New York Fashion Week: Fall/Winter 2023
February 10, 2023 - February 15, 2023
With fashion season coming to a close, I figured it was time to start doing my fashion week overviews. Here are my Fall 2023 New York Fashion Week outtakes:
Day 1 : Friday, February 10th
Rodarte :
Kate and Laura Mulleavy started off this fashion season with Rodarte Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear. This collection highlights the contrast between black & white and silver & gold only to tie the divergences together with something unexpected, something magical: fairies.
The latter half of the show consisted of a series of caftans bordered with bright ruffled chiffon and adorned with whimsical portraits of fairies. Since talent seems to be a genetic trait in the Mulleavy family, it comes as no surprise that these fairies were drawn by none other than Kate and Laura’s mother. Using these opposites in design to find common ground on the world beyond reminds me of one of my favorite pop culture moments of all time: Alexa Demie and Nathan Fielder discussing the logistics of going into the fairy portal.
But on a more serious note, whether it be a representation of opposite political parties or other us vs. thems finding likeness in the joy of fantasy or just simply a sweet homage to childhood, Rodarte’s Fall 2023 collection acts as a much-needed breather from the stresses of being an adult.
To throw it back to the Mulleavys’ personal childhood, it’s only right to pay homage to the 1980s queen of whimsy herself, Siouxsie Sioux.
Models walked the runway wearing various makeup looks by James Kaliardos reminiscent of the lead singer, and titular member, of British post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees
My absolute favorite looks from Rodarte Fall 2023 have to be the series of mossy-looking knitwear and gowns adorn with bouquets of calla lilies that preceded the fairy caftans. This sequence of looks perfectly illustrates what I imagine that lush entrance to the fairy portal must look like.
Collina Strada :
Following the theme of fashion and fantasy, Collina Strada’s Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection, Please Don’t Eat My Friends, was the next show on the schedule. Inspired by the threat of an impending global recession, Hillary Taymour prioritizes sustainability and garment longevity in her company’s ethos. Although this collection is the “toned down” or timeless version of the brand’s identity (not necessarily by my definitions, but hey, to each their own), this was starkly juxtaposed by the presence of models in anthropomorphic prosthetics.
This isn’t the first time in fashion history where anthropomorphisms have been used to illustrate economic and societal turmoil. For the Spring/Summer 2010 season, Alexander McQueen used this exact concept to communicate the threat of the climate crisis in his final complete collection, Plato’s Atlantis. The vision of this collection was to predict what humans would have to evolve into to once the sea levels rise.
It’s both sentimental and incredibly concerning to see this symbolism return to the runway. From a fashion history standpoint, I love to see how these patterns form, but it’s very frustrating that, even 13 years later, we are still screaming the same messages into what is seemingly a void.
Thankfully for Collina Strada, these spectacles are not just façades. As partners of the OR Foundation, the brand is able to financially support the charity’s goal to “catalyze a justice-led circular textiles economy” through supporting communities like Accra, Ghana who become victims of colonialist practice known as garment-dumping.
To learn more about the OR Foundation, garment dumping, and how to donate: click HERE.
Simkhai :
Jonathan Simkhai, or as the rebrand suggest, just Simkhai, was another brand to present on the first day of New York Fashion Week. This is where we see the beginning the most ubiquitous commonality this fashion season: trendy timelessness
I find these three looks above specifically worthy of note because, they have echoes of a very specific type of garment repurposing that has been popular on Instagram and TikTok for the past few years. This style of up-cycling being, configuring second-hand men’s blazers into fashionable co-ords.
But if the objective of this is to make something new that looks like something old that’s been turned into something new, this alleged sustainably-conscious trend of timeless is only an illusion: nothing more, typically less.
Again… to learn more about the OR Foundation, the colonialist practice of garment dumping, and how to donate: click HERE.
3.1 Phillip Lim :
Phillip Lim presented his Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection through one-on-one showroom appointments. I’ve really grown fond of showrooms in recent months, partially because of what inspired my essay Breaking Fashion’s Fourth Wall: What is the Focal Point of a Fashion Show? and partially because it simply gives you a better opportunity to see the garments up close.
