Lou Dallas Returns to New York Fashion Week with Autumn/Winter 2024 Collection

With whimsy and delight, clothing brand Lou Dallas returns to New York Fashion Week after a three year hiatus with their Autumn/Winter 2024 fashion collection. The designer presents playful layered pieces that feel artfully Western and seasonally interchangeable, a perfect fit for the runway at Joseph Carini Carpets in TriBeCa.

If there’s one thing the “cool girls” of the latest young generation are wearing in the city, it might just be designer brand Lou Dallas – and if there’s a million different aspects that make a clothing piece something special which that same cool crowd will then pick from their closet on repeat, Lou Dallas’ new Autumn/Winter 2024 had all of them. Ripped tights, Western elements, meticulously patched fabrics, as many layers as a six-tier wedding cake, and mind-numbing pattern combinations form the iconic backbone signatures of the Lou Dallas identity, designed by New York City native Raffaella Hanley. The brand is a rising star in New York’s artistic and fashionable scene for its whimsical ruffles, flirty fringe, and gritty fishnets twirled together in each look for a manic dance between ballet, Western, and grunge that somehow just…works. As the line proudly proclaims of itself, Lou Dallas is “a character composed in a clothing line,” and just possibly could simply be one of our new favourite characters in the storybook of emerging fashion.

The designer’s Autumn/Winter 2024 collection sees trending rosette accents splashed with painterly palettes, bold fishnet stockings in every iteration, colourful tights in platform heels, flapping fringe details, and trompe l’oeil layered tops that made the audience look twice. Models walked elegantly in the carpet shop, which is renowned in TriBeCa for its eccentric and luxurious widespread offering of Turkish rugs and upholstered tapestries, but each look felt it deserved an eternity to drink in the endless details sewn into it. Brilliant optical illusions of single tops that appeared as multiple layers and electric styling choices that seemed to melt one garment into another came together for a collection that felt inherently cohesive despite a Technicolor whirlwind of tones, patterns, and textures as one. If you’ve ever wondered exactly what the intersection of “saloon chic,” “coquette circus,” and “dystopian grandmother” might look like, you just may finally have your answer. 

It’s no surprise the brand’s new collection has been wildly positively received by its audience of up-and-coming fashion elite – as the world emerges from a dark period, people are finally starting to have fun and come alive again. It’s time that fashionistas are looking to inject a carefree attitude and dabble with the unexpected, and Lou Dallas hits the perfect notes for that sense of achievable everyday whimsy. The Lou Dallas girl isn’t trying too hard…she is simply wearing what she loves. She isn’t blindly following trends; she’s setting them and serving as the moodboard. She doesn’t feel boxed into one style; she can authentically be everything all at once, and look effortlessly good while doing it. 

Crushed baroque velvets, sheer floral chiffons, dainty deadstock lace, silver-dollar buttons, fur car coats, and unexpected cuts inject just as much personality into each look in the collection as those wearing it are sure to have. Turning deadstock fabrics into looks to die for, Rafaella Hanley is a master of repurposing and upcycled creative vision that adds an eco-friendly sustainability note to nouveau luxury. With a range of lengths and silhouettes on offer, the showcase certainly has something to speak to the soul of every individual exploratory style lover, no matter her character or where the day takes her. Lou Dallas certainly knows how to make a splash and get the crowd talking upon a return from a long hiatus, and we can’t wait to see what’s next from designer Raffaella Hanley as she takes both the “It girl” circle and the entire industry by storm.

Lou Dallas is a creative brand heavily influenced by a cross-genre of music mashed up to create a fashion mixtape. Designer Raffaella Hanley marries materials with bold pattern variations to land on an unexpected gracefulness with an bit of grit throughout the line. This season features a captivating fusion of country charm and a rebellious edge – the overall philosophy is a true fashion fantasy. Lou Dallas’ cult is one of wild abandon, and each look takes you into the designer’s creative space, immersing the audience in the Lou Dallas abstract. Their customer is bold, unapologetic, and dreamy. The brand was born in New York City, and its name comes as a combination of the gender-ambiguous name Lou and the character Korben Dallas played by Bruce Willis in “The Fifth Element” film. Raffaella Hanley has worked passionately with creative fashion design since childhood, later studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and launching the brand.

_{Writer: Laur Weeks @laur.weeks}

_{Designer: Lou Dallas @lou_dallas}

_{PR: Purple PR @purplepr}

_{Photography: Darian DiCianno, Courtesy of PR}

_{Styling: Stella Greenspan}

_{Makeup: Kuma}

_{Hair: Tina Outen}

_{Production: Morrison Group}

_{Music: Ben Brunnemer}

_{Audio Production: Jim Toth}