And just like that, fashion month comes to a close. If you’re thinking that it feel like this season has lasted for a year, then you’re not alone—the sheer number of shows that toured all four fashion capitals this fall/winter 2023 season seemed to be its highest yet.
But even though New York, London, and Milan all gave us plenty to talk about, Paris remains the pinnacle of the industry with some of the most highly-anticipated shows of the whole month. We eagerly awaited what the runways at Miu Miu, Loewe, Saint Laurent, and more would bring and now that Paris fashion week has officially come to a close, it’s time to sit down and discuss everything we just witnessed.
The overall mood in Paris was was one of everyday wearability, with an emphasis on refined and ultra-polished takes on wardrobe-building staples like tailored coats, sharp blazers, and tights taking center stage. But this season also embracing the weird and un-chic. At Miu Miu, models paraded down the runway with disheveled bedhead and many went sans pants entirely while at Loewe, silk dresses were screen-printed with trompe l’oeil designs that looked like completely different garments entirely.
Fall ’23 in Paris also ushered in Schiaparelli’s first ready-to-wear collection under the direction Daniel Roseberry where the designer brought his couture-level craftsmanship to the space. And at Vivienne Westwood, designer Andreas Kronthaler lent the late visionary a moving tribute through. The first looks at fall are already exciting us and below, you’ll find the seven most important trends to know about now.
There’s no question that the ’90s have been fashion’s greatest influence in recent years, and while the era will probably always resonate, the runways in Paris are turning the clocks back even farther. Designers presented a number of ideas like the nipped-in hourglass suiting at Balmain and the strong shouldered-blouses at Saint Laurent that have us taking a second look at a previously glossed-over decade: the ’80s.
All fashion month, our editors have taken note of one especially cool theme of ultra-tactile fabrics and when it comes to the last collections we saw this past week, it was all about luscious coats in thick furry, fuzzy, and touchable fabrics.
Here’s a reason not to forget about that random pair of tights that’s probably shoved into the back of your top drawer as we speak. If the designers in Paris have anything to do about it (which they certainly do), then a humble pair of tights—whether they be fishnets, lace, colored, or sheer—will be a key buy this fall.
This season, what you see is not what you get. Trompe l’oeil designs featured prominently on the runways where they came in the form of silk dresses screen-printed to appear like completely different garments at Loewe, lace-up-looking details at ACNE Studios, and surrealist accessories at Schiaparelli. If there’s one thing these conversation-starting pieces are going to elicit, it’s a double-take.
Some micro-trends seemingly pop up out of nowhere, while others take a minute to fully develop. The former is true for menswear ties, a detail that was echoed throughout the F/W ’23 collections, but most notably at Valentino where nearly every one of its 74 looks featured a skinny black tie and a collared shirt. We haven’t even had to wait long for fashion people to adopt the trend since our social media feeds are already popping with this styling combo.
Is it the roaring twenty-twenties? Is it not? Cultural commentary aside, history is repeating itself in one narrow area: the drop-waist dress. The silhouette that defined 1920s dressing is emerging as a potential decade-defining look of our time as well with updates like peplum hems and body-hugging fits that emphasize the romance of these dresses.
All across the collections, designers from Saint Laurent and to Schiaparelli finished off plenty of looks with similarly bold, oversize earrings that reminded me of the clip-ons my grandma used to wear. They immediately piqued our interest since we can’t remember the last time that any earring style dominated more than our tried-and-true hoops. But fall ’23 stands to change all of that with a spate of oblong and dome-shape studs that we’re not waiting a second to shop.
