Before the winter collections hit overseas stores,taste-makers such as Hailey Bieber have already stamped their approval on the trend. The 26-year-old model and wife of singer Justin Bieber stepped out in two red dresses in one day recently to promote her Rhode cosmetics line. In custom Vivienne Westwood and an Autumn/Winter 2023 runway look by Ermanno Scervino,Bieber showed a red dress can be many things:powerful,playful,sexy,youthful,elegant and just a heap of fun.
Indeed,such was red’s dominance on the ready-to-wear runways at labels including Stella McCartney,Tory Burch and even Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s usually neutrals-leaning The Row that commentators were asking:“Is this what comes after Barbiecore?”
For Australian designer Rebecca Vallance,the answer is a resounding yes. While her spring collection leans into hot pink,her “holiday” range,out in November,is heavy on red.
“It’s been a while since that really vibrant,scarlet red has been in,” Vallance says,adding that she’s easing into the trend by wearing red lipstick. “I also love a red suit,but for holiday we have a mini dress,a gown – it’s all about that power-girl[look].”
The late,great Australian designer Carla Zampatti built her brand on the “pillars” of ivory,navy and red,so the colour always features in its ranges,says creative director Karlie Ungar. “We’re in a world of neutrals with black dominating,but[red is] that colour that’s ageless and timeless,” she says,adding that the label’s autumn 2024 collection,which she has just finished designing,is heavy on the scarlet.
Also celebrating the return of red is stylist and shoe designer Lana Wilkinson,who says mantras such as “no red on the red carpet” are hogwash. For Monday’s AFL Brownlow Medal,Wilkinson is embracing the colour,knowing it will get her clients the attention – and photos in the social pages – they are after. But,she adds,it takes the right kind of person to pull it off. Red is not for shrinking violets.
“When someone is feeling quite powerful,there is such a strength in it,” Wilkinson says. “You’re wearing it wanting to be seen.”