Here Come the Dresses! 6 Trends Everyone Will Obsess Over This Winter and Beyond

While the world has been captivated by trousers and skirts for the past few months, there's no denying the power of a great dress. Dresses make up a significant portion of the runway looks we see each season, and winter 2024 is certainly no exception. Whilst conducting my research for our bumper trend report, I found myself getting distracted by all the beautiful dress goings on. So, I pulled the images to one side as I went, promising myself I'd give them a proper once-over once I'd completed the task at hand. And now that I've had a chance to revisit the stunning dresses from the summer shows I can say, with complete certainty, that the frock forecast is looking incredibly strong for the months ahead.

From drapery that's reminiscent of breathtaking Grecian sculptures, all the way to hot colour palettes—you could say the following dress trends for 2024 are the antitheses of one another. This, however, makes for a very interesting and unpredictable cohort of dresses—one that will cater to every style and aesthetic imaginable.

Continue on to see the biggest dress trends for 2024, as seen on the AW'24 runways. All that's left for you to do is choose the shoes to go with...

The Biggest Dress Trends of 2024:

1. The Knit List

Style Notes: It wasn't just the Chloé, Bally and Prada cardigans that dominated the runways—knit dresses were on the menu too. Conversely to some of the other dress trends on our list, the colour palette of winter 2024's wool dresses were dark neutrals—think classic with a punky edge. In fact, pairing with stomping boots is an inspired styling suggestion.

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2. Goddess Drapery

Style Notes: This season you're invited to channel your inner goddess with this dress trend. We've seen drapery in minimal form lately but this incarnation is all about drama—think swaths of liquid-like fabric in rich tones that work around the contours of the body, enhancing them as they do.

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3. Leather Weather

Style Notes: What do Acne Studios, Bottega Veneta, Cecilie Bahnsen, and Alexander McQueen have in common? Sure. they all have different runway aesthetics but the thing that unites them this season is leather, and one of the most glamorous ways to wear it has to be in dress form. From bodycon minis, to flared maxis, these power dresses are already being mirrored on the market ahead of the drop in temperatures.

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4. Seeing Red

Style Notes: Red has been one of the biggest colour trends of the last 12 months and, newsflash, its reign is set to continue well into 2024. Where knitwear is still big for winter, but red dresses are about to be the hit of party season too! We're already seeing searches spike for this exact term on Google, with the market reflecting the red-hot dress appetite.

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5. Feather Finish

Style Notes: I don't think it's any sort of coincidence that the words "fabulous" and "feathers" fall closely together in the dictionary. This season, texture plays an integral role in the dress line-up, and we saw feathers adorn dresses everywhere, from the SS '24 Bottega Veneta runway all the way Erdem AW'24. The runway rule? Avoid too much black—instead looking for bright feathered creations that command attention. If you want something more "wearable" then you might consider a dress with a feather trim.

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6. White Out

Style Notes: White always makes a comeback for spring/summer, but it may surprise you to learn that there were even more white dresses on the runway for AW '24 than there were in the same period last year.This is especially great news, as I imagine this is something many of us will already have in our wardrobes, if however, you're wondering how to style the look for cold-weather, look for long sleeves, maxi lengths and sumptuous fabrics to keep warm while looking cool.

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This story was published at an earlier time and has since been updated.