Fashion Month FW23 Takeaways
The good, the wtf, and the rest
Attention Fashion Tingz readers! Alas, another fashion month has been and gone. And for me, the Fall/Winter collections are always a firm favourite. Maybe it’s the textures, patterns, unusual takes on layering or unexpected colour combinations, or maybe it’s all of these things combined, coupled with the OTT street style that's par for the course outside of shows.
Either way, the Fall/Winter runways are always a fun one to get into. This season things didn’t disappoint, well… mostly (we’ll get to that shortly). We witnessed show schedule shake-ups and a return to a jam-packed calendar across New York, London, Milan and Paris, we saw creative director debuts at major labels, and we saw brands compete for viral moments.
Here are my key takeaways from the FW23 fashion season that I expect will work their way into the greater fashion collective consciousness and beyond.
Bellies and babies
Bellies and babies, babies and bellies. Well, I don’t know about the rest of the fashion crowd, but I’m kind of living for the expectant mothers-to-be and little kiddies that are gracing the runways lately and I'm glad to see that this trend is still going strong.
The entire Sinead O’Dwyer LFW show was an example of inclusive casting and how to do it well, and the Irish designer proved that fashion is for all. And the Di Petsa FW23 collection celebrated the mother archetype through sensuality and spirituality, exploring the idea of rebirth and the self.
Tailoring + a little something extra
Proper dressing is back and a return to ‘real’ clothes (aka anything but sweatshirts and joggers) is in. Structured silhouettes and tailoring are breathing fresh air into people's pandemic wardrobes, and the FW23 runways added that little something extra to proper clothing to spice things up a bit.
At Maximilian Davis’s FW23 Ferragamo show the houses signature style featured an update on the monochromatic colour palette with flashes of red as well as grey tones, and at Prada Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada’s take on everyday dressing were given a purpose through a reimagined approach to modern tailoring. Bottega also added a little something extra, or a lot extra, to structured silhouettes with ruffled feathering and appliqué detail.
Otherworldly
From extraterrestrial otherworldly clothing to exploring new fashionable dimensions to bold silhouettes that took us to infinity and beyond, the FW23 runways were an example of conceptual fashion that's pushing limits.
Noir Kei Ninomiya's FW23 show was alien realness come to life, Commes Des Garçons played around with clothing that borders being pieces of art, and Off White blasted into another space-time continuum with its "LUNAR DELIVERY' collection by Ibrahim Kamara. Acne Studios yassified the Garden of Eden for AW23 and took it back in time, and Loewe brought out the feathers emphasising movement and texture.
The spectacle show
A lot of fashion shows have become about drama and fanfare rather than the actual clothes. Fashion shows drum up brand awareness and hype, and a lot of media buzz and attention ensues, thus the fashion shows of today have become spectacles in and of themselves with many brands competing for viral fashion moments.
Look no further than the Moncler Genius LFW event that saw the worlds of art, design and culture meet with collaborations from adidas Originals, Pharrell, Alicia Keys, Mercedes Benz, Roc Nation by Jay-Z, American footwear designer Salehe Bembury and more - with over 10,000 people turning up to the spectacle. Elsewhere, models were crowd surfing at Sunnei, Anrealage put on a light show with a magician-like approach to craft and technology, the products were falling apart at Avavav and the 'fit was on fire at Heliot Emil - literally and figuratively.
Dra-mazing
I’m here for runway drama, all of it, I’ll take every last drama crumb to spill off of the runways because the stale fashion show format desperately needs reinvigorating. And some shows from the FW23 runways had drama and tea and everything in between.
Knives were out at Dilara Findicoglu and the looks were sharp (pun intended), along with fog machines, sparkles and apocalypse eccentricity at Rick Owens. Harris Reed's demi-couture show was the stuff fashion-filled dreams are made of and the designer's debut for Nina Ricci was also a lesson in glamour and grandeur. And new kid on the block and a new personal favourite, Tomo Koizumi, FW23 show was a fun and energetic collection that celebrated colour and volume to the max.
Mixed messages
If a fashion show has missed the mark and disappoints then the industry should be able to call it out. And that's what we are here to do because let's be real, fashion isn’t always sunshine and roses. Sometimes it's just meh. Fashion crowds were on tenterhooks for the FW23 season that saw new creative directors debut at luxury labels, as well as missing creative directors at other labels, and a post-show comeback after brand controversy. It was a lot to say the least.
Burberry was giving… mixed messages? Daniel Lee’s debut was the most anticipated on the calendar, and even though Burberry is embarking on a new era harking back to its British roots, the FW23 show felt disjointed. Gucci is trying to refresh and revive its brand identity after Michele’s departure, and it's not giving fashion goals just yet. And Balenciaga is back with a no-frills approach to design and not a hint of a logo in sight, with a focus on the craft of making clothes the emphasis of the FW23 collection since the brand's fall from grace.
Share this post, feel free to comment, and subscribe for more weekly fashion goodness delivered straight to your inbox.