A subsequent pop-up gallery followed the collection’s debut in collaboration with Jiro Konami, a photographer known for their evocative photos of The City. According to Nicole Phelps,
“Lim gave Konami five pieces from his fall collection and told him to hit the streets. He’ll see the results for the first time when he shows up at his party this evening” - Nicole Phelps, 3.1 Phillip Lim Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Review, Vogue Runway, Feb. 2023.
I always love a good designer x photographer collaboration, but this one is especially interesting for two main reasons:
The idea that Lim limited the number of garments that Konami was able to photograph. I think it speaks to the versatility in Lim’s collection and, by extension, his confidence in it too. which is point two…
The fact that Lim trusted Konami enough with his designs that he was able to view the photographs at the same time as his audience because, that is ultimately what designing clothes is about; trusting your audience and customers enough to faithfully represent your brand once your clothes leave the store.
Prabal Gurung :
And so we return to the whimsical animal theme of NYFW Day 1. For Prabal Gurung Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear, it was butterflies.
Again, according to Nicole Phelps,
“Over the holidays [Gurung] did a 10-day silent retreat, during which time he didn’t talk to anyone, and wasn’t even supposed to make eye contact. But he did come face-to-face with a butterfly, and he found it a useful metaphor for finding beauty in impermanence.” - Nicole Phelps, Prabal Gurung Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Review, Vogue Runway, Feb. 2023.
I love the idea of highlighting the beauty of impermanence, especially as it ties to Hinduism and Gurung’s Nepalese roots.
The context of this show happening in New York City is also important, both due to the 339% rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes nationwide last year and one of Gurung’s previous collections, Who Gets to be American?, serving as inspiration for the two-part 2021/2022 Met Gala theme, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.
"This is all deeply personal to me. Though my roots lay with my family in Nepal, this country is my home. America is where my heart is. I am an American. As immigrants continue to birth this "new America," we must remember all versions of our history and take ownership of our past while forging a new legacy. Amidst the deep wounds that are severing the unity of our country, I continue to seek the America I came here to be a part of—the America that I know is still there. And so, with the Spring 2020 collection, we seek to celebrate hope, courage, and present an ode to the true American dream." - Prabal Gurung on Who Gets to be American?
So to see Gurung continue to showcase the depth and beauty of his Nepalese heritage while navigating as a South Asian-American immigrant in these unprecedented times, truly shows the importance of collectively embracing our cultural identities while trying to forge this new America.
Dion Lee :
For the last show of Day 1 of NYFW, we have Dion Lee’s Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection.
I think José Criales-Unzeuta best described this as “high-octane luxury rave wear.” Especially considering this was the luxurious high-octane environment that attracted everyone’s current favorite rapper and it-girl, Ice Spice, to make her NYFW debut.
Again we see the animal motifs one last time on Day 1 with a few snakeskin looks in the middle of the collection. Not only is the animal motif a reoccurring theme, but more specifically how it relates to our mortality; with Collina Strada and the consequences of an economic collapse, Prabal Gurung and the beauty of impermanence, and finally Dion Lee and the symbolism of shedding old skin (an anamorph, a metamorph, and a molting).
“It is not unusual for Lee to find inspiration in nature and merge it with his industrial designs (for spring 2023, he found convergence between monstera leaf patterns and classic motocross lines). He has a flair for materialization, but the laser focus on a single motif this season saw him test this potential to the fullest.
‘There is a parallel with identity and always changing and evolving as a person and designer,’ he said. ‘But, really, I think I’m focused on how plants and reptiles shed their skin, and that as a visual in itself.’ He translated the concept into rhombus-shaped eyelet belting¹, wide-gauge knits² and mixed-gauge mesh³, peeling rubber⁴, distressed ball chain applied over silk georgette dresses (a technical wonder)⁵, shaved shearling (a crowd favorite)⁶, and Japanese shibori dyeing (a personal favorite)⁷.” - José Criales-Unzeuta, Dion Lee Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Review, Vogue Runway, Feb. 2023
I think I am among the masses in that my favorite part of the show was the outerwear. But with the combination of snake skin, ripped denim, and pantsless-looking high-boot combo, its safe to say that the 20-year trend cycle is getting shorter and shorter.
