See what the designers at the recent spring-summer fashion shows have in store for the year ahead.
After the dopamine dressing of post-pandemic seasons, the spring-summer 2024 collections that debuted on the runways this past autumn were strangely muted affairs. Their monochrome palette displaced the vibrant colors and showed a move toward elegant but much more minimalist silhouettes. This was evident in the wide shoulder jackets, trouser suits, pencil skirts and shorts from such style leaders as Saint Laurent, Gucci and Loewe.
The low-key clothing opens a window of opportunity for fine jewelry. While fashion embraces that understated 1990s New York vibe — with many referencing the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s cool style — jewelers are adding big, bold pieces in gold, silver and diamonds to give the look a contemporary twist. Here are three trends that stood out on the catwalks.
Extra-long earrings
Last year was extra-large, this year is extra-long. Gravity is stretching the earring longer and slimmer, to the point where 4 inches is becoming a notably popular length. It was certainly the style that sold out fastest in the pre-festive party season, but it also looks fabulous with a plain white shirt and jeans for spring. Model Kaia Gerber proved that point last July when she stepped out at Valentino’s haute couture show with an ultra-long pair of chandelier earrings over a white shirt.
In September, Los Angeles-based house Badgley Mischka featured shoulder-duster crystal tassels with ruffled evening gowns for spring, illustrating how ideally suited the extra length is to bare necklines. Since then, several fashion campaigns have featured new collections with models wearing earrings long enough to graze the tops of their ribcages. For drop-dead glamour, Yeprem’s Y-Couture and Reign Supreme diamond drop earrings are probably the longest on the market. They can be worn either as pairs or asymmetrically, with a shorter version in the other ear.
On the runway, Fendi was one of the brands to feature a long, sinuous strand of gemstones, part of a collection by influential designer Delfina Delettrez-Fendi. Jeweler Octavia Elizabeth is continually adding new versions of its 4-inch single-strand gem-set earrings, since they keep selling out. London-based designer Nadine Aysoy similarly has multicolor-sapphire drop earrings, with each stone in a different cut.
Jeweler Irene Neuwirth’s one-of-a-kind opal tassels drop 3.5 inches and work for a day-to-evening look.
So do the fine 14-karat gold Hanger and Transformer earrings and diamond-trimmed chain tassels by Guzema, a new Ukrainian brand now available in the US. For more diamond sparkle, there are the Cherika tassels from New York brand Sanjay Kasliwal, affiliated with the Gem Palace of Jaipur Kasliwal dynasty. Featuring emeralds alongside rose- and briolette-cut diamonds, these earrings dip to below collar height and are the perfect way to add evening glamour to the simplest of shirts.
Power cuffs
Cuffs have been a slow-burner trend for the past year or so, with earlier runway looks focusing on armfuls of plain but shiny metal. Now, designers are casting these aside in favor of artistic shapes and gargantuan proportions. Examples include Schiaparelli’s Brancusi-esque gold cuffs — which are a lot lighter than they appear, since they’re made of ceramic — and the large amorphous, sculpted silver shapes adorning models at Loewe. The latter were a design collaboration with American artist Lynda Benglis, whose
vast sculptures decorated the Loewe runway.
Slightly more manageable for modern lifestyles but no less powerful are French fashion house Chloé’s long silver cuffs with a wavy spine of metal protruding along their length, and Tom Ford’s textured black and gold cuffs, which models at the show wore singly, ’80s-style, rather than as a stack.
Artist jewelers like Ute Decker have created voluminous cuffs, including her Orbit design, in which slender bands of metal loop the wrist as if it were the sun. Despite the scale of the piece, it is lightweight thanks to her use of negative space. Ileana Makri’s bracelets and Giorgio Bulgari’s Giorgio B offerings both pack a punch: Rose gold studs pierce the latter’s black-enamel Goccia cuff, while Makri’s titanium design has a sprinkling of black-diamond baguettes in raised bezel settings for an industrial effect. Makri also produces large, twisted gold shapes like the Blaze cuff for a warmer look. Equally impressive are Briony Raymond’s retro-style Aurora pin-cushion cuff in gold with bezel-set diamonds — a bold statement piece — and Sidney Garber’s ribbed gold cuff, which is a comfortable 1.4 inches wide.
There are also high-jewelry options like Buccellati’s dreamy bracelets, including the enamel Capri design and a line of 1.75-inch gold bracelets featuring diamonds and the brand’s signature rigato engraving technique. While both styles have closures, they make a cuff-size statement. Margot McKinney is another well-known source of dramatic and distinctive cuffs, incorporating vibrantly colored stones.
Skinny chokers
While wrists and ears have been the settings for the boldest jewels this season, the necklace — or more precisely, the choker — is going the opposite direction and becoming remarkably discreet. The short, chunky gold chain necklace of 2023 has given way to a slender band of gold or diamonds secured high like a ribbon around the neck. It is a look that designer Bibi van der Velden favors not only in her Smoke collection, but also for herself. On the runway, Dior went for a simple band of gold edged in tiny pearls, Valentino for a logo motif, and Chanel for a gold camellia, while Celine creative director Hedi Slimane presented a toughened, youthful look with cord chokers featuring hearts.
Channeling that vibe is jeweler Diane Kordas, whose leather ribbon choker suspends a spike of pavé-set diamonds, dagger-like, at the front. Less menacing is her rainbow sapphire torque on a gold band. Fope’s famous gold Flex’it necklaces are now available in super-short form. Jemma Wynne, meanwhile, has a couple of gold chokers in her Escalator collection that run slightly longer, sitting just above the throat.
The clever faceting of Platinum Born’s platinum choker gives it the sparkle of diamonds, but for a real diamond version, there is Suzanne Kalan’s signature baguette design. New York-based brand Larkspur & Hawk’s diamond choker targets the bridal market, but not exclusively. Anne Sisteron has several diamond or white-topaz chokers that sit either high on the neck or just above the throat, as well as a pearl edition and a turquoise option for that trans-seasonal look to take us into spring.
Main image: Giorgio B Goccia cuff in black enamel and rose gold. (Giorgio B)
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