SS27 Welcomed the High-Society Socialite
Swapping last season’s mess and chaos for polished prep, ‘Gossip Girl’ fits and clothes that look like they came with a trust fund.
While the world seems firmly set in an “eat the rich” mood, the Spring/Summer 2027 runways opted for more of a “feed the rich” approach. Across the fashion capitals, designers looked to aristocracy, Upper East Side prep and the wardrobes of high-society socialites, serving up a vision of wealth that felt less like stealth and more like a full-blown fantasy.
After several seasons of dressing down, SS27 marked a noticeable return to dressing up. The scruffy, chaotic energy that dominated last season’s runways, think dishevelled layers, distressed clothes and a general air of having just rolled out of bed, was replaced by polished silhouettes, ladylike accessories and clothes that looked designed for somewhere decidedly more exclusive than your local pub. Whether it’s a celebration of the upper class or something more satirical is to be determined.
At Simone Rocha, the fantasy was distinctly early-2000s Gossip Girl. Preppy staples were given Rocha’s romantic treatment, conjuring the image of a Blair Waldorf character heading from Constance Billard to a society event without ever changing her outfit. There was something nostalgic about the return to this particular vision of girlhood with sweater vests, polished styling and an unapologetic fascination with the rituals of the wealthy.
Elsewhere, Conner Ives leaned into the archetype of the New York rich kid, the kind of person who seems to have inherited an effortlessly cool wardrobe and a summer house upstate. The SS27 collection played with the codes of American privilege and prep, offering a wardrobe that felt intentionally conservative without losing the irreverence that’s become central to the designer’s work.
Emerging designer Gui Rosa took the idea even further and built her debut London Fashion Week collection around the spectacle of a chaotic debutante ball. The clothes appeared made for a particular kind of social calendar that includes champagne receptions, late-night dinners and events where being seen is half the point. The collection tapped into fashion’s enduring fascination with the wealthy as both characters and cultural currency. This was a very specific fantasy of high society.
For Gucci, the “rich girl” fantasy was filtered through Demna’s complete personal vision for the house. In his show notes, the designer wrote that “Gucci stands for being rooted in the desire to belong to a more glamorous world, and in the audacity to make that world in your own image.” His Gucci is inherently aspirational, presenting imagined worlds that tap into our ideas of luxury and our desire to be part of them. Models arrived in riding outfits inspired by polo matches, alongside tweed suits, trench coats and obnoxiously oversized sunglasses, each look conjuring a different facet of the ultra-wealthy lifestyle. It was less about quietly suggesting money and more about putting the fantasy of it on full display, a glimpse into how the other side lives (or at least how fashion wants us to imagine they do).
What makes the trend particularly interesting is its timing. This isn’t the first time fashion has become obsessed with wealth, but it arrives at a moment when public sentiment towards the ultra-rich feels increasingly hostile. The cultural mood has been defined by cost-of-living crises, wealth inequality and a growing suspicion of billionaire culture. So why are designers suddenly asking us to dress like we have a family estate?
Perhaps the answer lies in the difference between wanting to be rich and wanting to look rich. Fashion has always offered a form of escapism, and the SS27 runways seemed less interested in realistically recreating aristocratic life than in selling its fantasy. The socialite becomes a character, the private school uniform becomes a costume, the country club becomes a setting.
There’s also an element of satire at play. Dressing like the one percent doesn’t necessarily mean aspiring to become them. In the same way that Gossip Girl turned wealth into entertainment, making the excess, drama and absurdity of Manhattan’s elite endlessly watchable, SS27’s rich girl is as much a cultural archetype as she is a fashion one. Whether the season’s obsession with wealth is celebration, critique or simply escapism remains to be seen.
