The Best Fall 2024 Boot Trends, From Thigh-High To Western

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Cooler weather has finally arrived, which means it’s the perfect time to ready your seasonal wardrobe with some of the hottest trends for the season. Our bodies will shortly get swathed in fall jackets, cozy sweaters, and wide-leg jeans, but our feet are already crying out for trendy sneakers, chunky loafers, and cute boots for autumn.

The biggest shoe trends for Fall/Winter 2024 are about as comfort-focused as we’ve ever seen, with perennial favorites like cowboy and over-the-knee boots making a major resurgence. There are also super-soft materials in the mix this season, like trending suede and shearling. 

Ahead, peep the best fall boots to slip into. We’ve rounded up a mix of everyday styles (for work and casual autumn activities) and occasion-specific footwear (for date nights and holiday parties). Whether you’re a comfort connoisseur who needs a slip-on shoe for errands or someone who wouldn’t be caught wearing a flat sole, there’s a new boot with your name on it to help you start the season on the right foot.

Thigh-High Boots

Over-the-knee boots are a given in any fall shoe roundup. Taylor Swift has only cemented their eternal popularity, recently wearing burgundy Giuseppe Zanotti Frannie High Boots to a football game. Thigh-high boots make any outfit seasonally-appropriate, especially if you really show them off with on-trend bubble skirt dresses or comfy leggings. Look out for classic suede, trendy denim, and dramatic patent leather styles, as well as ones with low kitten heels and sky-high stiletto heels.

Suede Boots

Suede boots will also always be a fall fashion must-have, and they’re already everywhere you look. You can find these luxe-looking shoes at nearly every footwear retailer, especially in knee-high form (especially with popular kitten heels) — though you can also find block-heel booties and flat ankle boots for more casual fall ‘fits.

Western Boots

Buckle up as we ride off into fall with the Western trend. Thanks to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter, Bella Hadid’s adorable equestrian romance, and Kacey Musgraves’ new horse-girl inspired Reformation collaboration, cowboy boots — which have been back — are showing no sign of dosey-doeing away. From tried-and-true leather knee-high styles to kitschy metallic ankle-grazing ones, Western boots can be as “yeehaw” or as fashion-forward as your heart desires.

Animal Print Boots

Much like leopard-print sneakers are proving to be extremely popular this fall, leopard-print boots are also coming for the footwear crown… as are every kind of animal-print boot, for that matter. From zebra-print boots popping up in fashion week street-style looks and textured snakeskin boots making a comeback, you can (and should) go wild with your footwear this season. Take it a step further by trying more obscure giraffe-print and cow-print boots (perfect for your cowgirl Halloween costume).

Furry Boots

Back in February, plush clothing made an impactful impression at the NYFW Fall/Winter 2024 shows, as did furry shoes. (The latter first gained traction in 2023, and continues strong for autumn.) Hop on the (definitely cute, possibly divisive) trend with a pair of cozy shearling booties for everyday activities or chic faux-fur stiletto boots for stylish parties.

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Designer Tolu Coker Is Preserving Culture Through Fashion

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Tolu Coker’s Spring/Summer 2025 show — titled “Olapeju,” which is the 30-year-old designer’s mother’s name in Yoruba and means “where wealth gathers” — closed with models dancing down the runway in party looks made from upcycled leather, cinched tailored blazers, and retro suits in prints that matched all the way down to the gloves and handbags. The venue had been done up to replicate the look of a British-Nigerian living room, equipped with couches, wallpaper projections and framed family photos. It felt homey, but festive: a celebration not just of how far the brand has come, but also of where it comes from, which still serves as its North Star.

Coker is one of London Fashion Week’s buzziest young designers, and this was her third runway collection. She made her London Fashion Week debut last September, and now shows in the British Fashion Council’s NewGen space, which has historically supported superstars (like Simone Rocha and Wales Bonner) in the early stages of their careers. Her eponymous brand has been worn by the likes of Ariana Grande, Tems and Maya Jama, bringing even more attention to her autobiographical designs, which are largely inspired by her British-Nigerian heritage and resilient immigrant community.

Coker pulls a lot from her mother’s wardrobe, specifically the pieces she wore in London when she moved from Lagos in the 1970s. (You can see that in the A-line skirts and mod dresses in Spring/Summer 2025.) 

“Like many people from different minority backgrounds, their stories aren’t written traditionally in history,” she tells Refinery29, of her mother and late father, who was also a pillar of her community. “I think through clothing, you can create this documentation of a time, both present and past, that will serve as some form of archive in years to come, to say: ‘We were here.’”

My relationship to clothing is in feeling a genuine connection — I think when people keep things for a long time it’s because of the sentimental value behind it.

TOLU COKER

Coker’s previous collections have explored her mother’s life as a hawker in Nigeria, as well as Yoruba spirituality across the African diaspora — with a throughline of sharp tailoring, bold colors, and styles that exist outside of trend cycles. She’s determined to not only create designs that sell, but tell the stories that matter. 

“I’m really about building out wardrobes that are trans-seasonal and have surpassed the brevity of trends,” she says. “My relationship to clothing is in feeling a genuine connection, and I think when people keep things for a long time it’s because of the sentimental value behind it.”

