French fashion designer Olivier Rousteing took his final walk down the runway in one, albeit a collarless white version with more discreet dotting. He packed 1990s references into his show – after all, the creative director of Balmain grew up in the Britney Spears era. If there was any doubt as to his inspiration, that was confirmed by a soundtrack that included Spears, Backstreet Boys and other icons.

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Early 1990s neons certainly aren’t the norm at ladylike Valentino, but Pierpaolo Piccioli made them work, churning out a modest gown with a high neck, long balloon sleeves and tiered maxi skirt that, while paying homage to another generation, could only have been made today. He also mixed the bright hues in as accents on virginal white, sheer, embroidered long dresses. His plays on the white shirt were many and will certainly be much in demand: there was a wraparound shirt dress, a buttoned-to-the-top belted version with big sleeves and ankle-grazing skirt, a collarless mini with a peekaboo panel, a poet blouse paired with short shorts, a ruffled bib-front fantasy and an A-line tent dress.

Minimal staples were also on the agenda at Riccardo Tisci’s Burberry. You’d think grunge-y, My So-Called Life-inspired plaid would be a great nod, particularly given the popularity of checks in the recent autumn/winter season, but Tisci generally prefers to buck expectations. He did so by switching out the sleeves for scarves for his white shirts, or skipping the shirts altogether; one model came down the catwalk with a matching waistcoat under a suit jacket and nothing else underneath – it’s easy to forget this short cut was popular in the early 1990s.

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And then there was the classic 1990s silk sheath, immortalised by the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy when she wore one at her wedding to John F. Kennedy, Jnr. This one was rejigged with the addition of a beaded mesh and crystal overlay as well as fringing, but a clear tribute underneath all the new embellishments. The boys weren’t exempt either – clad in fat stripes that recalled the heyday of Polo Ralph Lauren and Nautica, they were definitely not wearing your average polo shirts, though one might struggle to properly identify garments such as the red-and-white striped pullover with a zip-off hood and sleeves, shown on the runway with the shoulders revealed.

Another designer surprisingly enamoured with the minimalist side of the era was Virgil Abloh, though he also mined some of the sportier inclinations of those days at his show for Off-White: strappy gowns had high, square necklines, much like the halter tops of yesteryear (there was even a sleeveless polo neck dress); trousers hung low at the waist with a roomy cut; and Bella Hadid showed the final look of the show sporting a pair of wraparound rose-tinted sunglasses that harked back to the times we wore tiny lenses instead of oversized frames.

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Where so many designers went white, Donatella went dark at Versace. Though the talking point of the show was a rerun of that 2001 J. Lo dress – which ostensibly was searched on Google so much it inspired the creation of Google Images – many of the looks had more of a 1990s sensibility to them, whether it was a slinky bodycon black jersey dress that Pat Field would surely have grabbed for one of the Sex and the City girls, or classically sexy, strappy sandals with a square-toe, which tied all the way up to the knee (perfect for Posh Spice when she still went by that moniker).

For all its anti-fashion-ness – honestly, what’s so exciting about a plaid shirt tied around the waist, or a pair of massive raver pants? – the 1990s represented a decade that was proudly practical, where you could look at things on the runway and not have to think so hard about where to wear them. It was clothing that wasn’t created for Instagram influencers, or for dissection on red-carpet blogs. It was clothing that expressed the culture and the times. Rejigged for the beginning of a new decade, 2020s homage to the 1990s has all the same practicality – with a little polish. What’s not to like about that?

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