Few things are as reflective of society as fashion is, and 2023 was no exception. Be it the threat of a global recession, the silver glitz and glamour of Beyonce’s record-breaking tour, or the contrasting aesthetics of Barbie and Oppenheimer; the world happened and fashion responded.
As another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it year comes to an end, we’re looking back at what the fashion world had in store for us this year.
Here are our top fashion moments of 2023:
Pharrell’s debut as Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Creative Director
What started with an ominous text that read: “Please call me. The time has come.”, from Alexandre Arnault (son of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault) resulted in Pharrell Williams moving from Miami to Paris to become Louis Vuitton’s new Men’s Creative Director. The appointment was quite the statement from the world’s biggest fashion brand, who had rather large shoes to fill following the tragic passing of their universally beloved Creative Director Virgil Abloh. What followed this statement made just as much, if not more, noise: Rihanna’s iconic baby bump was the star in The Neptunes producer’s first ad campaign, LeBron James became Pharrell’s new face of LV, and his debut runway show completely shut down Paris’ Pont Neuf. Needless to say, it’s been a big year for Mr. Williams.
Kendall Roy and the quiet luxury craze
Quiet. Luxury. From fashion TikTokers to your favourite style columns, those two words have been absolutely everywhere this year. Much like the final season of Succession, which dominated both TV and fashion discourse when it aired in May. While many predicted that – according to the tried and tested cycle of trends and the economy – the maximalist fashion look of 2020 would start to die down in favor of more minimalist aesthetics as a global recession loomed over our heads, we didn’t quite predict an accidental menswear icon would appear in the form of Kendall Roy. If you’re like me and you watched the series finale with a Google Search tab open to “affordable alternatives to Kendall Roy’s $9,000 Loro Piana funeral coat”, you’ll know what I mean.
The “quiet luxury” trend (also dubbed “stealth wealth”) was all about investing in simple yet high-end, preppy pieces in neutral tones in an attempt to emulate the “old money” lifestyle feel. As the old saying goes: “money talks, wealth whispers”.
Cats at the MET Gala
While the decision to celebrate the late Karl Lagerfeld at the 2023 MET Gala was met with some mixed criticism, what was pretty universally agreed on was this: Choupette is quite the influential little feline. The German fashion designer was rarely seen without his blue-cream Birman cat Choupette and so naturally, Choupette was everywhere on the Karl Lagerfeld-themed MET Gala carpet.
While Choupette’s representatives (yes, the cat has agency representation) took to her Instagram account to politely decline her invitation to the prestigous event, many celebrities wore unique Choupette-inspired looks at this year’s MET Gala. Janelle Monáe carried a purse shaped like Lagerfeld’s Birman, Jared Leto (pictured above) wore a full-blown cat costume covered in faux-fur, and Doja Cat’s donned prosthetics that gave her face feline features and answered all interview questions with a simple “Meow”.
A Barbenheimer summer
In hindsight, it’s a little crazy to think that this year’s biggest cultural phenomenon was simply the result of Christopher Nolan’s superstition around the date the 21st of July and Margot Robbie’s refusal to change the release date of her Barbie movie, which also happened to be the 21st of July. While Barbie was tailor-made to be a fashion moment regardless of its release date, the contrasting aesthetics of Oppenheimer allowed fans to have some fun with bubblegum pinks and moody blacks and greys – especially for moviegoers that took part in the double-screening trend and needed a quick outfit change in between.
Just as audiences rose to the occasion and went all out style-wise, both films’ respective leading men nailed their looks at their films’ events. Ryan Gosling was all Ken-ed out in pastel suits on the viral Barbie press tour, while Cillian Murphy was styled in very Oppenheimer-appropriate dark suits and was dubbed the “Anti-Ken.”
The tale of the Tabi Thief
There hasn’t been a viral fashion story as entertaining and wild as the Tabi Thief tale in a while.
Here’s how the tale goes: a knitwear designer named Lexus took to TikTok to share the utterly bizarre experience of how a Tinder date she brought home to her apartment stole her prized Maison Margiela Mary Jane Tabis. The internet was outraged (and considering the price tag of over $1,000 for a pair of Tabis, could you blame them?)
But how did the Tinder date pull this off? As Lexus narrates, the morning after their hookup, Josh, the Tinder match, had asked to show Lexus a Spotify playlist on her phone, before handing the phone back to her claiming he couldn’t find the playlist. After parting ways, Lexus notices a few things: her Margiela Tabis are missing and Josh’s contact had mysteriously vanished from her phone. As the video went viral, the plot continued to thicken! With the internet now on a manhunt for the Tabi Swiper, it was revealed that Josh actually had a girlfriend the whole time and had stolen the Tabis to regift them to her. The story did eventually have a happy ending though, as thanks to the internet sleuths, Lexus was able to track down her Tabi Thief and reunite with her favourite pair of shoes. Moral of the story? Lock up your Tabis before bringing Tinder dates home.
Beyoncé’s Silver Renaissance
In complete credit to her global influence, Beyoncé sparked one of the biggest fashion trends of the year all on her own: forget Pantone’s color of the year, Beyoncé decided that silver would be her color of the year.
Beyoncé’s highly anticipated Renaissance tour wardrobe featured everything-silver at the hands of designers such as Balenciaga, Gucci, Loewe, Miu Miu and Alexander McQueen. But what proved even more impressive was how fans responded to this. Those who were lucky enough to score tickets to the record-breaking tour took the challenge head-on and put together their best silver fits, with many even hand-making and bedazzling their own wearable creations. The world’s biggest celebrities also went all out on the silver trend, including the Bryant family, US Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Kardashian-Jenners. And when the Renaissance tour film hit theaters, fans brought their best silver attire to cinema screenings too.
Tom Ford said goodbye to Tom Ford
In April, Tom Ford took to his instagram to quietly announce his departure from his namesake fashion brand. When Ford sold his brand to Esteé Lauder last year for a whopping $3 billion, rumours of the Texas-born designer’s next moves were flying around. However, people weren’t any less shocked when the news officially hit our timelines. After 18 years at the helm of his eponymous label, Tom Ford’s final collection was titled the Tom Ford Archive Collection and featured the designer’s favorite reissued archival pulls from his illustrious career. It remains unclear whether this move was Tom Ford The Man’s departure from the fashion world for good, but Tom Ford The Brand has recently found a new Creative Director in the likes of Peter Hawkings, former Vice President of Tom Ford Menswear. Hawkings began his fashion career as a menswear design assistant to Ford at Gucci 25 years ago and has been a collaborator of Ford’s since.