Day 2 : Saturday, February 11th
PH5 :
We start off the second day of New York Fashion Week with a discussion of inconspicuous consumption and ocean pollution led by PH5. In their Fall/Winter 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection, This is Not a Jellyfish, the brand highlighted the impact marine debris has on the ocean’s ecology through a claustrophobic and suffocating thalassic-themed presentation.
Much like the sea-life in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and other disturbed aquatic ecosystems, both the models and their clothing were constricted by fishing nets and scraps of plastic. This waste was all recycled by the design duo, Wei Lin and Zoe Champion, and is intended to be recycled again. On a post shared to Instagram, PH5 showed crocheted handbags made from the plastic used in their presentation that will come as a gift free-with-purchase.
Sandy Liang :
What is seemingly everyone’s favorite brand and the moment, Sandy Liang, was the next show on day two of New York Fashion Week. This collection is unapologetically feminine, Rian Phin described it best as “a reclamation of girlhood” and “aspirational because of the kind of girl that wears it.” Sandy Liang is one of the best designers to look to for creating a dynamic brand identity in the era of micro-individuality. Liang doesn’t just design clothing, but rather creates an entire identity for her audience: the cool girl at the office, the mysterious girl on the subway, the girl who just “threw this outfit together.”
Parts of this collection look like a 2023 reinterpretation of kinderwhore. The style (popularized by Hole’s Courtney Love, Babes in Toyland’s Kat Bjelland, and other 90’s Riot Grrrls) aimed to challenge the view of femininity in the grunge scene by simultaneously exaggerating it and corrupting it.
“[Kinderwhore takes] the most constraining parts of the feminine, good-girl aesthetic, inflating them to a cartoon level, and subverts them to kill ingrained insecurities.” - Mish Barber-Way of White Lung
Although its name is very vulgar (which is ultimately the point) this style is about taking the hyper-idealized view of womanhood and contrasting it with an ironic provocation — another example of built-in identity in design.
Proenza Schouler :
Although fashion week officially started on Friday, tradition states that it doesn’t officially start until Chloë Sevigny arrives.
Sevigny opened for the show that marks the 10th anniversary of Proenza Schouler (Fall/Winter 2013). This collection felt very mature, like Hernandez and McCollough were catering to the audience that grew with them in the decade since the brand’s creation.
It addition to fashion, my other primary passion is literature, so I was thrilled to hear that this collection was in partial collaboration with the contemporary novelist Ottessa Moshfegh. The author, known for her complex female characters, was asked to write 11 journal entries about a woman who is learning about herself by exploring her inner monologue. These journal entries range from incredibly mundane to incredibly profound, some very personal and some more vague, which all highlights the theme of the show: a woman told 40 different ways (through 40 different looks).
Area :
Another commentary on mortality returned on Day 2 of New York Fashion Week, this time with Area Spring 2023 Ready-to-Wear. Piotrek Panszczyk used fruit as a symbol to communicate both new beginnings and final ends through its growth and decay. The collection started off with brightly colored looks with motifs of bananas and watermelon. But as the looks progressed, the fruit blackened and grew spores.
Panszyczyk frequently references Madame Grès’s draping through his beaded work, but in this collection he pays homage to the iconic yellow dresses synonymous with the French couturier :
“I always look at [her] through all our work, but we always translate [the inspiration] into rigid crystals. This season, we really started going back to fabric, going back to basics.” - Piotrek Panszczyk from Area Spring 2023 Ready-to-Wear review on Vogue Runway
Anna Sui :
Here it is everybody, the show that led to the creation of my Substack (see: Breaking Fashion’s Fourth Wall). Although I had much to say about the way this show was handled on social media, I also want to take time and let the collection speak for itself.
Inspired by the flamboyance and intimacy of the historic Peppermint Lounge, Anna Sui’s Fall 2023 collection is a modern take on the 1960s discothèque. Comprised of shift dresses, silk laced-trimmed miniskirts, and gogo boots, Sui wanted a collection that was playful and “easy to dance in.”
In addition to this collections references to the history of New York City night-life, there was also a lot of internal referencing to the brands own history. Models are seen wearing accessories reminiscent to Anna Sui’s Spring 1993 and Fall 1998 Ready-to-Wear collections.
