It was all about the fringe at Milan Fashion Week

Ciao from Milano! The dreary, wet weather from London made its way to the cobbled streets of Milan Fashion Week A/W 2024 but so did the flouncy, faux fur-dominated ensembles, boasting innovative design and pops of red. While the Italian boulevards were peppered with chic attendees and their freshly sharpened bobs, the runways were full to the brim with fringe.

Stunted and tasselled, long and flowy, reminiscent of sea anemones or shaggy animals, luxury brands and designers hemmed their labours of love with a hearty serving of fringe. Just look at Matthieu Blazy’s Bottega Veneta offering for reference. The creative director welcomed wearable luxury in his latest collection, featuring buttery soft trenches, exaggerated shoulders, heavy knits and oxblood red in abundance. But the standout pieces were sleek dresses fringed with monochrome tassels at the hem.

Seeing the models sashay down the runway, you can hardly resist wondering what it would feel like to run your hands through the curtain of tassels. Is it soft and cold? Light to the touch? Does it fly under a breeze? Keep this curiosity on board through MFW A/W24 as Ferragamo, Jil Sander, Versace and Tom Ford all added to this fascination with fringe. Maximilian Davis channelled the ‘20s in his collection showing off drop-waisted coats, moss greens and extravagant fringed minidresses that could make Daisy Buchanan shy.

Over at Jil Sander, the creative directors doubled down on soft dressing with swishy suits in chocolate brown and bright red, slouchy silhouettes in mohair wool and quilted puffers with draped necklines. Still – amid this celebration of comfort, a silver strapless dress with short sequin fringes and a don’t-care attitude jolted the audience to the edge of their seat, a happy reminder that slow and easy can also be fun and playful.

At Etro, heavy duty coats screamed for attention with self prints and a subtle fringe, shining in the spotlight when the wearer is in motion. Across runways big and small, shaggy tassels made a lasting appearance. Perhaps the allure of fringe lies in its glamour, the glimpses it allows. It holds the potential to elevate any off duty outfit by adding drama to the movement. In some ways, tassels have the same dreamy feel that sheer clothing does. Both provide a sneak peek of what’s behind the curtain, a careful tease, except the fringe isn’t as easily available and hence, overwhelmed.

While fashion analysts have been predicting the return of Americana and by extension, fringe for a few months now, the shows at Milan sealed the deal. Cowboy hats, knee length leather boots and denim-on-denim have garnered far too much attention. It’s finally time for fringe – long, short, messy, tasselled, beaded or flouncy – to have a moment. In the wise words of T. Swift, don’t forget to shake it off.

For all the latest from fashion week, check out our rolling reviews, thinkpieces and trend round-ups at the woo hub here.