Vogue runway 2023

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Many have tried to decode director Alain Resnais’s beguiling/perplexing 1961 movie, L’Année Dernière à Marienbad. The nouvelle vague classic features a couple who may (or may not) know each other, and who may (or may not) have been in some kind of relationship with each other. They move through a black and white dreamscape of ornate gardens and grand staircases, where time seems to have no meaning and words don’t seem to matter a whole lot either; only the occasional gnomic statement is ever uttered (as far as I remember; it’s been a minute since I’ve seen it). Still, female lead Delphine Seyrig looks utterly fabulous as she exists in this semi-somnambulistic state, thanks to some of her costumes having been designed by Coco Chanel.

What most definitely doesn’t need decoding, however: As Chanel’s Virginie Viard looked at the movie while she was designing spring, it led her to create one exceptionally beautiful collection. Light, nuanced, and with a palpable sense of the here and now, it was Chanel replete with every element and fragment of the house. There were the tweeds, sparkly or ribbon embroidered or adorned with ostrich feathers; the chicest suits, cardigan jackets, and short coatdresses that looked as though they magically weighed next to nothing; boyish knits and teeny tap shorts; and exquisite evening dresses without an iota of fuss.

Viard sketched these out in the archetypal black and ivory as well as a heavenly array of pastels, with very few prints, save for those that featured scrolling lines akin to what you might obsessively draw while daydreaming, or black-on-black interlocking logo double-Cs (look close to spot them), discreetly repeated over and over again on a softly rippling dress or fluid pajama pants. And to go with all of this: strands and strands of gilded or strass necklaces and drop earrings (perhaps wittily detailed with tiny thimbles); smaller versions of the iconic bags (most notably the pouchy, more casual Chanel 22); and get-ready-to-be-obsessed, glittery silver house-classic cap-toe slingbacks or grosgrain-bowed crystal booties, which look like the most glamorous (or glam-rock) ankle socks ever.

Resnais’s classic wasn’t the only cinematic moment here. Viard had asked Inez and Vinoodh to shoot in Paris a short movie with Kristen Stewart, a kind of homage to Marienbad, as an opener for the show. Stewart leaves a movie theater, wanders the streets of Paris, ascends the famous Rue Cambon Chanel staircase, takes the metro, all the while dressed in the spring collection, including one stunner of a long, sequined rose gold dress. It’s easy to understand why Viard is so entranced by Stewart; she wears everything with the most laid-back, offhand, unaffected ease. From what she told Vogue in an interview years ago, it was clear fashion matters most to her when it speaks to who she really is and comes stripped of artifice and affectation. You could say the same about Viard.

Unlike the script for Marienbad, Stewart offers a more direct response when she’s asked about how she stays hopeful for the future. Burn your best yesterdays, she says, so you can start over. Viard didn’t do that, but she certainly delivered an effortless and optimistic vision of Chanel, past and present, blending it into one gorgeous, timeless today. Better yet, just to show how much she wants to really engage with the women who wear her clothes, she chose to embrace the diversity of female beauty by showing this collection on a whole variety of body types. In a Paris spring show season where that approach has been sadly all but absent, it was a welcome move. For this and so much else, brava, Virginie, brava!

With its cameo appearances and celebrity controversy, the spring 2023 ready-to-wear season produced one viral moment after another. Scrollers are gonna scroll, after all. For lasting impact, however, it’s better to look at the clothes that reflect current events. The fight for women’s rights, war, and the environment are dominating the headlines and the best collections reacted to this state of disquietude in a number of ways.

A sense of undoneness was pervasive, and communicated through asymmetric cuts (see all the half skirts) and through distressed and wrinkled fabrics that had the appearance of wear and age. Preparedness is key in the face of unrest, so utilitarian details in the form of hands-free cargo pockets and parachute straps showed up in many collections. Some designers took things a step further, creating defensive armor of sorts for those with the fighting spirit.

Softening the mood were tactile materials, including floaty feathers, crinkly tinsel, and downy fabric that brought the hand into play. The most intriguing clothes connected to the world of the senses. Also keeping things down to earth were designers’ focus on garments that function in a new world of work through minimalist tailoring and endless variations on the crisp button-down shirt.

The body remains in focus for spring, and while the tidal wave of Y2K references with its “Flesh for Fantasy” aesthetic, hasn’t fully receded, the revealing, but more covered draped goddess dress offered a more grown-up and elegant alternative. (The timing is right too, a Madame Grès exhibition is opening at SCAD in Atlanta in November.) The trailer for The Little Mermaid with Halle Bailey was released during fashion month, and designers rode that wave hard. Not only were there sexy siren looks, but surface treatments and trimmings that called to mind sea urchins and jellyfish.

Father Time was an uncredited protagonist of the spring season. It’s not only that designers are resurfacing sunken treasures from their archives, but many have gone way, way back to borrow elements of women’s clothing from the 16th to 19th centuries. Farthingales, favored by Queen Elizabeth I, and voluminous crinolines of the sort Empress Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria would have worn walked down runways. So did panniers, the hip enhancers painted by Diego Velasquez, worn at the court of the Sun King, and which subsequently inspired the robe de style of the early 1920s. Concurrent with these historical references are clothes that free the nipple, or draw attention to the bare bosom. While seemingly polar instincts, they both speak to women taking back their power, either by recontextualizing constricting and decorative garments from a time when women’s lives were circumscribed, or by encouraging us to be comfortable in our own skin. When it comes to the empress’s new clothes, they are as nude or as covered as we want to be.

Ready, Set, Go: Utilitarian Details for Hands-Free Living

Clothes with roomy cargo pockets, parachute straps, and extra padding keep you ready for action.

Photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com

Louis Vuitton

Neo-Minimalism: Streamlined Looks for Work Life 2.0

Easy tailoring and a neutral palette are the sartorial equivalent of a clean slate for a new era of work.

Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com

Dries Van Noten

It’s All in the Hips: Panniers and Crinolines Make a Comeback

Recontextualizing aspects of historic dress in ways that are feminine and feminist.

Daniele Oberrauch,Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com

Loewe

Fifty Shades of Grès: A New-Old Way to Reveal the Body

Designers revisit draping using liquid jersey and transparent fabrics.

Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

Saint Laurent

Shirt Cuts: The Classic Button-Down Is Transformed

The work staple is transformed into a not-so-basic wardrobe hero.

Photo: Monica Feudi / Courtesy of Peter Do

Peter Do

Stay in Touch: Enticing Textures

Raffia, tinsel, feathers, and fringe enhance the tactile aspect of clothing.

Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

Bottega Veneta

Mermaidcore: The Wet Look, Redefined

Sirens and sea creature silhouettes and textures make a splash.

Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com

Blumarine

Environmental Protection: Armor for Heroines

Strong looks for those on the frontlines of imaginative fashion.

Photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com

JW Anderson

JW Anderson

All About Eve: The Female Body Laid Bare

Many spring collections seemed to support the Free the Nipple movement.

Photo: Courtesy of Schiaparelli

Schiaparelli

A New Slant: Half-Skirts and Jackets

Asymmetric cuts reflect uncertain times.

Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

Gucci

What are the upcoming fashion trends for 2023?

Is Vogue Runway free?