Not only is this collection perfect for the venue, but Sui also throws in a view looks for the cold walks back home.
Heron Preston :
Heron Preston appeared on the New York Fashion Week schedule for the first time with his Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection. Inspired by the real people in the city, the stylization of Preston’s collection feels both incredibly familiar and unique.
The styling of this collection felt very authentic. As a Houston native (and I’m sure as everyone else who lives in a big city), it’s clearly evident that Heron Preston is a designer who watches what people are wearing on the street.
With the constant talk about the return of indie sleaze, I can’t help but imagine that this is what it might look like in the context of 2023. The collection was very wearable (and for the most part universal) with wardrobe staples like athletic shorts, sweatpants, and hoodies, but was elevated with unique accessories like chainmail detailing, fur boots, and leather chokers that look like barbed wire.
Sergio Hudson :
Inspired by the wardrobes of Fran Fine and Hilary Banks as well at the upcoming 2023 Met Gala theme Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, Sergio Hudson’s Fall 2023 collection is an ode to the 90s.
Drawing inspiration from the designers who ruled that era, this collection has echoes of 90s Chanel, Versace Spring/Summer 2021 (which in itself is an ode to Versace Spring/Summer 1992), and Vivienne Westwood Fall/Winter 1993.
As someone who grew up watching both The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Nanny, I will always feel a sense of nostalgia for this era of fashion, however, in the case of this collection, I feel like it is a bit too committed to reflecting those specific designs and it comes across more as a costume than an ode.
(Unless this is a super meta way of also referencing Moschino, another Fran Fine favorite, and their history of parodying brands then maybe I’ll walk with him.)
Day 3 : Sunday, February 12th
Puppets & Puppets :
Puppets & Puppets Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection was inspired by David Cronenberg’s 1998 film, Dead Ringers; a psychological thriller about deception, manipulation, and two twin brothers living double lives.
This collection reminds me quite a bit of Undercover’s Fall 2019 collaboration with Valentino inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971). Both shows highlight the color red and rosebuds and its association to the wardrobes of the movies’ villains & use prints of depictions of forced operations.
Obviously in Undercover’s collection, the prints came from the scene in A Clockwork Orange where Alex was submitted to the aversion therapy known as the “Ludovico Technique", but in the case of Puppets & Puppets, the prints depicted the painting by Gaspare Traversi called The Operation (1753).
Vivienne Tam :
Vivienne Tam’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection, Weaving into the Metaverse, is “inspired by the futuristic utopian vision of a new Hong Kong.” This collection is a phygital (I still hate that word) or possibly this time a digtysical (that’s even worse) display of tech x fashion where garments are seen with prints of various NFTs.
I can go on for hours about my resistance of Web3/Metaverse/NFTs and their position in art, but sadly I think this has become a new reality. For my own sanity I choose to look at the collection as a critique on techno-Orientalism and a display on the financial insecurity of blockchain since Tam is seemingly profiting on NFTs she does not own. You go Vivienne Tam !!!
Day 4 : Monday, February 13th
Palomo Spain :
Palomo Spain’s Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection, The Closet, is an exploration of queerness and gender expression. Building on the double entendre of “the closet”, this collection is also a playful reflection on childhood and the initial joys of fashion before being introduced to any societal gender roles and binaries.
A lot of these looks appear oversized, perfectly illustrating the way children look when playing dress-up in their parents closet. The final look of the collection even appears to resemble bed linens, like a child experimenting with draping.
Coach :
What happens when uptown kids go downtown? That was the initial question that prompted Coach’s Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear show. This collection had the fashion-forward thinking of downtown paired with the timelessness of uptown.
I appreciate this interpretation of trendy timelessness more than others this season (see: Simkhai review) since it actually promotes garment longevity and a circular textile economy. After Coach was accused of destroying unsold bags, they have since taken accountability and committed to more sustainable business practices. Several looks in this collection were patchwork pieces made of scrap leather.
Elena Velez :
Elena Velez’s Fall 2023 collection, How’s My Driving, was an homage to women of forgotten populations. Highlighting the fashion of trucker culture, lot lizards, and the women of the American Heartland, Velez focuses in on the areas of femininity that are often deemed invaluable to the upper class.