The way Coker infuses her heritage and family histories into her refined, highly-crafted tailoring puts her in the ranks of renowned British designers like Grace Wales Bonner and Priya Ahluwalia, who have built thriving brands with similar values and artistry. In January, Coker graced the cover of British Vogue alongside Ahluwalia and Torishéju Dumi, marking a historic moment for three Black female designers being celebrated for their work.

“I think when something like that happens, you feel like, wow, you’re actually having some sort of impact or contribution,” Coker says. “It is, in many ways, very validating. But it also feels like it’s not just for me: It’s for so many other people who’ve been on that journey with me as well.”

The brand’s sustainability efforts range from its conscious consumption mindset and presenting pieces as heirlooms to be reworn for decades, to incorporating deadstock fabrics and upcycled materials into each collection. Coker points out that this too has roots in her culture: “You know when you open a container that you think is an ice cream tub, but then it’s like, stew or rice or something? Yeah, we laugh at these as cultural nuances, but they’re also indicative of a way of life and a way of thinking.”

Countless practices celebrated in the West as being “eco-friendly” are actually the only options for many communities with fewer means or less access to resources. “When we look at the impact of textile waste, it’s the Global South that’s most affected by it. And we have a monopoly on conversations around sustainability, but we’re the last to be affected by its impact,” Coker says.

With another runway under its belt, the Tolu Coker brand has become synonymous with “hype”, and perhaps also “joy”, as it continues to shed light on the uplifting narratives within immigrant communities that are so often overlooked. After the designer and her mother walked hand in hand, and in tears, following the brand’s London show, there couldn’t have been a single soul that wasn’t touched. 

“It’s not just about my story or my mother’s story. It’s about human stories,” Coker says. “And I think everyone can see a piece of themselves in that and connect to what we’re creating.”

This article was originally published on Refinery29 UK.

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GU Is Uniqlo’s Sister Brand — & It’s Finally Available In The US

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Since 2006, Uniqlo’s sister fashion brand GU (pronounced as letters “g” and “u” and derived from the Japanese character for “freedom”) has been a shopping fixture in Japan thanks to its affordable range of on-trend styles and almost 450 stores. And while the label — part of Fast Retailing Group, which also owns Theory and Helmut Lang — previously had a stateside pop-up, today GU opened a flagship in New York and launched a US commerce site. This marks GU’s first permanent store outside of Asia and the first step in a global expansion that could make the brand as ubiquitous as its popular sister label.

According to GU CEO Osamu Yunoki, the brand took the insights gained from the US market following the 2022 New York pop-up to the product development team. The brand then spent two years adjusting its original sizing, changing silhouettes and fits, and making the styling and merchandising more gender-fluid, to align with the feedback. “Our [pop-up] products have been based on Japanese consumers. We changed our sizing and styling, and we opened a product development headquarters in New York,” Yunoki says of the preparation leading up to the brand’s American launch.

While Uniqlo has made a name for itself for its high-quality basics and designer collaborations — and most recently, headlines for the appointment of Chloé and Givenchy alum, Clare Waight Keller, as the brand’s creative director — GU caters to a younger, more budget-conscious consumer who’s looking to engage with current trends that still fit under the everyday style umbrella. The brand’s signature items range from a barrel-leg jean ($39.90) to a pleated skort ($29.90) and a puffy shoulder bag ($39.90) that could be a younger cousin to Uniqlo’s viral crossbody.

“Uniqlo and GU have the same concept and a different concept,” says Yunoki. “Both are trying to offer as good of a product as possible at an affordable price… [But] while Uniqlo offers high-quality, high-function basics, GU offers more trendy fashion.” But rather than put out the largest assortment of products, GU focuses on curating a limited selection of pieces that are meant to be mixed and matched and styled in a variety of ways. This is a concept that the brand refers to as “MINI edit MAX.”

“MINI edit MAX delivers maximum style and quality with minimum prices and curated collections. We intentionally narrow down the number of items,” Yunoki says. (In addition to offering a more digestible selection to the shopper, a limited lineup, according to Yunoku, also allows for a more effective supply chain model, which ensures a lower price point.)

This type of versatile selection is what according to Yunoki has made GU one of Japan’s most popular brands. “GU is very practical. People are really busy — they have no time to think about fashion all the time — and aren’t spending as much money as before on fashion,” he says.

In addition to the barrel-leg bottoms, which come in denim and pant versions, and cargo pants, which were a popular item during the pop-up’s run, the US selection includes on-trend pieces like pleated midi skirts, cropped blazers, and bubble-hem skirts. These are mixed in with more seasonless essentials like colorful cardigans, workwear-appropriate blouses, and transitional-weather trench coats — all, similar to Uniqlo, available in several different colors. 

To mark the launch of the e-commerce site and store opening, GU also dropped its newest designer collaboration today, with the Japanese brand Undercover, with whom GU previously partnered on collections. Boasting 22 styles, the special-edition collection includes statement outerwear, track pants, and accessories that marked previous collaborations and features US exclusives like “Big Apple” graphic T-shirts and ripstop tote bags.

While GU will continue to innovate and create products with a global audience in mind, Yunoki points to the mission that inspired the brand name as the driving force of the launch 18 years later: “I would like to have US customers enjoy the freedom to find a new U [sic] through our fashion.”

Shop GU.

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