Let’s Get This Party Started

’Tis the season for capsule collections focused on women’s partywear designed for fancy holiday gatherings. The assortments typically include items such as glamorous mini-dresses, slinky floor-length gowns, flowy slacks, fashion-forward sweaters and jackets, spike heels, tuxedo suits, and clutches. They are made from materials such as silk, faux fur, satin, metallics, animal prints, sheer fabrics, and velvet, and are often embellished with feathers, beading, sequins, crystals, and the like. Some examples from this year’s crop include: 

• Supermodel Kate Moss’s 40-piece collection for Zara, which includes accessories and shoes as well as dresses and other party-ready apparel items. All are inspired by the styles of the late 1980s and 1990s, as recalled from Moss’s archive of looks over the years. The collection launched on November 30. 

• British singer Rita Ora’s partywear drop, which debuted in mid-November, marking the second annual partywear capsule under the umbrella of Ora’s ongoing relationship with Primark. The largely burgundy-hued range offers several items, with an affordable and inclusively sized black corset tie-back dress generating particular attention. 

• Stylist and designer Sarah Corbett Winder’s partywear partnership with fashion label and retailer Monsoon, launched in early November. The limited-edition luxury range of “forever pieces” includes five main apparel items, ranging from a chocolate-brown, sequined tuxedo-inspired suit to an olive-green velvet jumpsuit with a big removable bow, as well as accessories. 

• Irish fashion influencer Carol Byrne’s holiday party collection with Very, an online retailer in the U.K. and Ireland. This 34-piece affordable-but-glamorous range, a collaboration with the platform’s in-house V by Very brand, represents Byrne’s second capsule with Very and dropped in early November.

• Actress Sienna Miller’s pairing with British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) for a second collection that debuted on October 31, with the focus this time on partywear. The 35-piece assortment includes pieces inspired by dresses Miller has worn to high-profile parties throughout her career and has a Y2K-era feel, with one of the featured pieces being a tiger-print suit. 

• Rotate’s collection with H&M, which launched in mid-October in the retailer’s U.K. stores and pairs two Scandinavian brands: Rotate from Denmark and H&M from Sweden. The collaboration, the second for the two partners, takes its cues from the 1980s and is dominated by hues of burgundy, black, and white. Rotate was founded by two Danish influencers and is known for its premium partywear.

• Poppy Delevigne’s capsule with Veronica Beard, which launched in October. The socialite, model, and actress, a frequent party-goer, designed the 10-piece range of timeless pieces for parties at Christmas and throughout the year, with some meant to work for both parties and everyday wear. 

Partywear collaborations have become an annual phenomenon. Last year, for example, designer Anna October worked with J. Crew and socialite Lori Harvey paired with U.K. fast fashion e-commerce brand PrettyLittleThing, while in 2022 French-English fashion influencer and TV presenter Camille Charrière partnered with Mango, to name a few. 

While each program is unique, partywear collaborations, on balance, tend to be centered around celebrities; skew toward fast-fashion (with some exceptions in the luxury space); and take place outside the U.S., especially in the U.K. This may be due to the fact that U.S. consumers tend to be more casual in their partygoing attire. 

Lately, the collections have also been likely to highlight a retro sensibility, especially leaning in on styles of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. This is consistent with fashion trends in general, but also hearkens back to eras when consumers were more apt to dress to the nines when attending a holiday party. 

Raugust Communications’ last monthly e-newsletter of 2024 comes out next Tuesday, December 17. The Licensing Topic of the Month will take a look at the ramifications of the incoming Trump Administration’s promised tariffs and what companies are doing to address their potential implementation in the new year. The Datapoint research spotlight will delve into licensing in the protein/energy/nutrition food and beverage segment. If you are not yet a subscriber, you can sign up here. 

Also on Tuesday, we will be publishing our wrap-up of the top licensing trends of the year. A link will be provided in next Thursday’s post in RaugustReports.