You know she means business when she’s clad in a power suit. But if recent fittings are anything to go by, 2024’s version is leaning towards its own ideals.
The shifting winds hit last month when Hailey Bieber showed up at a launch party for Rhode’s Barrier Butter in a glamorously voluminous suit. The look was courtesy of Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello and screamed all of the business and none of the casual. It was double-breasted, strong-shouldered and body-enveloping—and it was oh-so chic. Bieber’s trousers, with an abundance of fabric, too, were held up by spazzolato pumps. The fit was cool, not just because it was worn by Hailey Bieber, but because it was a modest and more androgynous iteration of sensuality.
All this loosening up isn’t exactly surprising. After all, fashion is cyclical. Before this ‘80s style resurgence, however, many would argue that typical suiting conventions were over. The everyday use of the necktie died a long time ago, and there lacked a singular way of tailoring that felt mass. For a period of time, we dared say suiting up was passé and even stuffy. Even with the viral office siren aesthetic, the takes on 9-to-5 garments surrounded suggestively unbuttoned shirts, skin-tight pencil skirts, and semi-sheer turtlenecks.
Bieber’s baggy tailoring teleports us back to the ’80s, when suits were just as cool as the women who wore them. At the time, the pre-war economy was booming, and the women who wanted in were more-than dressing the part. Designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Theirry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier, and most notably Giorgio Armani, responded to the shift by crafting womenswear suits that wore like armour. The aim was to make the corporate woman loom larger than she was. So, shoulders were broad and padded, and double-breasted silhouettes were adopted to make the wearer look even more imposing. That isn’t to say the look was a sloppy adaptation of a menswear version; fabrication, levels of ornamentation, and bold colours differentiated a woman’s suit. It was a time when designers knew how to dress a woman.
Bieber’s look was only the most prolific example for this marked resurgence. At a special screening of Netflix film His Three Daughters in August, Elizabeth Olsen slipped into a two-piece suit. The set featured a double-breasted jacket and pleated wide-legged trousers. It was a major power flex for Olsen, who pulled the suit from The Row, the stealthy label founded and headed by her big sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Similarly, at a Dune: Part Two promotional event earlier this year, Zendaya took to the photocall in a Roksanda blazer with exaggerated, statement shoulders. The actress was at once classy and nonchalant, styling the blazer with matching dress pants that were layered underneath a knee-length skirt. In typical Zendaya fashion, the outfit was, of course, rounded out with sky-high Louboutins.
So, ladies, the power suit is back and dare we say it has never looked more at ease?
