The New York Canon. Michael Kors AW24

When Michael Kors comes to work, he really delivers. His autumn-winter 2024 collection is one of his best in years. It’s a real, consistent, and absolutely convincing proposition of how women can dress in 2024, without the ridiculous “quiet luxury” or “power dressing” labels. From the opening skirt-suit to the closing eveningwear, kept in all-black, real power oozed from these looks. All that confidence weaved into these clothes came from a very personal belonging, a black-and-white photo of Kors’ grandparents on their wedding day. “I was always absolutely enraptured with how my grandmother looked in her dress,” the designer said. “There was such simplicity to it, so chic. It’s the height of the ’30s. When my mom passed away over the summer, we were going through everything, and all of a sudden I saw this garment bag, and I opened it up and there it was. It’s the ultimate sleeping beauty story.” The dress was a two-fer, with a modest tunic over a “sensuous, sinewy” bias-cut number, the latter of which proved inspirational. “I started thinking about what endures,” Kors said. On the mood board, his grandmother was surrounded by women of other generations in bias-cut slips: Carole Lombard, Elizabeth Taylor, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell. And for a counterpoint, there was tailoring of the Katharine Hepburn and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy school: strong yet feminine, with sharp shoulders and sculpted waists in Prince of Wales checks, herringbones, and camels. Kors is at his best reworking polished New York classics like this. He doesn’t just know the American sportswear canon, he’s helped shape it these last 40 years. And it shows this season.