Sandy Liang Marks A Decade Of Endless Girlhood for Fall 2024

Brooke Frischer

11 February 2024 at 4:55 pm·5-min read

"Secretly, you'd love to know what it's like — wouldn't you? What it feels like for a girl."

These heart-piercing lyrics to Madonna's 2000 song about the double standard women face, for presenting feminine in any way, opened Sandy Liang's Fall 2024 runway show Sunday. A song so classic and relatable to every woman who's ever not been taken seriously for simply...being a girl.

"It's hard to find the songs that feel right. But they always evoke a '90s or 2000s kind of vibe, without being too on the nose," Liang explained to Fashionista. "There's always a sadness underneath the songs, which I love. I choose songs that make me feel emotional."

Liang further expanded upon Madonna's feelings for her 10-year anniversary show, continuing to amplify her brand's message that it's okay to be girly. Even more so, Liang argues we should all be embracing our inner regality. (In her show notes, Liang says the collection "follows a schoolgirl who grows up to be a princess.") Building upon the designer's love affair with the mini skirts and mesh styles that featured prominently in past seasons, Liang is now offering her fanbase a more conservative, more grown-up approach to that same addictive feminine energy for which we've come to love her.

"I was really nervous to be showing a collection that is less decorative. I was worried about people being like, 'Is it just a matching jacket and skirt?' Because for me, that's what I'm excited about right now," said Liang. "I am acknowledging that this looks different from before and I'm really excited about that."

<em>Sandy Liang Fall 2024.</em><p>Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight</p> — *Sandy Liang Fall 2024.*
Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Though some of the more playful elements seen in past Liang collections — like princess-y puff sleeves, smocked tunic tops and literal rose motifs wrapped around scuba mini dresses — are absent from this season's lineup, sparkles of sweetness are still seen through subtle gray rosettes on a monochromatic tracksuit, thin ribbons tied neatly into bows on the cuffs (and back) of a cherry-red power suit and miniature star-shaped silver bags, too small to carry more than a lipstick and some pocket change, but bold enough to demand compliments from anyone nearby.

Even without oversized, voluminous bows, Liang's attention to detail is one of the many attributes that make her such an intriguing designer. Typically, phone-wielding showgoers will stop recording just after a model's cheek escapes the frame — but not at Sandy Liang. Here, the back of a look is just as significant as the front. A seemingly simple blazer head-on suddenly shoots to the top of a working woman's fashion wishlist when a svelte ribbon is revealed at the back, taking the shape of — you guessed it— a bow.

Sandy Liang Fall 2024.<p>Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight</p> — Sandy Liang Fall 2024.
Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

"I love the back. I feel like my favorite part of a lot of dressing is when the woman turns around and then you see something (exciting)," Liang said. "It's not in your face and I love that. All the beauty and magic is in special little details and the tiny little bows."

Ten years into empowering people to go back to the aesthetics they loved in childhood and reclaim emblems that may have been associated with weakness or inferiority, Liang is continuing to prove that, no matter how old you are, it's okay to wear clothing you like. After all, it's your life.

"Regardless of what age I am, I always gravitate toward certain things from my childhood," the now-32-year-old said. "There's no formula behind it. I think it's just going to change as I get older and I'm excited to see what it's going to look like another 10 years from now. I just really like making clothes."

Keep scrolling to see every look from Sandy Liang Fall 2024.