The rest of us might be looking toward an early spring, but Thom Browne’s ravens are flying in with an autumnal omen. The designer premiered his fall/winter 2024 collection with typical tailored flair, this time with a nod to Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The Raven. The show blew in a burst of welcome theatricality as New York Fashion Week came to a close.
Thom Browne Taps Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”
In the show’s opening three minutes, we follow the tweed-clad first model, Anna Cleveland, around the gothic set. As she crept along the stage to an original instrumental piece, well-suited children climbed out of an arboreal, towering model in a puffer coat large enough to act as their tent. The children all crowded around a lone swing as Cleveland began storytime. Actress Carrie Coon’s recitation took over the sound system: “Once upon a midnight dreary/As I pondered, weak and weary…” And then, the rest of the looks began blowing through a giant broken window like a snowy chill. As the show went on, models swirled around the set shrouded in black and white as Coon’s recitation swells in mania.
Thom Browne, fall/winter 2024.
The looks included black tie subversions like large bows and “shredded tuxedos.” Cloaked shapes perfect for strolling through graveyards echoed Poe’s romantic, macabre phrases– literally and figuratively. Nevermore, Poe’s iconic repeated expression bellowed by Coon, was printed on the back of one suit jacket. The structured cinched waists, cummerbunds, and corsets brought to mind a “bird or beast upon the sculptured bust.” The show also featured whimsical details like men in suit jackets and skirts, ribbons fashioned as feathers, and, of course, new variations of the Hector bag.
Thom Browne, fall/winter 2024.
Literary References Abound for Thom Browne Fall/Winter 2024
The last time Thom Browne showed in New York, he premiered a collection inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1943 novella, The Little Prince. The designer carries a penchant for literary reference, and this show didn’t only evoke Poe. Models held pointed umbrellas and luggage bags like a gothic twist on Mary Poppins. Austere black silhouettes would be at home in Charlotte Brontë’s Lowood School. Aviary headpieces were interspersed with stiff braids that mimic antennae, perhaps borrowing from Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis as much as they did from Poe.
Thom Browne, fall/winter 2024.
In an act of metamorphosis, Alex Consani closed the show with a round gold lame cape that she disrobed to reveal a raven-adorned overskirt. Though the Valentine’s Day show brought us straight into October, the designer took his bow carrying a heart-shaped box of chocolates for his husband, Andrew Bolton. Haunting romanticism meets classic romance.
Thom Browne, fall/winter 2024.
Thom Browne, fall/winter 2024.
