This season, tassels and fringing make a dramatic fashion statement

As a decorative adornment, the tassel has spanned centuries and mediums, whether skimming the hem of a Regency sofa or a flapper’s dress. Tassels have even been found in the tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs, believed to ward off evil spirits on the journey to the underworld.

Designers embraced the adornment in intriguing new ways for S/S 2024. At Sabato De Sarno’s debut collection for Gucci, the standout look was a yellow coat sprouting shimmering crystal fringing. It captured the collection’s mood, which was inspired by the irreverent glamour of the Italian streets, ‘a story of richness and lust, of sweat, dancing and singing.’

Fringe theatre: tasseled fashion to elevate the everyday

At Akris, Albert Kriemler paid homage to Austrian textile designer Felice ‘Lizzi’ Rix-Ueno with a collection that celebrated the richness of materials, including dresses with diaphanous trails of tassels, while Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ collection for Prada was rooted in the house’s history of craft and experimentation, encapsulated by a proliferation of fringed garments, some intricately inset with eyelets, others in shaggy layers over shirting.

‘This work is always part of what we do, have always done… we wanted to recognise it here,’ said Simons.

At Bottega Veneta, Matthieu Blazy presented an imaginative ‘odyssey’ around the world – as if his wandering models had picked up homespun treasures on cross-country trips. A series of fringed dresses and skirts appeared throughout; when in movement, the tassels parted, revealing a pile-up of patterned fabric underneath.

A version of this article appears in the April 2024 issue of Wallpaper* available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.