Embrace the summer of retro

Jelly shoes, crochet bags, terry towelling two-pieces? As temperatures finally start to rise, the mood of this summer appears to be retro, bringing with it all the nostalgia of a rediscovered Polaroid. 

The tone was set last September at The Row’s pre-fall 2024 runway collection in Paris, when models on the catwalk wore colourful jelly shoes, a cheap-and-cheerful PVC staple of 1980s and ’90s summers. The Mara shoes, which came in four colours, appear to be out of stock everywhere, even at a blister-inducing £860. That’s good news for other brands that also decided to go down the jelly route.

Between the beginning of May and the first week of June, Ancient Greek Sandals sold more than 2,500 pairs of its jellies (from £85; ancientgreeksandals.com). The Athens-based brand’s Iro and Elli ballerina styles are based on designs from the 1950s by the grandfather of co-founder Nikolas Minoglou. “We found the mould and knew if we did them in a rainbow of colours they’d be popular,” says co-founder and creative director Christina Martini. “But we didn’t bet on them becoming the shoe of the season.”

While The Row used jellies on the catwalk as a counterpoint to its typically nun-like ensembles, it is perfectly possible this season to go full-look retro, packing your suitcase with nothing but sartorial flashbacks to hazy summers gone by. “The SS24 collections were steeped in nostalgia, with so many brands injecting playful pops of colour and returns to fabrications like terry towelling and crochet knits,” says Libby Page, market director at Net-a-Porter.

Miu Miu has leaned into crochet this season with logo bags, Mary Janes and an assortment of headwear in bright stripes with a homespun feel. With the smallest bag priced at £720, you might, like craft influencer @bygalk, be tempted to take up the needles yourself. A video she posted on Instagram in May, showing how she made a Miu Miu-inspired bag, has so far clocked up 2.5mn plays. 

Page says that the retro trend is a progression from the 1990s way of dressing that has been prominent for so long — the sun-drunk cousin to the decade’s quiet minimalism. “It’s the much less referenced and more playful aspect of the ’90s, which is often where we find ourselves for summer — having more fun with our style.”

On that note, terry towelling has shaken off its sandy associations and sneaked into the beach-club after-party. Even glamorous brands such as Zimmermann and 16Arlington are using the looped cotton fabric in cute and sleek dresses that would work for Ibizan sundowners.

Part of towelling’s appeal is driven by TikTok’s trending tennis-core and country club-core aesthetic, sustained by the release in April of the movie Challengers. “We’ve seen how luxury brands such as Celine and Miu Miu are reinventing what ‘preppy style’ means in this sports context for new generations of consumers,” says Simar Deol, foresight analyst at The Future Laboratory, a trend forecasting platform.

But it’s not all about candy-coloured teenage tennis dreams. At British womenswear brand Me+Em, the appeal of using cotton-made fabrics such as terry, seersucker, crochet and cheesecloth on dresses, and co-ordinating separates, comes primarily from their functionality. “Our customers are busy women and part of the popularity of these fabrics comes from how easy they are to wear and care for,” says founder and CEO Clare Hornby.

While the fabric choices nod to the nostalgia and romance of the 1970s, silhouettes and colours are kept modern and clean. “We’re able to avoid creating too retro a feel, which shifts these fabrics — which have the potential to feel more trend-led — into timeless pieces,” Hornby says. In Me+Em’s East Hampton store, which opened in May, the navy towelling polo and wide leg crop trouser have, so far, been its bestselling pieces.

For a brand like the Paris-based Tressé, capturing the romance of summers gone by is the whole point. Each month, it releases a “suitcase” of clothing and homewares inspired by memories of a dreamy holiday. Its current destination is Italy, celebrating a mid-century la dolce vita feel, with vibrantly printed raffia-trimmed cotton co-ords, a crochet-edged maxi dress, cutwork shirts and denim cut-offs with an embroidered logo that speaks of retro gelato stands.

In August, it will be Jamaica. “The collections bear the imprint of a ‘postcard’ spirit,” says co-founder Ketzia Chétrite. “Memories of our travels — the places that matter to us, those that have marked us. Because now, more than ever, so many of us need that feeling of escapism.” This summer, a trip back in time might be just the ticket.

Find out about our latest stories first — follow @financialtimesfashion on Instagram — and subscribe to our podcast Life & Art wherever you listen