Trouser waistbands were sky-high on the spring/summer 2024 runways , with models at Loewe slipping their hands into ribcage-skimming pockets, meanwhile Alaïa’s barrel-leg trousers were cut just below the chest. The news in dresses, however, is quite the opposite: drop-waist dresses have become summer’s standout silhouette. Jil Sander’s collection featured several drop-waist dresses, which came with ribbed tank top uppers and full skirts; then there were the sheer turtleneck tops and scalloped waistbands seen at 16Arlington’s fall/winter 2024 show.
Look 53 from Ferragamo’s show, meanwhile, featured a fitted bodice and pleated skirt. Jonathan Anderson also moved away from his high-waisted propositions for autumn/winter, opening the show with a hat-trick of maxi dresses, finished with low, hip-skimming skirts and giant buckled belt adornments. Challengers fever has also inspired sporty takes on the drop-waist silhouette.
Zendaya wore a custom, crystal-swathed Loewe tennis dress for the film’s photo call in Milan in April, while her stylist Law Roach was behind the bespoke, drop-waist Thom Browne dress—complete with a polo collar and racket appliqué—that she wore to the London premiere. “Nothing beats the drama of a ravaged drop-waist dress from the 1920s,” says contributing beauty editor Tish Weinstock , who has moved away from the ’90s and Y2K styles that have dominated the fashion landscape, in favour of 1920s and ’30s pieces. She regularly scours e.
