Vogue Polska
The Most Beautiful White Dresses from Fashion Houses for the Spring-Summer 2024 Season
By Marcin Różyc
A white dress is perhaps the oldest and most diversely interpreted garment in history. There has never been an era, year, or season in which it did not appear in art or on the runway. The possibilities for interpreting the white dress are endless. But what role does it play in this year’s spring collections?
In modern Europe, a white dress is primarily associated with weddings and as the opposite of mourning, but this has not always been the case. In the Middle Ages, queens mourned their husbands by wearing white robes. The personification of Poland, Polonia, in Jacek Malczewski’s painting, wears a white dress, while in Jan Matejko’s work, it is Ruthenia that dons white garments. Participants in Afro-Brazilian Candomblé rituals also wear white dresses. In the Yoruba tradition, the god Obàtálá, lord of white robes, is said to have created the other deities.
This year, designers present their own interpretations and symbolism of the white dress in their spring collections.
White creations by Salim Azzam originate from a world that, while different, is not entirely distant. Azzam, a Druze designer fascinated by the culture of Druze women, draws inspiration from his own heritage. The Druze are a closely-knit religious and ethnic community with roots in Islam, residing in regions such as the Lebanese mountain range—Azzam’s homeland.
His white dress designs reference classic European shirts. Though they boldly reveal parts of the body, their simplicity echoes the traditional, austere garments worn by Druze women, who typically cover themselves in black robes and conceal their necks and heads beneath white veils.
Azzam’s latest creation is an elongated, cinched-waist white shirt dress with rounded sleeves. Its inspiration could just as easily come from the garments worn by Polish princes during the reign of John III Sobieski, designed to appeal to Western European tastes. The dress features a collar fastened with an embroidered flower.
For the runway presentation, Salim Azzam draped his model under an embroidered lace parasol, reminiscent of the bridal parasol carried by his cousin, Hana, on her wedding day. The bride herself, along with artisans Hana and Jaumana, handcrafted the entire ensemble. The look is completed with a floor-length, lace-like white veil, adding an ethereal touch to Azzam’s intricate vision.