The Paris leg of the spring/summer 2024 collections is kicking off today, and here at Vogue Runway we’re hard at work unpacking the season’s top trends. More on all that once the season wraps, but we do have one pressing question now: What’s with all those double-sleeve sweaters
Brands from Proenza Schouler and Commission in New Work to Fendi in Milan have been reimagining the plain ol’ sweater, and they all agree on one thing: More is more. Sleeves, that is.
Proenza Schouler, ready-to-wear spring/summer 2024. Image credit: Courtesy of Proenza Schouler.
Commission, ready-to-wear spring/summer 2024. Image credit: Courtesy of Commission.
Fendi, ready-to-wear spring/summer 2024. Image credit: Armando Grillo/Gorunway.com.
Brandon Maxwell, ready-to-wear spring/summer 2024. Image credit: Courtesy of Brandon Maxwell.
That’s right, all these sweater reinterpretations share one trait: an extra set of sleeves for you to tie around your shoulders, to drape around your elbows, or to cinch at your waist. One thing to note about this mini-trend is that it’s not the first you’ve seen it. Christopher John Rogers played with the double sleeve for his pre-fall 2023 collection, and Jonathan Anderson is a big fan of this design quirk, having used it both at Loewe and JW Anderson—one of his most recent renderings is available for purchase right now. Most memorably, you saw it on Phoebe Philo’s runway at Céline (it’s all starting to make sense now, surely). But rather than sweaters, Philo employed the double sleeve on wool coats and dresses for her fall 2013 collection. The thick sleeves held—but not cinched—her models’ waists and swaddled their shoulders.
Christopher John Rogers, pre-fall 2023. Image credit: Courtesy of Christopher John Rogers.
Céline, ready-to-wear fall/autumn ’13/’14. Image credit: Gianni Pucci/InDigital | GoRunway.
JW Anderson, menswear spring 2017. Image credit: Kim Weston Arnold/Indigital.tv.
The original reference—as those terminally online or keen on fashion history will know—is a photo of a coat by the great American designer Geoffrey Beene by Jack Deutsch. The image depicts a coat by Beene with its sleeves tied around itself. Deutsch has pointed out that the original piece did not have any extra armholes, unlike Philo’s interpretation.
As for why we’re seeing them on the runways this season? Here’s my take: These perverse little sweaters blend the kookiness of the present moment and the sophistication (you’ve heard this called quiet luxury) that has taken over the runways of late. For those of you who like to wear your sweaters and tie them around your shoulders, well, look no further: Double-sleeve sweaters are here to keep you warm and let you cosplay as a Country Club mom.
This story first appeared on Vogue.com.
Credit: Vogue.com.au