It happened on a gray day in February in Paris.
Sienna Miller wore an oversized black leather jacket, a lacy silk chemise, and chunky heels. Around her, women wore crocheted skirts, some clutching large, worn leather bags, many wrapped in beige suede. No, this wasn’t February 2005; it was earlier this year, when the boho-chic army gathered outside the Chloé show.
Inside, incoming creative director Chemena Kamali rang the hippie gong. Backed by Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting, her debut collection was a wave of Seventies-inspired, flowing, ruffled chiffon dresses in every shade of ice blue and brown. These were paired with jingling gold necklaces, cashmere capes, over-the-knee leather boots, white lace trims and Jane Birkin bell-bottom jeans.
It flew. “Kamali’s debut for Chloé is what cemented boho’s commercial comeback,” said trend forecaster WGSN. Miller managed to trigger a chain reaction that saw Kate Moss and the Olsen twins’ 2000s look (stolen from pin-ups Anita Pallenberg, Stevie Nicks and others) resurrected from the festival costume box coffin and repackaged as this season’s most influential trend.
Miller chimed in over the summer by rehashing some of the Chloé looks Kamali wore during the Horizon: An American Saga press tour for an M&S collaboration near the Haight-Ashbury in June. “I think everyone looks great,” she told the press at the time. [new] “Going boho was a big thing at the time. The designer tracksuits and little glasses of the 90s and early 2000s. I think people look good with floaty things, I really do.”
There was no shortage of celebrity support either. Daisy Edgar-Jones’s chic Twisters tour included a handful of bohemian moments styled by Chloé, and other fans joined Jennifer Lopez, Greta Gerwig, Suki Waterhouse and—at the Democratic National Convention—even Kamala Harris. OK, hers was a suit: but it was by Kamali, and by the end of August, the brand and bohemian felt as synonymous as they did when Phoebe Philo was at the helm (back in the heady days of 2001 to 2006).
Then came the royal seal of approval. The Princess of Wales released a sepia-toned short film of herself exploring forests in flowing dresses as she announced to the world that she’s cancer-free. A Veronica Beard linen-print dress in particular has been a big hit. A spokesperson at Lyst confirmed that the trend has seen a “notable increase” since the film’s release this month. Searches for “Veronica Beard dresses” are up 63%, while searches for bohemian ones are up 86% this quarter.
How can we achieve this?
To wear the look—historically a spring/summer favorite—it’s easy to consider typical basics and then add a few layers. “It’s all in the fabrics and accessories,” says Kate Benson, buying director at Net-A-Porter. “Leather jackets, knits, and over-the-knee boots will pair well with a fun chiffon dress for the summer, while a ruffled blouse will work just as well with wide-leg jeans and a wool jacket as it does with denim shorts. For fall/winter, finish your look with suede fabrics and focus on rich seasonal colorways like chocolate brown and burgundy.”
You won’t have any trouble finding the stuff on the high street. John Lewis, in particular, has doubled down on its offering. “At John Lewis, we are at the forefront of upcoming trend forecasts, so it was important to add ruffles and flowing fabrics to our AW24 collections that encapsulate the effortless bohemian look,” explains design director Queralt Ferrer. “The peach ruffled dress, due out in mid-October, is a definite bestseller, while Ferrer recommends checking out the new suede range, which ranges from a fringed jacket (£249) to a trench coat (£399) and midi skirt (£199).
M&S will be launching a moss-green, tiered chiffon Per Una dress for £89 in October; Free People, which describes itself as “the go-to place for bohemian fashion and unique clothing”, has everything from chunky cardigans to white tiered linen skirts that you can wear all year round, which you can now pair with cowboy boots and, when the inevitably frosty weather arrives, with heavy-buckled biker boots. Mango has an extensive selection of poet blouses (one eye-catching piece is snake-print, £109), while Charlotte Simone is the go-to stop for fuzzy Mongolian lambswool coats worn by Lila Moss, Charli XCX and Dua Lipa at Portobello Market, west London.
For many Gen Zers, who are too young to remember the mid-2000s, the movement has sent them back to the fashion history books. There are more than 200,000 videos on TikTok with the hashtag #bohostyle, while influencer Parisa Louvel (@badkidhq, with 203,000 followers on Instagram) has seen a surge in interest in her mix-and-match outfits. “Boho chic is back, and people are rediscovering Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the ringleaders of the early 2000s,” she says. “Everyone is buying second-hand, and boho is easy for that.” As for her top style tips: “The less you look like you’ve tried on, the better. Also, lots of bracelets and rings—you want to sound like a band when you walk in. Big glasses are a must, and so is messy hair.”
Those in their teens and early 20s who delve into the archives will encounter era-defining shows by Matthew Williamson, who pioneered bohemian luxury in Moss and Miller’s era.
“Enough time has passed since the 2000s that it feels fresh again,” says Miller, now an interior designer. For anyone trying to achieve the look, “vintage would be a good place to start. Think hard and soft together, like leather and lace, or classic textures like sheepskin and leopard print.” As for its appeal, she says, “Bohemian clothing evokes a very seductive, relaxed attitude and lifestyle—my friend Sienna Miller has always had this style, and I’m not surprised her looks are so desirable.”
What’s next? “The boho trend is going to evolve and become darker and dirtier,” says Jessica Seddon, senior strategist at WGSN. “We’re seeing witchy and gothic trends emerge, and those aesthetics are rooted in boho.” Sienna’s ghost? Oh well, we’ve got Halloween covered.