Runway shows were back with a vengeance at the Spring/Summer 2023 fashion week presentations in New York, Milan, London and Paris, with labels going all out with their creations.
These styles, and collections inspired by them, will be out in stores between now and April, so let’s take a look at what to expect.
Back to sleepwear
We spent most of the pandemic in our pajamas, so why not take a page out of this extended period of our lives and transform it into outerwear?
That’s exactly what several designers did. Brands like Versace, Prada, JW Anderson, Dior and Burberry turned their focus to the bedroom, sending models out in lace-trimmed nighties, sheer evening dresses, elevated corsets, silky boxer shorts and chic slip dresses.
Satiny and silky dresses and skirts featured lace at the necklines and hemlines, with 59% of designers including some form of lingerie in their collections, according to fashion search engine Tagwalk.
Read more: The beauty of the latest must-have bags is in their variety
Striking floral details
Supersized rosettes and other flowers were featured on many pieces, in collections from designers like Loewe, Carolina Herrera and Roksanda.
Bold, three-dimensional flowers are used to create statement silhouettes, with Loewe describing these designs as having “the same erotic tension and precision of an anthurium flower: a product of nature that looks like an object of design, and treated as such.”
Across all the collections, fashion search engine Tagwalk estimates that 270 looks were embellished with flowers.
Shiny selections
Amid the rainbow hues and sunset shades, silver stood out in many collections.
Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Gucci and Loewe were among the labels that used the shiny hue in their designs, which Vogue calls “low-key luxe at its finest”.
Standout ensembles include Michael Kors’ silver sequined maxi paired with a grey-marl tank and Tom Ford’s crinkled metallic shorts worn with a metallic jacket decorated with stars and hearts in various colours.
See-through chic
Transparent, layered looks were aplenty at the Spring/Summer 2023 runways, with brands showcasing everything from tulle dresses, see-through skirts and visible undergarments under layers of other sheer separates.Miu Miu describes its take on the trends as complexity being expressed through the layering of cottons, silks and cashmeres in deliberately subtle colour, or nylon tricot in sharper hues.
“Their interplay creates surface texture, a form of decoration evoked through the garments themselves as opposed to extraneous application”, said the label’s press release.
Marie Claire notes, “going hand-in-hand with the sheer trend, we have also witnessed a rise in VPL this season”, as designers presented models wearing sheer skirts and dresses over visible underwear and branded bras.
All good in the hood
Plenty of celebrities – from Blackpink’s Rose to Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega – have been rocking hooded dresses and gowns on red carpets all over the world.
Versace, Alberta Ferretti, Saint Laurent, among others, featured this silhouette in their collections, a trend reminiscent of the styles worn by fashion icon Grace Jones in the past.
With Saint Larent, almost half of the ensembles in its collection included a hood, on sleek gowns, jumpsuits and dresses.
Fringe is in
For this season, fringe appears on mini dresses, voluminous skirts, the necklines of crop tops and more.
One standout piece was a stunning white halter neck dress by Givenchy, which featured a swishy fringe hemline, while at Jil Sander, metallic fringe skirts were all the rage.
Plenty of embellished dresses, crop top necklines, and mini dresses featured fringe on the runways, giving this detail a more elevated vibe for the season.
Practical pockets
Long have we wished for much-needed storage in womenswear, and finally prayers have been answered.
We never thought we would see the day when cargo pants were back in, but praise whichever God you worship, they are now!
Multi-pocketed cargo pants were all over the runways, in what some say is a utilitarian season.
Vogue reported that in June, over 1,000 units of the Frankie Shop’s multi-pocketed Maesa Cargo style flew out the warehouse for Net-a-porter.com when it debuted, a clear signal on what we, wearers of clothes, want.
Rockstar attitude and ‘indie sleaze’None encapsulated the IDGAF attitude of the aughts quite as well as Celine’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection, which brings back Hedi Slimane’s original skinny jeans.
The Saint-Tropez collection marks the return of the must-have fashion item of the 2000s, adopted by the British and American rock scenes first, then the rest of the world.
With this trend, indie sleaze made waves around the same time. Described by Highsnobiety as “think animal print furs paired with plaid, T-shirts with bow-ties, and the infamous shorts and stockings combs”, it fuses elements of grunge, rock and boho-chic, all of which are featured heavily in Celine’s collection.
Read more: The often-divisive ballet flat has the fashion world at its feet
Journey to the past
While Celine’s collection tackled the 2000s, Dior’s was a look back at the Italian noblewoman turned French queen Catherine de Medici, a figure emblematic of the relationship between women and power.
Creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri was fascinated with de Medici for her political intelligence, but also the innovations she launched, such as heels, the corset, and Burano lace, introduced to royal manufactures of the time.
The corset is updated by giving it a quasi-geometric shape that frames the bust, while raffia coats are also revisited with contemporary expertise.
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