort 2024 Trend Report: Capes Swirl, Hems Are Unpredictable, and the Waist Stays in Focus

Am I alone in thinking that the preseasons get more confusing year after year? There isn’t even an industry standard for referring to them. Resort is synonymous with cruise and pre-spring. On top of that some designers opt to show pre-fall when resort is usually presented. I mean….

Historical context offers some guidance in trying to detangle this mess. As F. Scott Fitzgerald noted: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” Back in the day, the trends were set by a very few wealthy women, members of the leisurely café society (precursor to the jet set), many of whom maintained multiple homes in various climes or, if not, surely traveled among them. It was to this so-called smart set that designers catered to. Vogue reported on them in December and January issues dedicated to “fashions for north and south,” “southern fashions and winter sports,” “hot-weather fashions,” and “midwinter travel.”

Fashion has always been aspirational, but it hasn’t always been global or inclusive. The industry has retained nomenclature relating to an old world while expanding its reach geographically and in terms of customer base, amid advances in technology (like air conditioning and central heat, not just marketing) and climate change. Not only is there, proverbially, always a Fashion Week somewhere, but designers are speaking to a worldwide audience where almost every kind of weather is happening at once. The upshot is that resort, with its association with sandy beaches and blue skies and sea, isn’t always easy breezy but makes space for holiday parties and slopeside style as well.

And then there’s the matter of retail. These precollections sit longest on the selling floors without going on sale, so they can’t be too trendy but they still have to generate a lot of buzz. To that end, luxury brands have started taking their shows on the road. Whereas the client used to travel, now it’s the brand that goes to where the archetypal customer of yore might have.

I found my way out of this maze with a music metaphor, likening the precollections to a greatest-hits album or an LP with bonus tracks. Some brands, like bands, even went on tour: Gucci to Seoul, Chanel to Los Angeles, Max Mara to Stockholm, and Louis Vuitton to Isola Bella in Italy. Many designers told me they revisited bestsellers or further developed ideas for resort, and let’s face it, when you go to a concert, you want to hear the classics sometimes as much as, or more than, the new material.