This collection explored the depth female rage and the feeling of being overlooked. Velez takes this to a generational level by reflecting on the history of American dress and how it is rooted in blue-collar workers.
Recently I wrote a rather critical essay on the optics of high fashion brands “drawing inspiration” from the American middle class (see: When Capitalism Becomes Cosplay), but in the instance of Elena Velez, who comes from a working class family in Milwaukee, this collection felt authentic and non-pandering
Day 5 : Tuesday, February, 14th
Thom Browne :
“All grown-ups were once children… but few of them remember it.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
This truism from was the central theme of Thom Browne’s Fall 2023 collection. Like I said for Proenza Schouler’s show, the two loves of my life are fashion and literature and, like many, I owe a large majority of that to The Little Prince. Thom Browne’s show started with two models, representing the pilot and the prince, walking out onto a set with a plane crashed into a sandy field.
The pair were then preceded by a series of planetary gowns, representing all the worlds the little prince had travelled through before he met the pilot.
These looks were then followed by models carrying classic Thom Browne bags, including the Hector Browne bag, detailed with clocks counting down the time in 30-minute increments. The motif of the clock was to represent the inevitable passage of time and the monotony of adult life
Thom Browne, known for drawing inspiration from the fantasy and folklore of childhood, was drawn to The Little Prince’s message of children seeing more to life than adults. This allowed him to transition between traditional and conceptual tailoring by shifting between the child and the adult’s eye.
As far was this New York Fashion Week goes, this was by far my favorite show. The set and performance were so beautiful (and the clothes were too, of course). I definitely recommend watching it in full if you have the chance.
Thom Browne Fall/Winter 2023 Show :
Day 6 : Wednesday, February 15th
Michael Kors :
Michael Kors Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear paid homage to the women who shaped fashion in the late 60’s-70’s, one of whom being in attendance herself, Gloria Steinem. This collection felt like quintessential Patti Smith’s Just Kids New York City. The collection had very obvious references to the time — the fringe, the hot pants, the bell bottoms, the micro minis — but none of it came across as outdated.
Although sequins are sort of a staple for Michael Kors, the way that it was presented in this collection reminded me of the legendary 1970s fashion designer, Halston.
Overall this collection was a very tasteful ode to the 1970s. I often feel like inspired by [insert decade here] collections come across as costumey, but this everything in Michael Kors Fall 2023 looked very wearable, well-tailored, and suitable for the times.
Wiederhoeft :
I am ashamed to say that the Fall 2023 season was the first time I was put onto Wiederhoeft, but thank god I finally caught up. Their Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear collection was a “post-gender retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice” where the fate of Eurydice is determined by themself; in which they choose to live in the underworld. I think this show is worthy of watching in full so I’ll have it linked below.
The show starts with a wedding gown fit for the bride, Eurydice, and follows with three bridesmaids, or rather the fates, who (as the name suggests) allow Eurydice to determine their own fate by cutting the red string.
The show preceded with a story of self discovery, style evolution, and gender euphoria.
By far the most memorable part of the collection were the incredible corsets. Since we are in an of era rumors about streaming services and production studios banning the use of the support garment, it was nice to see the art of corsetry re-embraced and directly linked to a tale of personal choice and bodily autonomy.
Wiederhoeft Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Show :
Who Decides War :
Who Decides War’s Fall 2023 Menswear collection, Politics as Usual, was named after Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt song of the same name. Appropriately timed in the age of constant nepotism and buy-outs, this collection was a conversation of politics and access in the fashion industry.
Ev Bravado and Tèla D’Amore’s signature stain glass motif was beautifully, and aptly, presented in this collection seeing that the show took place in the same Gothic-revival synagogue that Alexander McQueen held his Fall/Winter 1996 show, Dante. The collection was in partial collaboration with the Italian outwear brand, add, which merged the practicality of their brand and the artistry and design of WDW.
As the show’s title suggests, Who Decides War’s collection paid homage to the styles of NYC artists: puffer jackets reminiscent of the late Biggie Smalls paired with the Adidas Superstar popularized by Run-DMC.
(London Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, and Paris Fashion Week overviews coming ASAP)
Loves it