This season’s skirt trend is not all about ornamentation, as seen in The Row’s column skirt, which distills the season’s mood into an elegant, narrow shape. The long, lean line elongates the figure, making it sophisticated rather than overworked.
The shape is not limited to one label, with Marc Jacobs and Tod’s also featuring column skirts that recall the body-skimming silhouettes of the early 2000s. This suggests that the column skirt is part of a wider fitted, early-2000s reference rather than a standalone idea.
The Column Skirt’s Versatility
The column skirt is also appearing in tailoring, with Tom Ford pairing a collarless utility jacket with a sleek pencil skirt cinched with a belt. This is an example of the season’s return to coordinated skirt sets.
The column skirt is not new, and it may be handed over to a fuller shape, as seen in Khaite’s full midi skirts, which appear to pick up where last year’s column-skirt trend left off. This matters for buyers, who should weigh both the column and fuller shapes in their assortments.
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Street Style and Practicality
Street style has helped build the look, with a suede column skirt from The Row being worn with a turtleneck in Paris. The styling advice around it is practical, with petite frames able to balance the long length with a heel or adjustments by a tailor.
Length and proportion are key to the column skirt’s success or failure with consumers, making fit and finishing a point of difference for brands. The global conversation around the column skirt is about restraint, with The Row’s long, narrow line valued for what it leaves out.
Indian Interpretations
A column skirt runs straight from waist to hem, giving designers room to work.
AFEW, the contemporary line from Rahul Mishra, offers a Slim-Fit Column Skirt with Floral Print and Appliqué, among 69 styles, all with India as the country of origin. The brand positions the collection as moving from brunch to elegant eveningwear, with the column skirt as a daytime-to-evening piece with decoration.
Sage by Mala offers structured midi skirts in sizes XS to 5XL, explicit that its clothes are neither ethnic nor fusion.
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Couture and Craft
Couture treats the shape differently, with Rianta’s dedicated Column Skirts section featuring eight pieces, including the Bijou Skirt Set, which is a fitted skirt in mint green satin jacquard, hand embroidered with pearls, cutdana, sequins, and stones.
Duchess Kumari, a luxury label, has similarly pitched its festive collections around quiet luxury and modern ease, with JODI building its pieces on hand block-printed Mashru silk. What emerges is a market in which the column is being claimed twice, with the common thread being craft.
Couture Approaches to Column Skirts
Rianta’s Bijou Skirt Set is a fitted skirt with hand embroidery and sold with a structured blouse and feathered cape. Delivery takes eight to ten weeks.
Duchess Kumari and JODI also feature column skirts with a focus on craft and luxury.