Welcome to our podcast, Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr. Think of it as your direct line to the designers, stylists, beauty experts, editors, and tastemakers who are shaping the fashion-and-beauty world. Subscribe to Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

If luxury fashion could talk in 2023, it would be very, very quiet. It’s been the year of the phrase “quiet luxury,” with brands like The Row at the center of the fashion conversation. But “quiet luxury” wasn’t the only trend to dominate the 2023 fashion landscape. Who What Wear‘s associate director of special projects, Kristen Nichols, shares how silhouettes were also impacted.

“We saw this big return to A-line skirts, nipped-in waists,” Nichols said. “It was really a stark contrast to the super-oversize everything—the big baggy suits that dominated for the last few years.” For the latest episode of Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr, Nichols shares the top 2023 luxury trends, which items were best sellers, and more.

For excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.

Before we get into specific trends and items, could you first give us a top-line overview of the biggest luxury brands and moments of 2023, starting with runway and editorial moments?

I think it is the Prada and Miu Miu takeover. They continue to set the trend and really influence where fashion is heading.

We saw this, specifically, with Prada and the voluminous floral-embellished midi skirts that were on their fall 2023 runway that went viral the moment they hit the runway, and they continued to be huge on the street style scene.

They also really impacted a lot of the silhouettes we saw this year.

We saw this big return to A-line skirts, nipped-in waists.

It was really a stark contrast to the super-oversize everything—the big baggy suits that dominated for the last few years.

I think Prada set the tone for this, and it really kind of permeated through fashion as a whole this year.

What brands do our favorite stars overall seem to be gravitating toward?

I think we saw a lot of shifts in what celebrities were wearing this year.

Last year, it was all about loud, dopamine dressing. This year, we saw this rise of “quiet luxury,” which is the inescapable term of 2023—whether you like it or not.

I think one of the moments that this really hit home was Kylie Jenner went to Paris over the summer.

Everyone was calling this her pseudo French-girl style when she was dressed in these very minimalist, quiet-luxury looks with brands like Alaïa and Bottega [Veneta] and Ferragamo and The Row.

Obviously, she’s not sticking to that entirely, but I think it was this moment when it hit home how strong this trend is and how much it really did impact fashion this year.

I think in a similar way, Jennifer Lawrence kind of had a big comeback and also had a, not makeover, but—

Evolution.

Yeah, evolution.

She worked with Jamie Mizrahi and similarly really had this more minimal, quiet-luxury look with brands like The Row and Alaïa and also less widely known brands, like High Sport—which are really resonating in the fashion community.

Then on the other end of the spectrum, we saw celebs like Taylor Russell and Greta Lee—who were really just perfectly cast as ambassadors and campaign stars for Loewe—wear these more conceptual, directional pieces.

I think that’s another side of luxury fashion that was really interesting in the celeb sphere that was very fun.

What’s actually moving the needle in terms of shopping for the general population when it comes to luxury?

What we’re seeing is accessories, specifically, are dominating, which is no surprise.

I think that’s where brands typically make a big chunk of their revenue, but specifically this year, they’re really dominating.

Going back to Q1, it was the Bottega Veneta drop earrings that were the number one luxury item that everyone wanted their hands on.

Q2 is where we saw the Alaïa fishnet flats just sell out everywhere, and what’s interesting about these is they continue to be sold out and impossible to buy.

I spoke with a number of product sourcers, and they said this is still one of their number one items even now.

That’s interesting considering back in Q2, this was a big product.

Also the Loro Piana baseball cap, which I think we can thank Succession for.

Moving toward the end of the year, we are seeing the Prada 3D floral heels.

They are little works of art and were one of the big shoes at street style during Fashion Month.

They’re an investment, but they are beautiful. 

What are the quiet-luxury ready-to-wear pieces that were staples of this trend in 2023?

I think the logo-less bag was very big. Whether it was a style from The Row—their Sofia bag was really popular. Also newer brands, like Savette has a Pochette. Kind of like “if you know, you know” pieces.

I know we talked about this earlier, but the Loro Piana baseball hats. We can thank Kendall in Succession for that.

People are also going back to these heritage brands. Charvet slippers and button-downs have been really popular in a bigger way.

I think they’ve been kind of like a secret of really well-dressed people.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Next, check out our interview with Mara Hoffman.