Harvey Nichols Leeds exclusive: See the spring/summer 2024 fashion show for the top SS24 trends

A decade ago, Harvey Nichols Leeds in-store fashion shows were legendary among the county’s fashionistas, but presentations featuring a team of models are costly to produce, and there has been a pandemic to deal with, so they were halted for a full eight years. Until, that is, earlier this month, when the Fourth Floor Restaurant became a catwalk once again to showcase the spring/summer collections before an audience of delighted diners, many of them regular Personal Shopping customers of the store.

When Harvey Nichols Leeds opened in the Victoria Quarter in 1996, it was the first branch to launch outside London, research at the time identifying Leeds as having a high quota of high net worth folks within a 40-mile radius, with the so-called Golden Triangle of Harrogate, York and North Leeds of particular interest.

Harvey Nichols London was founded in 1831 when Benjamin Harvey opened a linen shop on the corner of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street. When he died in 1850, he left the business to his wife, Anne, who went into partnership with James Nichols, already a manager at the store. In 1880, the current Harvey Nichols store was built at 109-125 Knightsbridge.

Now Harvey Nichols has five large stores in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, and two smaller ones in Bristol and Dublin. Overseas, there are stories in Riyadh, Dubai, Hong Kong, Doha Festival City and Kuwait.

Back in Leeds, Sidonie Jago, group head of private shopping for Harvey Nichols, hosted the fashion show and said that she and the team were excited to see such a showcase back in action.

“We feel it represents the return of dressing for joy and having fun with fashion,” she said. “Our clients enjoyed a three-course meal while they watched the show. It’s been a strange few years with fashion and events post-Covid, so we are thrilled to relaunch our seasonal fashion shows and hopefully inspire our clients with their wardrobes.”

The SS24 showcase was divided into six themes: Subtle Tones, Those Floral Scents, Transitional Outerwear, The Monochromatic, Put the T in Tailoring, and For the Love of Rouge. Sidonie picked out for us some of her own favourite season trends. “Spring/summer is always a time for colour, co-ords and floral, which we have seen in modern and interesting fabrication and silhouettes,” she said. “My favourite trend is florals, but rather than a traditional print, we have some designers using floral applique on the items, which creates a hand-made and playful quality, seen on designs by Zimmerman and Magda Butrym.”

The Personal Shopping department helps customers identify what they love, what works, and how to wear it in style. Clients book an appointment in advance to allow the personal shopper to prepare a personalised fitting room. “Personal Shopping at Harvey Nichols is for those who want that extra curation with their wardrobe,” Sidonie said. “Over the years Harvey Nichols has always had great relationships with clients and supported them with their shopping, more in a facilitator capacity.

"Nowadays, clients want to be styled and have outfits put together for them. This is something we have seen become more popular, hence why we offer seasonal wardrobe update appointments in-store, where you can try on items from all areas, ie, denim, outerwear, shoes, bags and more.”

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Make-up at the SS24 show was by Charlotte Tilbury, while the hair was created by the team at Russell Eaton in Leeds, headed by Robert Eaton, who said that clean and simple were the watchwords for the night.

““Less is often more and with such strong looks shown within the fashion, we wanted a more stepped-back look,” he said. “We worked with a sleek wet-to-dry ponytail, showing a contrast in textures on a classic shape that is relatable to most people.

“We also created a look working with incredible natural texture.The men’s shapes were classically groomed and tailored but with a softer feel, and we created a flat wave on one of the male models that enhanced his texture.”

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Brands etsablish and new featured at the event included Stella McCartney, Jimmy Choo, Forte_Forte, Rohe, Vince, Jacquemus, Rag & Bone, Khaite, Zimmerman, Louisa Ballou, Zadig & Voltaire, Fendi, Dries Van Noten, Ami, Bytimo, Acne Studios, Courreges, Rabanne, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Citizens of Humanity, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Simone Rocha, Lanvin, Alice & Olivia and Max & Co, new to Harvey Nichols Leeds and a sister label to Max Mara and Marina Rinaldi.

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In terms of trends, as well as much crafted texture, there was volume, something we perhaps saw a little too much of at the recent Oscars ceremony, with ridiculously voluminous, billowing and puffed-up gowns taking up far more room than was fair among guest seating. But here, the Simone Rocha silver mini dress is undeniably cute, and labels such as Stella McCartney handles volume shoulders with elegance and charm. Red is a surprise spring and summer colour, as is black, white and metallics less surprising, and tailored looks continue to strengthen for men and women.

Meanwhile, for the summer’s special occasions, Sidonie has her eye on a Dolce & Gabbana pink lace gown. “I love the elegant fit and can imagine wearing it to a summer British wedding paired with Christian Louboutin pink heels, and a gorgeous Magda Burtym bag.”

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