The Spring 2022 collections had walked the runway in September of last year, but it was the third week of March before any of it really hit stores at scale. The shift to digital order books and pre-spring deliveries had stretched the calendar thin, and we had spent the first half of the month watching influencers in Miami get the first wear out of the pieces we were still waiting on. Now the floors at Bergdorf, Saks, and Net-a-Porter were finally full, and we could speak about the collection-level trends with some confidence about what would actually filter through. Three notes ran through the season: a 1990s minimalism revival, a return of strong colour blocking, and the most discreet cut-outs we had seen in years. Here is what stood out from the big American houses, and where we expected to spend some money.
Tom Ford brought back the slip-dress cocktail
Tom Ford‘s Spring 2022 show on the second night of New York Fashion Week was the loudest collection of the week, in the best possible way — sequined slip dresses, electric-blue and acid-green column gowns, and the kind of ruched jersey that read 1996 if 1996 had had better lighting. The standout pieces were the bias-cut slip dresses in saturated colour with the smallest possible halter, which would replace the LBD at every dinner party we attended through summer. The cut-out detail across the collection was placed precisely under the bust or at the hip rather than across the abdomen, which was the smart way to do the trend. Tom Ford had been the first designer to remind us that going-out clothes were back, and the Spring 2022 collection was the loudest possible version of that thesis.
Khaite kept its grip on minimalism
Khaite, Catherine Holstein’s New York label, had been the editor’s choice for two seasons running, and the Spring 2022 collection cemented why. Tailored white poplin shirts with structured shoulders, mid-rise denim with a flare, leather knee boots in caramel, and dresses cut on the bias in the lightest possible silk — every look read as the perfect twenty-first-century version of a 1990s Calvin Klein editorial. The brand had been moving away from the trend cycle and toward a tightly-edited wardrobe that women in their thirties would wear for ten years, and Spring 2022 was its most confident expression yet. The Bambi shoulder bag was the accessory we kept seeing on the right people, and we had it on our list for whenever a restock landed.
Carolina Herrera went all in on colour
Wes Gordon’s Carolina Herrera Spring 2022 show had been the most photographed exit of the September week — fuchsia-and-tangerine gowns, lemon-yellow minidresses, sky-blue tailored trousers paired with red knit polos. The colour-blocking was the single strongest note across the season, and Herrera was leading it. The brand had quietly become the place where the women still buying eveningwear at department stores were spending their money, and Wes Gordon was pitching directly at that customer with prints that were modern but unmistakably Herrera. The CH Insignia bag had been seen on a wider editorial circuit than we expected, and the Spring 2022 add-ons would land at Bergdorf Goodman through April.
Michael Kors made the case for Easy
Michael Kors Collection’s Spring 2022 show on the morning of September 10 had the most relaxed mood of the week — wide trousers cinched at the waist, oversized poplin shirts left half-buttoned, satin slip skirts paired with cropped knits. The colour palette was American summer — sand, white, slate blue, the smallest hint of red — and the piece we kept wanting was a head-to-toe look in soft caramel suede that closed the show. The accessories were Kors at his sharpest: a long satin sash worn as a belt with everything, a single pair of straw espadrilles, the most luxurious version of beach bag. The brand was reminding us that ease and luxury did not need to be in tension, and Spring 2022 made it look like the easiest thing in the world.
Tory Burch leaned into the prep refresh
Tory Burch‘s Spring 2022 show had taken place across the Brooklyn Museum’s plaza in September, and the resulting collection had landed at retail in early March. The brand’s reset toward a cleaner, more grown-up version of American prep had been working for several seasons, and Spring 2022 was the strongest articulation of it: drop-waist linen dresses, navy-and-white striped knits, kitten-heel mules, the most discreet possible logo placement. The Lee Radziwill bag, named for the Bouvier-Kennedy sister, kept up its run as the it-bag of the contemporary American calendar. We were already wearing the cropped white poplin shirt we had picked up at Saks two weeks ago.
Closing
Spring 2022 from the big American houses was, on balance, a confident return to a wardrobe that women actually wanted to put on — slim, tailored, occasionally loud, with a calmer interior of beautifully-made basics. The 1990s reference was everywhere but worn lightly, and the colour stories were saturated rather than seasonal-pastel. We were already shopping the Khaite tailoring, the Tom Ford silk slip, and a Carolina Herrera something-fuchsia, and our list for April included the moment Michael Kors’s caramel suede pieces hit Bergdorf. The next monthly post lands the first Tuesday of April; in the meantime, we will see you on the runways for the Resort 2023 shows that will start trickling out in May.