Fashion’s fresh heritage labels

Last season’s Versace collection, for which Donatella Versace revived the bold, brash prints made famous by her late brother, Gianni, in the 1990s, was an instant success, striking a chord with young customers who hadn’t experienced them the first time around. Versace continued to allude to the house’s playful heritage for fall, this time with a new batch of strikingly vibrant patterns. Tartans mixed with florals mixed with Medusa heads covered the models from head scarf to toe. Indeed, at times, the styling was uncharacteristically modest—a clever foil for the eye-catching prints.

The Vela, a sleek, utilitarian backpack crafted from durable, water-resistant Pocono nylon, became an instant hit when Miuccia Prada introduced it in 1984. More than three decades later, the military-grade material still feels inherently modern—futuristic, in fact, as evidenced by Prada’s fall collection. Her sporty sci-fi lineup included an assortment of nylon looks—think corsets, skirts, and padded coats—many featuring the original triangle plate logo. Prada’s clothes came across as strong, practical, and daring—just like her fans.

Coco Chanel’s affair in the 1920s with the second Duke of Westminster, England’s richest man at the time, resulted in more than just wagging tongues. It was after Chanel borrowed his fishing and hunting attire, made from Scottish carded wool, that her signature tweed fabric and, subsequently, the loosely structured Chanel jacket—was born. During his multidecade tenure at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld has reimagined the tweed jacket every which way, but for fall he returned to its intrinsically haute-bourgeois roots, sending out refined suits with matching bags and strings of pearls—a look that’s iconically Coco.

Last season, Miuccia Prada brought back the durable, water-resistant Pocono nylon that has been a staple of the brand since it was introduced it in 1984. (In fact, almost every look in Prada’s Spring 2018 show included a variation of the brand’s iconic nylon bag—whether a backpack, bum bag, or shoulder bag.) And Prada isn’t the only brand looking back.

At Versace, Donatella Versace resuscitated the bold, brash prints made famous by her late brother, Gianni, in the 1990s. Meanwhile, Dior reissued the iconic Saddle bag, which was introduced in Dior’s spring 2000 collection, in an array of materials, ranging from beaded and patchwork variations to the classic Dior-logo canvas for fall.