From a balloon-shaped bra by Loewe to a pair of gravity-defying Alaïa heels, the best of the season ahead

Left, hat, price on request, by Raf Simons (left). Right, shirt, £4,500; trousers, £3,300, both by Prada. Fashion: Jason Hughes

A balloon-shaped bra. A biker glove. A gravity-defying heel. Surreal and sublime, here are the 11 things Wallpaper* wants most from the AW 2022 collections.

Inspired by the attire seen in Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 1559 painting Netherlandish Proverbs, Raf Simons’ collection included a series of hats created with master milliner Stephen Jones – from fuzzy helmets to a cap that fell away into a cloak. 

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons proposed a new menswear uniform at Prada, injecting utilitarian garments with glamour. Case in point, a shirt and trousers (reminiscent of a boiler suit) rendered in high-gloss leather, uniting function and elegance. 

Fashion designer Dries Van Noten has channelled his mastery of colour into a new beauty collection, comprising lipsticks in 30 brazen shades of neon magenta, pumpkin orange and an ultra-saturated bruised raspberry called Latin Carmine. Mary Cleary

Celine’s Triomphe monogram has become a defining symbol of Hedi Slimane’s tenure at the Parisian house. Here, it adorns the latest iteration of the ‘Triomphe’ handbag, reimagined this season in fluffy shearling, tie-dyed to unique effect.

Feats of engineering and technical accomplishment have long defined the house of Alaïa. Creative director Pieter Mulier continues this legacy, encapsulated here in a pair of gravity-defying pumps with a slanted heel, screwed on Meccano-style.

Salvatore Ferragamo’s menswear collection offered top-to-toe dressing with lithe all-in-ones, and sweaters with hoods. Worn together, they provide a streamlined layer of protection against the elements, preparation for the change in seasons. 

Matthieu Blazy’s debut as Bottega Veneta’s creative director was defined by his luxurious riffs on the quotidian, alongside playful moments, including this sequinned dress, recalling a kiwi fruit, sliced in half and ready to eat.

This sheepskin-lined parka by Hermès, designed to envelop its wearer through the winter months, is part of a menswear collection that saw creative director Véronique Nichanian encapsulate moments of ‘joy and softness, effervescence and elegance’.

Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri gave the opera glove a high-octane update this season, recalling motocross riders and video-game racers with an elbow-length motorcycle glove in vivid panels of coloured leather. 

‘A balloon creates tension, it will pop,’ says Jonathan Anderson of the Perspex balloons that provided a surreal flourish to his Loewe collection, whether squeezed between sandal straps or forming this bra, sitting atop a balloon-printed gown. 

Boucheron’s creative director Claire Choisne looked to the natural world for high jewellery collection Ailleurs – the ‘Feuillage Diamant’ cuff features aluminium strands woven around a green tourmaline as if they were blades of grass. Hannah Silver 

A version of this article appears in the September 2022 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today!

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